Old Prices

I can remember in the late 50s and early 60s buying a bag of chips for 3d, then when the new potato"s came in the chips went up to 4d a bag. When the old potato"s came in again they actually put the chips back to 3d again. Those were the days of true value for money. They just had one size bag of chips in those days with a scoop of scraps on top for free.

I left school in 1950 and my first office job paid £3 per week. This was a very good wage then and I know some of my friends doing similar work elsewhere were paid less. My mother came with me for my job interview and I believe I was paid a good starting wage as they could see we had very little. Had a wonderful Christmas 'bonus' of £10 - could not believe it! They were pleased with my work and treated me very fairly. Had to leave after nearly three years as we moved too far away. Happy days.

I can remember that a large loaf was fourpencehalfpenny, (this was during the war). The only other thing I can think of is the day we were running down the stairs in the railway station and i stopped to pick up 3 pennies someone had dropped, i felt so rich, and after we got to the beach I was able to buy a huge parcel of crabs legs with my fortune, about a carrier bag full, and all the the young relatives who were there had a feast.

Paddyann, There were 3 prices for school meals. There was a price for oldest or only child. A lower price for second child and a third lower price for third child and however many other children there were in the family.

I remember in 1953 or 1954, when my sister & the 3 W sisters were playing in the street, we found 18/6d in change which we duly took to the village Bobby, who remarked that it was probably the change from 10 cigarettes. A few months later he sent word via his daughter who was at school with us that we were to call at the Police Station (a hut attached to the house) where he told us that the money had not been claimed, had mysteriously earned interest, and then he presented with all 5 of us with 4/- each. Untold riches back then.

As a junior Shorthand Typist aged 15 in l950 I earned £2.10 shillings. I cant remember any other prices.

When I was a child, we used to go to the pictures for the Saturday morning matinee. It cost 6d. We would then go to a nearby sweet shop and the lady there would sell us a cup of squash (very weak!) for 1d. It was such a treat. I had a Saturday job at C&A when I was 14. I earned 14 shillings for the day. My first job as an office junior in 1966 paid £3.18s.6d. I felt rich! I used to buy lots of clothes. I can remember buying lovely skirts from a shop in town for 10s each.

When I got married in 1966 half a pound of butter was 1/6, that's 7 1/2p today. We used to "spend a penny". At Liverpool Street station that's gone up to 30p (6/-)!!! Can you believe it? and I've heard in some places it's 50p (10/-)! Have to buy a she wee and find a hedge!

My 22ct gold wedding ring cost £10.This was Dh's weekly wage for a 21 year old trainee at that time.
For our 25th wedding anniversary he presented me with a Rolex watch and was still working for the same company.
How quickly times changed

When our children were young (70's) inflation was rampant. So as each birthday came around and we added the agreed amount I thought it only fair to also allow for the increase in the cost of living. Fine for the first few years but then as each weekly allowance got more and more complicated we had to give up on the precise maths, just doing a rough estimate add on.

I wasn't born until '61, so would prefer to share some of my late dad's price memories: the rent on my parent's (admittedly very basic) first house, in 1955 was seven shillings and sixpence - not that much more than a week's school dinners at the time, it would seem!

Then in about '59 Mum and Dad bought their first house ( a small, old terraced house) for £600. At that time, Dad was earning around £14 per week which was slightly above the national average and a new semi detached house would have cost in the region of £1600, ie less than 2.5 times his annual income.

I've taken these figures from the written account of Dad's life that he left us when he died recently. I have found it fascinating to read, albeit heartbreaking too, having lost him so recently.

Teatime. I'm amazed you only earned £5 a week in 1969. I wasn't doing anything special but I was on £11 a week in 1965 - in London I must admit.

My Saturday job in the late 50s paid 7/6d and my first job in 63, I got free board and lodging plus £5 per month. In the late 60s I could fill my car for £1

HildajenniJ I think your memory may have served you wrong about the price of a Ford Anglia in 1968.My late husband paid £370.00 in 1964 for a two year old mini.I remember the price so well because it niggled me that he would'nt pay £92 for the engagement ring I wanted. Still niggles me now.

£1 a day for my Saturday job in the 1960s, four old pence for a bag of chips after Brownies, two old pence on the bus to go to grammar school across town and one old shilling for school dinners. Also was it about 39 shillings 99 pence for a decent pair of shoes?

In 1978, in my first proper job, I was paid around £40 a week as a junior wages clerk. That's inflation for you

Petrol in 1973 was 7/6 a gallon, then the Oil Crisis happened & the threat of £1 a gallon, the horror of it, never did happen at that time. Petrol is now £1.20 per Litre (4.5 L to a gallon so now =£5.40 per gallon).

Bought our first house in 1979 for £4500 (2 bed terrace).

Am amazed that so many can remember exact amounts from back then.
The few that I can dredge up from memory are: bag of chips 4d and a fish 11p.Bag of crisps ( with little blue bag of salt in it) also 4d. Bar of McGowans toffee 3p.

That would be circa 1959

My first job was in a well known Manchester department store (long gone), and I earned £6/0/00 per week and got 5 shillings a week towards my lunch in the staff canteen because I was under 18 years old. 10/- was deducted for tax and NI contributions. £1 went on bus fares and my mother took £2/10/00 off me for my board and keep. The remaining £2 paid for my clothes, shoes and very busy social life in discos and live gigs at the Free Trade Hall.

In 1968-1970 I used to buy a banana split penny arrow bar on the way home from school. They made other flavours, but the local garage only sold banana split.

Whatever happened to Spangles?

My 18ct gold wedding ring cost £4.10s in 1963. We did our weekly shop at the Co-op in Rochdale for just over £3. A large sliced loaf was 1s and 3ha`pence. The rent on our dilapidated 2 up 2 down plus cellar cottage was £1 a week. W e had an outside toilet across the yard, shared
with one other house. When we wanted a pushchair for our daughter in 1964, we bought a brand new Cumfifolda with hood and apron for £3, then in 1965 replaced it with the twin version of the same for £6. At the end of 1965 we bought our first house, brand new in a terrace of 4, 2 large rooms downstairs, upstairs 3 bedrooms and bathroom, oil fired central heating, it cost £2,250.

Oh, don't get me started on house prices! Our first purchase was a 2 bed terrace. We would have preferred a 3 bedroom, but it was out of the question, costing £350 more. This was in 1969.

Trebor Chews were 1d each; the very small Trebor Fruit Salads were 1/4d each, and some shops sold five for a penny!

When I went up to university in 1963 a pint of the local brewery's bitter was 1/3d.