GAYLORD — There is an ad in the Herald Times for a brand-new three bedroom house in the City of Gaylord for $11,950.
Unfortunately, it was listed in the Oct. 21, 1965, issue of the Herald Times.
Other homes — but not brand new — were listed by the same agency, Gaylord Mortgage and Realty Company, in an August 1965 issue. The least expensive was a two bedroom home near the old St. Mary's church for $8,500 and the most expensive was a five bedroom home on North Center Avenue near downtown for $15,950.
It is fun to compare the income and the price of consumer goods in previous eras to today's, but the comparison is more complicated than mere numbers.
By the 1960s, the median annual household income in the U.S. was $5,620 — but when adjusted for inflation it was comparable to an income of $52,532 in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2014, the Census Bureau found the estimated real median household income to be $53,657. In Otsego County it was $45,226.
That means the buying power of the medium income today is close to the income of households more than 50 years ago. Another factor to take into account is only 22 percent of women worked in 1960 and more than 66 percent had jobs in 2011 (that number has gone down some in the last few years due to downsizing and layoffs).
Those figures mean many of those (comparable) $52,532 paychecks were brought home by one breadwinner in the '60s — usually the husband — while today it often takes both a husband and wife to make today's median income of $53,657.
The average cost of a new house in the 1960s was $16,500, which was about three times the household's median income of $5,620. The average cost of a new house in December 2014 was $373,500, which is about seven times the median household's income of $53,657.
But inflation works both ways. According to the U.S. Consumer Price Index that measures purchasing power, something that cost $1 in 1960 would cost $8 in 2014 due to inflation. If you multiply the 1960 prices by 8, you'll find some items today exceed the inflation rate, some are about the same and some are cheaper.
The average cost of a new car in 1960 U.S. was $2,600 and in 2015 it is $31,252. There were many big car ads in the Herald Times in 1965, but very few auto showrooms listed prices in their ads.
One exception was Schreur Chevrolet, which toward the end of the year — to make way for the newest models' prices — listed prices of 1965 models along with a few used cars. A 1965 Chevy Bel Air four-door cost $2,295 and an Impala convertible $2,795. A 1965 pickup truck cost $1,795.
Used 1963 cars ranged from $1,045 to $1,595. Two 1960 Oldsmobiles both cost $795.
Most appliance ads did not list the price, but one Glen Electric ad offered a two-door refrigerator-freezer for $258 and threw in a free radio or clock radio. A quick perusal of refrigerator-freezers sold today at various local stores found they ranged from $499 for a modest model up to $8,640 for a full-size side-by-side stainless steel model.
To get into the meat and potatoes of everyday expenses, round steak at Glen's Market in 1965 was 79 cents a pound; pork chops 39 cents a pound; chicken 25 cents a pound; hamburger 3 pounds for $1.39; and a 16- to 18-pound turkey was 39 cents a pound.
A 10-pound bag of potatoes cost 79 cents; 3 pounds of onions 29 cents; 4 pounds of MacIntosh apples 29 cents; and a pound of seedless grapes 19 cents.
A 3-pound can of coffee cost $1.39; a 5-pound, 15-ounce can of pork and beans $1; a 1-pound, 8-ounce jar of peanut butter 55 cents; and an 8-inch apple pie 39 cents.
