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What Could A Dollar Buy You in the 1960s

May 5, 2024

3 min Read

Written by Gina Hagler

Edited by Maria Concepcion

Scott O'Neill / iStock.com

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As years and decades go by, the impact of inflation has us curious about what our money was worth back in the day. Today, it’s more difficult to find something to buy with a single dollar, but over 50 years ago, you had plenty of choices. This list reveals an impressive value difference between the ’60s and today. For instance, comics today generally sell for around $4. But, back in 1961, a comic book went for 10 cents — and this was for popular ones, like DC, Marvel and Archie. Because of the approximate 1:10 ratio, virtually every product is 10 times or more expensive today. A can of Coca-Cola is about $1.25 today, whereas it was 10 cents in the 1960s. Other inexpensive items aren’t commercially available today through standard mass-market manufacturing. A 12-inch vinyl record album could be bought for 99 cents. Today, vinyl enthusiasts spend much more than that at vintage record stores or other boutiques.

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Here’s what $1 could buy you in the 1960s when $1 had the equivalent purchasing power of approximately $10.55 in 2024.

Food Items

Based on the cents/pound system, with $1, you could purchase:

Ten Western apples, where today you generally need $1 or more for a single apple
1 pound of Super Right brand bacon
Two 15.5-ounce cans of Iona cut green beans
1 pound of chopped beef
4 pounds of cracked wheat bread
Ten 5.5-ounce packages of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal
Two 50-pack candy cigarettes
Two 2-ounce jars of Chase & Sanborn instant coffee
A 6-ounce jar of Maxwell House instant coffee
Four 8-ounce packages of Dannon yogurt
Two 44-ounce cans of V-8 juice
A 5-pound bag of California oranges
A 5-pound bag of granulated sugar
A half gallon of Linden Farms ice cream
Two 8-ounce jars of Kraft Cheese Whiz
Two 10-ounce packages of Cap’n John’s flounder fillet of fish
Two 2.5-ounce cans of Underwood Deviled Ham
Four 14-ounce bottles of Ann Page ketchup
Three 2-pound packages of Nutley margarine
Four 16-ounce packages of Ronzoni macaroni
33 pounds of US #1 onions
Three 11-ounce packages of Fresh Pack peanut butter
Two 16.5-ounce Chef Boyardee Pizza Kits
15 pounds of sweet potatoes
3-pound jar of Ann Page preserves
Two Morton’s TV dinners
5 fast food hamburgers
1 pound of pork chops
1 pound of calf liver
5 pounds of Hecker’s flour
1 dozen eggs
1 gallon of Linden House sweet cider
1 quart of Borden’s eggnog
Four large bottles of Canada Dry ginger ale
3 quarts of orange juice
10 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola