DAILY DIRT: That dollar bill lasted a lot longer when Eighinger was young

Daily Dirt for Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024

Twenty candy bars? Twenty Coca-Colas? Three boxes of oatmeal? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,125 of The Daily Dirt.

1. What can you buy for a buck today?

If your first thought was “not much” that’s a pretty good — and accurate — answer.

• Now, let’s go back to the 1960s, a time when I was in grade school and felt like a dollar bill was the next best thing to being downright rich. Here are some the things young Eighinger could have spent that greenback on:
• Six regular hamburgers at McDonald’s. If you wanted to splurge, the filet o’ fish was 24 cents.
• How about 20 bottles of Coca-Cola?
• A dozen eggs cost 57 cents, so if my math is correct … about 21 eggs for that dollar bill.
• Five loaves of bread.
• Three gallons of milk, and you would have some change left over.
• Three boxes of oatmeal. (Yes, young Eighinger liked oatmeal.)
• A bar of soap was about a dime.
• A whopping 20 candy bars, which were a nickel apiece. (Yes, I had a lot of chocolate overload as a wee lad. It helped the oatmeal go down better.)
• Potato chips, you say? Back then, there were usually three distinct sizes and you could get (almost) two big bags, the kind that are $5 or more today. Or you could get four medium-sized or six (maybe more) of the smallest size.
• You and a parent could eat out at most diners, since many of the meals were about 50 cents.
• A ticket to the local cinema was under a buck, usually about 75 cents.
• If you were a teen-ager and needed some gas for your car before a Friday night date with Betty Lou, a dollar bill would get you through the night. A gallon of gas was usually about 30 cents per gallon.

According to several inflation calculators, a $1 bill in the 1960s is equivalent to about $10 today. The first thing that crosses my mind when doing some comparisons with the above information is that Betty Lou would be kicking in a few bucks for gas.

2. Did you know (Part 198)

• Randy Newman’s backup band for the song “Short People” was … the Eagles.
• Dusty Springfield’s “Son Of A Preacher Man” was originally written for Aretha Franklin.
• Blondie’s “Call Me” was originally written for Stevie Nicks.
• Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” was written about “American Pie” singer Don McLean.
• Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” was originally written for Tina Turner. 

3. The week’s best of “Found on Facebook” includes:

• “When you’re a child, you make funny faces at the mirror. When we become adults, the mirror gets even.”
• “Dear Black Friday, We all have big-screen TVs. Put groceries on sale.”
• “Chuck Norris hunts with a blindfold and gives the deer a gun to give them a chance.”
• “Take your age and add five years to it. That’s your age in five years.”
• “Nine out of 10 times when I lose something, it’s because I put it in a safe place.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Herb Alpert recently turned 89 years old. Whaaaaaaaat???

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. I’m guessing his chocolate-to-oatmeal intake ratio was about 10-to-1.