Brooklyn: Then and Now

Quicklinks: Prices | Popular Movies | Popular Songs

Prices

Sailing across the Atlantic

• Then: $156 tourist, $246 first class on the Canadian Pacific “Empress of Scotland,” New York City to Liverpool, England (New York Times, March 2, 1952)
• Now: $907–$4,501 on the Cunard Queen Mary 2, New York City to Southampton, England (Cunard.com)

Movie ticket

• Then: 65 cents after 6:00 p.m. (Chicago Tribune, April 30, 1952)
• Now: $11 adult after 6:00 p.m. (Fandango.com)

Wedding ring

• Then: $100–$150 average in Chicago (Chicago Tribune, February 20, 1952)
• Now: $2,500 average in Chicago (Chicago Tribune, November 12, 2006)

Quart of milk

• Then: 23.5 cents in stores; 25.5 cents delivery (Chicago Tribune, February 29, 1952)
• Now: $1.99 Dean’s milk 2 percent reduced fat (Peapod.com)

Holidays

• Then: $10 million—what Chicagoans spent on Thanksgiving, 1952 (Chicago Tribune, November 21, 1952)
• Now: $28.5 billion—what Americans spent on Thanksgiving, 2009 (Wate.com)

Postage

• Then: 3 cents, domestic letters per ounce
• Now: 44 cents, domestic letters per ounce (USPS)

Subway fare

• Then: 10 cents NYC subway ride (mta.info/nyct/facts/ffhist.htm)
• Now: $2.25 NYC subway or bus ride (mta.info/metrocard)

Nylons

• Then: $1.19/pair (Sears Midwinter Sales Book, 1952)
• Now: $7/pair (sears.com)

Cardigan sweater

• Then: $5.65 cardigan twinset made of virgin wool (Sears Midwinter Sales Book, 1952)
• Now: $54 Style&Co. long-sleeve cardigan (Macys.com)

Dodgers game

• Then: Bleachers, 60 cents; reserved seats in front of rail, $1.75; box seats, $3; upper stand unreserved, $1.25
• Now: $4–$500 individual ticket for the 2009 season (Los Angeles Dodgers ticket sales office)

Popular American Movies of the 1950s

• All About Eve (1950)
• Sunset Boulevard (1950)
• Strangers on a Train (1951)
• High Noon (1952)
• Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
• Le Salaire de la Peur (The Wages of Fear) (1953)
• On the Waterfront (1954)
• Rear Window (1954)
• The Night of the Hunter (1955)
• The Killing (1956)
• Paths of Glory (1957)
• The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
• Vertigo (1958)
• North by Northwest (1959)
• Some Like It Hot (1959)

Popular American Songs of the Early 1950s

1950

• “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole
• “Rollin’ Stone” by Muddy Waters
• “Teardrops from My Eyes” by Ruth Brown

1951

• “Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams
• “Too Young” by Nat King Cole
• “Sixty Minute Man” by The Dominoes

1952

• “Goin’ Home” by Fats Domino
• “Juke” by Little Walter
• “My Song” by Johnny Ace

1953

• “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams
• “Money Honey” by The Drifters
• “Crying in the Chapel” by The Orioles