Throwback Price Tags: 15 Historical Costs That Might Make You Wish for the Old Days

The cost of food, goods, and services has undeniably skyrocketed over the decades, driven primarily by inflation. Even with the knowledge that wages were significantly lower back then, it’s still mind-blowing to realize that a two-bedroom house once sold for under $8,000 or that a McDonald's hamburger could be bought for just $0.28!

Take a walk down memory lane with us as we compare some past prices of everyday items to what they are today.

In 1949, this family paid $4,322 to give birth to their child. According to the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker, the average cost of pregnancy, including childbirth and postpartum care, is now $18,865. Yikes!

Before spitting your coffee across your phone screen, remember that $7,000 back then is around $90,000 now, adjusted for inflation, of course.

Here's another! And only $87 a month?!

Food prices have certainly gone up while quantities have dropped — a classic case of #shrinkflation. However, the discrepancy here could also be due to differences in the type of cut.

How about that Triple Ripple Ice Cream Cone? Anyway, let’s compare prices! Here are some of the same menu items, but priced in 2024.

• Cheeseburger — $1.99
• Hamburger — $1.69
• Filet-O-Fish — $5.19
• Large Fries — $3.69
• Big Mac — $5.49

Living in 1938 is hardly ideal, considering it was on the tail end of The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 through 1939. Still, those prices have us scratching our heads in disbelief at how incredibly affordable things were.

Here's how the cost of living evolved over a 20-year span. The price of a new house skyrocketed, quadrupling in cost.

"We had a baby in October. No complications, vaginal delivery, induced Tuesday evening, epidural, birthed Wednesday morning, left Thursday morning. Over $40,000 in bills (still trickling in from various departments to this day). Does not include meals/food," shared Redditor @zt004 for the price they paid to have a baby in 2021.

"This doesn't even take into account pure processing ability." — @matman88 on Reddit

For reference, £250 would be equivalent to $310 in 2024 but $600 in 1969.

"Fast food used to be a staple for me. Now it's a treat, very occasionally." — @V65Pilot on Reddit

"I remember these bad old days. The first hard drive I had was a gigantic spinning thing in a metal box, I had to slam the box every time I wanted to mount the desk." — @peterinjapan on Reddit

Here’s another comparison of how much it cost to have a baby back then because we can’t get over how ridiculously cheap it was, without accounting for inflation, of course. Yes, you're reading that bill right. It says $23!

A truck for under $5k? Impressive! However, commenters on the OP’s post noted that these prices seem more aligned with used cars.

"So how many of these computers linked together would it take to run Angry Birds?" — @dcbluestar on Reddit

So, is this a blast from the past or a jarring wake-up call about how much prices have soared?