| 1975 price Inflation adjusted | Pint of beer 28p £1.70 | 20 cigarettes 42p £2.50 | Pint of milk 7p 42p | Large loaf of bread 15p 91p |
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The price of things: In 1975 a loaf of bread cost just 11p . A pint of lager in a local pub was 20p, while a pack of cigarettes cost 20p for 20. The average house price in Great Britain is just £16,980.
However, in 1970, you could purchase a loaf of bread for the low price of $0.25 .
With the benefit of 34 years’ hindsight, life in 1970 appears to have been ludicrously cheap. A loaf of bread cost 9p and the average weekly wage was around £32. Today, a loaf costs 53p and weekly wages are about £475.
| 1975 price Inflation adjusted | 20′′ Ferguson black & white TV (Currys) £74.95 £460.00 | Daily Mirror newspaper 5p 30p | Average house price £11,000.00 £67,000.00 | 1⁄2lb Lurpack butter (Safeway) 14p 85p |
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At the dawn of the ’70s, a dozen eggs cost 60 cents. Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn and Hamburger Helper were the primary culinary innovations of the year.
In 1970, your burger cost an average of $0.18 .
| Year Avg. 6-pack price: Inflation adjusted: | 1968 $1.87 $10.37 | 1969 $1.92 $10.18 | 1970 $1.98 $10.03 | 1971 $2.05 $9.98 |
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In the early 1970’s, the fare rose to 35 cents . So did pizza. Through the years, the increases went more or less in tandem.
It’s question worth revisiting in more detail. In the early 1970s a good, 21-inch console color television might cost you $500 . In today’s money that would be around $3300. A good tabletop set might be $350, or about $2200 today.
1975: $1.57 per gallon .
| Year Median Price Increase/Decrease | 1977 $62,290 28.1% | 1978 $70,890 13.8% | 1979 $84,150 18.7% | 1980 $99,550 18.3% |
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| Year Median sale price | 1975 $38,100 | 1980 $63,700 | 1985 $82,800 | 1990 $123,900 |
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A vintage McDonald’s menu from the 1970s lists Big Macs for just 65 cents each.
Observe that in constant dollars, movie-ticket prices more than doubled between 1935 (when they cost a quarter; that’s $2.93 in 1999 dollars) and 1970 (when they cost $1.55 ; $6.68 in 1999 dollars).
| Year Retail Gasoline Price (Current dollars/gallon) Retail Gasoline Price (Constant 2015 dollars/gallon) | 1968 0.34 1.79 | 1969 0.35 1.77 | 1970 0.36 1.72 | 1971 0.36 1.67 |
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Ahmed is a finance and business writer covering personal finance, investing, entrepreneurship, and career development.