I quite smoking 359 days days ago, but still found it interesting that a carton, 10 packs of cigarettes, could be had for 85 cents!!!
I've been tracing my family tree, and while doing so, have tried to collect information pertinent to the era in which they lived.
Not long ago, my brother stopped by the house and dropped off a manila envelope full of papers. Seems as though a very good friend of his parents' died and the man was clearing out all the stuff in their house and had asked my brother to stop by [I think to look at the guns]. Anyways, the parents had been ranchers in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s here in Lemhi Valley.
These papers were the papers they used to track their expenses,income, crop yields, etc. on a daily/weekly/monthly basis for the Farm Security Administration. The man was going to throw these away, so Ray explained to him what I was doing and asked if he could take a few for my use....
It is amazing how so many details of these farming folks' lives were laid out there in black and white....just one little entry: 2/24/41 2 Rugs, bought from Gambles, on contract. They paid down $3.84, and paid $2.00 per month from March thru July and a single payment of $1.75 in August. The total cost for the two rugs was $15.59.
They even had to list all their household furnishings....not just refrigerator and washing machines, but lamps, dishes, bed linens, kitchen utensils. Their income for the family of 4 was $1529.60. They had to list the foods they canned. Under the monthly listings, they have to record everything they buy....from salt to nails, to oil and gas....and the prices are recorded.
While these folks aren't mine, I have a better picture of costs of goodstuffs, gas and oil, and farming practices, etc. It's a shame no one in their family cared...