First Bank of Colorado Springs
Preston A. Lodge, III - banker
Costs and Comparisons
Many thanks to the "Alias, Smith & Jones" web site for agreeing to contribute to the following information. Other information taken from the "The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800's."
Dollar conversions...
$1.00 in ____ = $______ today
1854 = $19.45
1861 = $18.01
1863 = $16.21
1864 = $13.15
1865 = $10.35
1867 = $11.05
1868 = $11.43
1869 = $11.80
1870 = $12.15
1871 = $12.83
1872 = $13.51
1873 = $13.80
1874 = $14.10
1875 = $14.40
1876 = $14.74
1877 = $14.97
1878 = $15.19
Interest Rates...
1869 -- 24% long term, 72% short term
1880 -- 10% long term, 36% short term
Telegrams...
The Telegraph Act of 1860 established a limit of $3 per every ten words, although in smaller towns such as this one, the cost was significantly less.
Monetary Words...
bit -- 1/8 of a dollar (2 bits = $.25 cents)
eagle -- $10 gold piece
double eagle -- $20 gold piece (1849)
gold dollar -- first minted in 1850's
half dime -- 1800-1873
half dollar -- first minted in 1801
half eagle -- $5 gold piece (1795)
nickel -- first minted in 1859
State Bank Notes -- issued prior to 1861 and usually redeemable only at the issuing bank; became National Bank Notes to make paper money valuable nation-wide
quarter -- first minted in 1804
quarter eagle -- $2.50 gold piece (1796-1907)
silver dollar -- first minted 1798
slug -- $50 dollar gold piece (1851)
V-spots -- $5 bills
Prices mentioned in the show...
Misc. references to money mentioned in the show...
Rewards offered at the time...
$300 -- Robbing a stagecoach (offered by the state of California and Wells Fargo)
$200 -- Robbing the US mail (offered by the Federal government)
$250 -- Cattle rustling (offered by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association)
A gold bar was stolen, Wells Fargo offered 25% of the value of the bar as a reward.
Rewards offered on well-known outlaws...
$10,000 in 1870 would be $121,527 today
$25,000 -- Jesse James
$15,000 -- Frank James
$15,000 -- The Younger Gang
$15,000 -- The Dalton Gang
$10,000 -- Sam Bass
$10,000 -- Sam and Belle Starr
$6,500 -- The Sundance Kid
$5,000 -- Butch Cassidy
$5,000 -- Billy the Kid
$5,000 -- Johnny Ringo
$1,000 -- Oliver Curtis Perry
$1,000 -- Black Bart
$500 -- Unknown stage coach robber
$300 -- Richard Perkins (highway robber)
$50,000 -- John Wilkes Booth
$25,000 Each -- Booth's accomplices
$1,000 -- Quantrill
Record - $100,000, for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America
Lawmen's salaries...
1870--Abilene, KS, Tom Smith, initially paid $150 per month, later raised to $225.
1876--Wyatt Earp was paid $250/month in Dodge City, KS (considered a very high amount).
1878--Dodge City, Kansas marshal $100 per month, assistant marshal and policemen $75 per month
Salaries could be expected to vary by the size of the town, and the size of its problems.
Cost of hired guns...
Hired guns typically earned $100 to $150 per month though it could go as high as $250.
And the guns they used...
Pearl-handled matched set of Colt .45 Peacemakers with holsters $100
Classic Peacemaker -- $17.00 by mail order
cartridges -- $.50 cents/box
Robbery amounts attributed to the James-Younger gang...
Liberty, Missouri, $60,000
Lexington, Missouri, $2000
Richmond, Missouri, $4000
Russellville, Kentucky, $12,000
Gallatin, Missouri, $500
Corydon, Iowa, $6000
Columbia, Kentucky, $600
Kansas City, Missouri, $978
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, $4000
Adair, Iowa, $2000-7000
Hot Spring, Arkansas, $4000
Gads Hill, Missouri, $2000-$20,000
Corinth, Missouri, $10,000
Muncie, Kansas, $30,000
Rocky Cut, Missouri, $15,000
Food prices...
1870's San Francisco restaurant prices:
Green turtle soup - 15 cents
Bouillon - 15 cents
Fried smelts - 25 cents
Fried cod - 25 cents
Porterhouse steak - 50 cents
Kidneys with wine sauce - 25 cents
Mallard ducks - 40 cents
Calf's liver - 25 cents
Boiled ham - 40 cents
Venison steak - 25 cents
Cold roast beef - 25 cents
Tea - 15 cents
1870:
Wheat per bushel - $1.02
Flour per barrel - $3.00
Corn per bushel - 40 cents
Molasses, gallon - 15 cents
Mess pork per barrel - $9
Mess beef per barrel - $8
Lard per pound - 6 cents
Butter per pound - 15 cents
Sugar per pound - 7 cents
Cheese per pound - 5 cents
Rice per pound - 5 cents
1872 Topeka, Kansas
Butter per pound - 15 cents
Eggs per dozen - 15 cents
Sugar per fourteen pounds - $1
Coffee per eight pounds - $1
Prunes per eighteen pounds - $1
Misc. prices...
Horses & gear...
Horse, average work horse -- $150
Horse, good saddle horse -- $200+
Wagon -- $65
Saddle -- $30, cowboy saddle -- $60
Harness -- $40 - $60
Buggy -- $65 - $85
Food...
oranges -- $.50/dozen
dried figs -- $.20/pound
dried apples -- $.10/pound
dried apricots -- $.15/pound
dried peaches -- $.12/pound
fresh peaches -- 3 for $.10
fresh apples -- 2 for $.05
sugar -- $.10/pound
flour -- $.04/pound
Miscellaneous...
Cigars -- $.05 -.10 each
Calico fabric -- $.07/yard
Men's suspenders -- $.25
Nails -- $.02/pound
Books -- hard cover average $.50
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1,840 pages -- $12
New York Tribune Almanac -- $.25
German Student Lamp -- $5
Newspaper Subscription -- $3/year
Pump organs -- $99 to $340
Home and farm costs...
Land -- $5/acre (avg. 160 acres)
House -- 16'x22' (2 rooms) = $300
Shanty -- 8'x10' (1 room/dirt floor) = $25
Stable and well -- $150
Plows, cultivators, field equip. -- $325
Chairs -- $1.25 each
Bed, bureau and commode -- $15
Cookstove -- $25
Coal -- about $80 per year
Kerosene -- $.15/gallon
Land costs:
1870 - Land for development in Greeley, Colorado Territory $1 per acre
1870 - Farm land near Fort Scott, Kansas $12 to 20 per acre and unimproved lands within 12 miles $3 to 7 per acre
1873 - Nebraska improved farm lands $10 to 30 per acre; unimproved $4 to $10 per acre
1874 - Sutter County, California $20 to 80 per acre
Cattle prices...
heifer -- $18.75
cow -- $26
bull -- $75-105
3 year old steer -- $62
2 year old steer -- $22.50
yearlings -- $12.50
calves -- $2.50
Cowhands and cattledrives...
cost of a cattledrive $.01/mile per head of cattle
a cow worth $4 on the range would be worth $40 in Chicago
Cowboys -- $20 to $40 per month
Overseer -- $100 per month
Wages...
prostitute -- $200/month; $1-$5 per customer)
bank clerks -- $150/month
dance hall girls -- $.5-.25 cents/dance
other:
miner -- $20/week
common laborer -- $100/month
school teacher -- $30/month (small school)
steamboat pilot -- $600-$700/month
insurance company president -- $1000/month
reporters -- $20/week
printers -- $8/week
typesetters -- $4/week
printers devils -- $2.50/week
Prices from Montgomery Ward's 1872 catalog...
(Mongomery Ward's web site)
Gentleman's toilet set, including toothbrush, nail brush, razor, razor strop, lather brush, comb, hair brush -- $1.00
2 colored undershirts -- $1.25 (white -- $1.00)
2 colored drawers -- $1.25 (white -- $1.00)
3 New York Mills white shirts -- $2.50
6 pairs men's cotton socks -- $1.00
6 pairs Army wool socks -- $1.00
7 yards blue denim -- $1.00
3 yards plain cassimere [cashmere]-- $1.00
1 hoop skirt, 1 bustle, & 1 hair braid -- $1.00
1 ladies gold locket, plain -- $1.50 enameled -- $2.00
1 pair ladies earrings & pin set, imported -- $4.50
1 pair ladies solid gold ear drops -- $3.00
1 plain gold ring (all sizes) -- $2.00
1 silver plated hunting case watch -- $6.00
1 silk parasol -- $1.00
1 heavy plaid shawl -- $3.00
Gambling & liquor...
Marked cards $1.25 per pack
Specially marked/loaded dice, $5/set
Electric die, $2.50 each
Electric Dice Tables, $150
A Faro Dealer could make as much as $100 per week
Most poker games had a $1-$2 limit.
Bets at a Faro were typically $.25-$1
Dice could be played for as little as $.05/throw
Ten-cent chips at the roulette wheel were common
Liquor prices:
From a wholesale liquor store at Dodge City [Kansas became a "dry" state in 1880--no legal manufacture or sale of liquor]
High Mucky Muck (a soft drink), Energy, Fire Fly, Orinoco, Ginger Ale -- $20 per cask
British Bass Ale and Irish Guinness Stout -- $20 per cask
American brewed beers such as Anhauser -- $2 per case
Jamaica Rum -- $5 per gallon
Port and Sherry -- between $1 to $5 per gallon
Western brandy -- $15 per case
Gin -- $1.50 per gallon
Whiskey -- $2-$3 per gallon
Saloon beer prices fluctuated but on average: 2 glasses for $.25 cents or 2 bits.
