What has been the inflation rate in the last 45 years?
Run the numbers yourself - from 1960 to now, at a rate of only 5%, the price from $.25 should be $2.25 now. Hey! I bought it for $2.17 last night! Not a bad deal!
Bought a loaf of bread for $.45 lately? No? Well, at that SAME 5%, it should be about $.45 now.
So, Frohickey and Adam Smith are both right. Things DO often have a way of working out.
I am not that old, but I distincly remember buying Twinkies as a kid for 9 cents. The fruit pies were 13 cents. Not sure what you buy them for today, but I'd be willing to bet they exceed the inflation rate.