Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Back In The Day




Everyday I receive an inspirational quote that also comes with a "today in history" fact. I found today's trip back in time interesting and worth sharing. It said:

"...today is the birthday of the License Plate (1901)?
New York became the first state to require license plates on
cars. The first plates cost $1.00. It's gone up just a bit
since then."

I had to purchase plates last month and the going rate was $65. The renewal sticker that we must get each birthday is about $53, I think. I know that this varies from state to state. I'm curious to know what it costs elsewhere for those of you who don't live in Ohio.

The other day my son was eating a box of $.25 candy (Cherry Bombs) that my husband and I used to pay 5 cents for when we were his age. I also remember when it cost only a quarter to enjoy a fun filled day at the local pool. Last summer the price was $2.00. When I graduated from high school, the price of gas was just under one dollar per gallon and everyone was saying how high that was. A pack of cigarettes were $1.80 and I swore that if they ever went over 2 bucks I'd quit. Now here we are at over $4.00 a pack and I'm still buying...

In the comments...take a trip down memory lane. How have the prices of your favorite activities, foods or vices changed over the years?

10 comments:

Tera said...

Well you may all be quite shocked, but here in KY, I pay $15/year for my tags (I drive a 2003 though), and we don't have the stinking E-check. I had to pay a one time $5 fee for a Sheriff's inspection!!!

Yes, yes, the wonderful memories of the nickle and dime candy...Pixy Stix, Chick-O-Sticks, Now & Laters (although we NEVER really saved any for later :), and Boston Baked Beans. How about Hubba Bubba (NOT Bubalicious)? Who told them to stop making that? I loved a good Bomb Pop (the red on top and blue on the bottom) that used to be $.20-.25 and now they're a frapping $.99-$1.25 in some places!

We ALL know gas prices are an atrocity! But remember when you could actually go to Hills and get GOOD toys for $1?! How about those good ole days of Zayre's, and Gold Circle? Remember when you could actually get an ice cream cone (with crunch coat) for about $.50? Nina, do you remember Shake Shack??? LOL!

Sometimes nostalgia makes me YEARN for the good old days...when Wet-n-Wild was a hot commodity...when L.A. Gear was actually in style...when kids could actuall walk to the corner store and buy the penny candy!!

Kool-Aid was $.10/pack, Cereal didn't cost as much as admission to the movie theater, and Comet Clorox, Windex, and Pledge were the ONLY major household cleaning items!

You could go to the meat market with $20 and clean up! The entire family could enjoy a night out on the town for less than $20, and kids actually cared about earning their allowance by shoveling snow and mowing lawns!

Wow Nina, this is great, I could go on and on!!! It's just sad that everything must remain good memories...and we will never have those wonderful days again! :(

Anonymous said...

Now you got me started!!! I have 1998 van that has been broken down for a year. After various mechanics and THOUSANDS of dollars it's finally running. Abviously it had no current tags because I could not pass emmissions. I had to pay $175.00 for them and they expire in July again!!! The first year I got them they were $425.00 and MVD wanted to know if I wanted to pay for 2 years. I wasn't sure were I would get the money for the 1st year let alone pay for 2. As for the smoking I swore I would never pay over 2 bucks for a pack and I quit at 1.95!!! I'm way too cheap to pay todays prices. If you want a real good trip down memory lane check the Oriental Trading Co website and look at all the candy that you forgot about!! It's very cool! You probably aren't old enough to remember the cotton candy man, but I sure wish there still was one cause my girls would love that. I miss mostly the safety of letting them go outside and not have to worry about them.

Tera said...

Michelle, oh but there IS (still) a Cotton Candy man...he came by my house when I still lived in Ohio last year!!!

That is OUTRAGEOUS for tags...might I suggest a bike with a basket on front??? LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm not sure how much tags are in Georgia, since my car quit on me the day I moved down here. I want to say that my other half payed $24 for his car?? One thing I do know about Georgia is that we don't require e-check. I now understand why Ohio does. Yesterday, I was stopped at a red light and found myself looking back to when I was eight years old. I couldn't figure out why I was reminded of being in a car that young until I started coughing. I swear I thought I was huffing on the end of a tailpipe. Well, I actually I pretty much did. It was very offensive and I couldn't believe that this person would dare drive around my city polluting the air like that. I suddenly thanked Ohio for spoiling me over the past few years. Really, you should come down here and experience it, next year when you have to get echecked, you wont mind waiting in that 45 minute line and emptying your pockets!
But back to the money inflation thing, I just CAN'T get over the fact that I can sit down at a nice restaurant for lunch and pay the same amount of money there as I would pay for a meal at Wendy's. Fast Food?

fringes said...

I can't remember much. I can't believe these memories on this post.

Nina said...

Tera~thankfully we don't have to pay the e-check fees anymore.
I think I remember the Shake Shack, wow!

Michelle~that is crazy!!! I'm with Tera, get a bike!

Nicole~fast food has changed a lot. I can remember when my mom, sister and I would split a Whopper 3 ways and everyone would be full!

Finges~What?!?! You got nothin'?!?!

Nance said...

When I was a smoker in 1977-78, I got a pack for $.50. A gallon of gas was $.80. When I was a kid in the 60s and early 70s, the popsicle man would come around and you could get two huge double-pops from the Crawford guy for $.35! I can remember my dad saying "Oh, a loaf of bread will never reach a dollar!" Yeah, right.

Tera said...

Yeah, and the though of anything other than Wonder bread was almost inconceivable!!!

Nina said...

Nance~when the ice cream man comes down my street now, I run inside. it's too expensive. Treating the little kiddies playing outside will easily set you back 15 or 20 bucks!

Anonymous said...

Get a bike-are you crazy?? You should see the traffic around here. It takes me 30 min (at least)to get to Ashley's house-that just gives you an idea of how big this town is-not to mention I would die of heat stoke before I got anywhere. It's alreay in the 90's!!