1945-50 cost of living - any help please?

[Janner 10]

I joined the R.N. in Oct 1949 I was 16 yrs 11mths old. My daily rate of pay was 1/6 (71/2 p). At the age of 17 it rose to 4/-. Just before joining my pocket money was 2/6 per week from that I saved enough for a week at Blackpool with my mates. Entry to Bramhall Lane & Owlerton was 1/6 for OAP's & service men in uniform. At the end of the war I queued for four hours to buy a pair of football boots, I can't remember how much they cost .

[*_ash_* 88]

<snip>

 

Nice post. The site is interesting. In fact all the information that I was looking for last year when I started this thread.

 

Have a look at the second site again, and on the first page there is a money conversion table. I know pence was a 'd', but look closely, 9d is listed as 9p. Is that a typo? or just another silliness of confusing old money:hihi:

[*_ash_* 88]

I thought I'd complete this thread as I have a few days off work.

 

This is to compare what you could buy with your weekly wage in 1950 and 2007.

 

*All the sources are at the bottom.

 

• In 1950 it would take 164 weeks to buy a house (just over 3 years).....In 2007 it will take 495 weeks (over 9 and a half years)
  
• In 1950 it would take 96 weeks to buy a car.....In 2007 it will take 37 weeks
  
• In 1950 you could buy 43 packs of ciggys.....In 2007 you can buy 48 packs
  
• In 1950 you could buy 40 gallons of petrol.....In 2007 you can buy 61 gallons of unleaded
  
• In 1950 you could buy 31 cinema tickets.....In 2007 you can visit 49 times
  
• In 1950 you could buy 122 Mars Bars.....In 2007 you can buy 747 bars
  
• In 1950 you could use the tram 305 times.....In 2007 you can use the Supertram 153 times
  
• In 1950 you could buy 76 pints of beer.....In 2007 you can buy 107 pints
  

 

 

Anyone who has taken part in the thread, or any new ones can let me know and I can add some more/ or correct any mistakes.

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

*SOURCESThe average wage was calculated by comparing Policeman/Factory Worker/Tram Driver in 1950 and Policeman/Call Centre Telephonist/Tram Driver in 2007.

The house price was an average of a 3 bed semi/2 bed terr in 1950, and same for 2007.

Car was Ford Anglia vs Ford Fiesta.

Online sources:

http://www.whatprice.co.uk/financial/housing-market/house-prices.html

http://www.moneysorter.co.uk/calculator_inflation.html

http://www.tesco.com/todayattesco/pricecheck.shtml

http://www.brandnewford.co.uk/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/cg.stm

http://www.supertram.net/ticketinformation.html

And of course the posts in here!

EDIT:typos

Edited August 20, 2009 by *_ash_*

[*_ash_* 88]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ooops

[hillsbro 32]

Chip shop prices, 1957 - fish 8d., chips 3d, fish cake 3d. (8d ≈ 3½p, 3d = 1¼p) A small bar of Cadbury's "Dairy Milk" chocolate was 6d (2½p), and a "Milky Way" or "Wagon Wheel" 3d. In 1952 my dad bought a 3-bedroom terraced house in Dykes Hall Road for £600. It was sold to the council in 1981 for £5000, and then demolished.

[dabber 10]

Good morning Ash

I am going to write my life story, mainly for daughter and grandchildren.

Now since my life has been particularly boring and fairly uneventful I have decided to do it along the lines of a chronological journey from 1945 until whenever.

So I think what will be interesting is what normal working class earned and what they spent their hard earned cash on.

Although I was born and brought up in Crewe (yes the railway town) I would imagine that there are loads of similarities with Sheffield. Northern industrial town based on one industry

I want to know what the ‘old man earned’ as a fitter in the North Sheds? How much he would ‘tip up’ to me mam and what the money was spent on. Four kids (all boys!) and a council house to run.

My aim is to plot, year on year, the cost of the basics (ale, fags, chips and a season ticket to the Alex etc.) I will also document the changes and development of the local areas. Add to this, what and when I did things, will personalise it.

I decided to Google a few things, and to be perfectly honest found it next door to useless. Obviously my search technique was not very good.

Eventually I ended up on your site, which is very interesting and I do believe that you seem to be trying to find the same things as me. So is it possible for you to share your findings with me?

My plan is to set up a spread sheet with all of the common items down the left and across the top years from 1945 till ongoing. Is this something that you are doing?

Just to round this off I’m also looking for photographs to illustrate what we, as kids, were doing.

i.e. how we played, what we wore, what school was like, can anyone help with this either with photos or anywhere on the web to find, or books with info in?

I think that’s it from me for now

Thanks in advance for any help received

Dabber

[carosio 186]

About 1955-58 I think car road tax was £15, less for 3-wheelers, M/cycle combos and solos. As late as 1971 we were paying only 8/6d per week for an old 2 bedroom house at Walkley.

Edited May 25, 2009 by carosio

[willybite 10]

About 1955-58 I think car road tax was £15, less for 3-wheelers, M/cycle combos and solos. As late as 1971 we were paying only 8/6d per week for an old 2 bedroom house at Walkley.

 

hiya just read your post,my mum and dad were paying rent 6s 8d rates inc in 1961 for a house on bath street in broomhall ( when we bought our first house in 1962 ,my wife and me were to pay £3 10s 0d per year rates and water)some of the prices on the above posts really serprised me e.g chocolate the first i saw was in1947 when my dad came back after spending 5 years in the army i remember he had a suitcase and it was half full of continental bars of chocolate, he gave our neighbours kids some and most of them wondered what they were (i was 9YEARS old at the time)in fact around this time, maybe a year before, a school mate his name was peter searles brought a banana to school, and the teacher asked the class to get their drawing books out and she put the banana on her desk for us to draw. when the time came to eat it, he had no end of kids asking for the skin, the same was with apples "save the core for me" they would say, this was how it was around that time. as for cigarettes unless you knew the shopkeeper you couldn't buy them(only black market).

around 1950 the first boiled ham was on sale the price was per quarter lb

1s11d nearly 10p decimal in 1954 a packet of 10 woodbines cigs was 1s 4d.around 1954 there were very few people buying 20a pack of cigs as they were nearly the price of three pints of beer.

in 1957 a pint of beer was 1s 1d mild 1s 2d bitter,tetley's,were they the good old day's? i think not mind you i lived through it all ,not read it in a book, i've said before in other posts some people have trouble remembering the 80s and 90s

 

p s the cost at football 1968 was nearer 1s11d standing behind the goal at the lane.

in 1971/2 i took my son and his cousin to hillsborough we went on terrace it was half a crown for me and 1s 6d for the boys.in 1956/7 my parents bought me a birthday, and a christmas gift each year of a new suit the cost was £16. each. the cost of a shirt with cut away collar was£1.10s od. a slim-jim tie was 15s 0d. the cloth the suits were in windowpane check, over check.cheapest shoes were £2 19s 11d(all leather).in 1960 i bought a pair of shoes for£5 0s 0d at the time it was half my weeks wage (i only did it to impress my girlfriend).

Edited September 7, 2009 by willybite

[cheza 10]

I have a receipt for a Singer Treadle Sewing machine on a wooden stand,

which my mother bought in Yorkshire in August 1947 for the sum of £23.18.6.

My parents bought their 3 bedroomed terraced house in Yorkshire in 1948,

and it cost just under a thousand pounds.

[mikeG 16]

My parents moved to Stephen Hill Rd., Crosspool in 1947 and the semi cost £1950.