Prices: High in any era

These 1923 prices seem low from the
distance of a century. But the 
modern equivalent is $50 to $140.
  

Inflation shocks me every time I go to a store, particularly the supermarket. Prices seem to increase every week. On top of that, I'm an elder now and prices in general regularly surprise me. I tend to compare them to costs as they existed in my youth. 

People in the past probably felt the same about rising prices no matter when they lived. Particularly as they aged or lived through high-inflation periods. I thought it'd be interesting to do a cursory review of how much things cost a hundred years ago, in 1923. If only to be astonished at the differences.

My point of comparison is the once-famous Dreka Department Store in the Central Florida city of DeLand. It was founded in 1878 and operated for decades. The mercantile was so successful the owner, George A. Dreka, expanded in the early 1900s. He built the first reinforced concrete structure in the county in 1909. The showcase multistory building cost $75,000. Depending on which website you look at, that equates to between $1.9 and $2.5 million in modern dollars. The building is still around and is a downtown landmark.

Dreka's prided itself on selling everything a person could "eat, wear, and use." The store was a regular advertiser in the DeLand Sun News, which was the DeLand Daily News in 1923. Here's what some of the advertised items sold for in 1923:

• Ipswich Hosiery - for ladies, in wool and silk and in a range of brown and tan colors, plus white, $1 a pair. That's a hefty $17 today.
• Men's Felt Hats - these came in a range of prices, from $3.50 to $10. A sale in late December dropped those prices to $2.79 to $7.98. Translated to modern times, that's about $50 to $140. Not such a great bargain.
• Dresses, Capes and Coats - a special sale was being held, with $32.50 to $40 dresses available for $27.50, and $15 to $18 capes and coats for $11.75. They may have been on sale but they sure weren't cheap. Inflation calculators peg those 1923 prices as over $200 each today. 
• Dollar Day - "Exceptional values in every department" were to be had Nov. 8, 1923, during a special Dollar Day. Some were special deals. For example, if you bought a 78x88 Marseilles Bedspread for $3.50 you could get a second one for only $1. But there was an array of goods available for just $1. They included: 5 yards of dress gingham; 10 yards of muslin; 6 yards of flannel; a corset; middy blouse; children's romper; 3 lb. box of peanut brittle; 24 Hershey's chocolate bars; 2 pairs of earrings; men's overalls; ladies' knit vest; and on and on.

Some of the Dollar Day deals did appear to be bargains. Using today's $17 equivalent of 1923's single dollar, you'd get 5 yards of dress gingham for $17. That's slightly less than what you'd pay today. Ditto for the flannel yardage. And where in the world would you be able to buy 24 Hershey's chocolate bars for $17?

 

One of my favorite Dreka advertisements didn't include pricing at all. It was a small ad advertising a Butterick Pattern for The New Long Blouse. "Paris decrees it, Butterick features it," states the ad. It encourages home sewists to shop the Dreka piece goods counters to select fabric and suggests appropriate choices: crepe de Chine, novelty silk, chiffon velvet, crepe satin and silk crepe. Customers were also urged to stop by the store's Butterick Pattern counter to buy the blouse pattern. It's interesting that the ad points out how the pattern includes sewing instructions. That's a given today. 

I wish I could temporarily step back to 1923 so I could stroll into Dreka's and buy that or some other pattern. Mainly to find out how much they cost. Inflation has affected modern sewing patterns greatly. Some cost more than ready-made fast-fashion clothes. 

I don't have to leave 2023 to buy Butterick patterns, though. They're still around and known as one of the Big 4 pattern companies. As for those prices: I wait for the sales. Which I'm sure shoppers also did 100 years ago. I won't snag a pattern for a single dollar except at a yard or estate sale. But a sale is a sale, no matter what year it is.