So, I was reading this article without knowing the date that it was written. When I read those prices, I though maybe the article was from the 1960s or 70s? But NO! It was from 1921...that's 90 years ago.
That got me to thinking... If eggs cost $0.70 in 1921, what would that be like in today's dollars? The interwebs came to the rescue. The answer is: $0.70 in 1921 = $8.32 in 2009. Can you imagine?A friend of mine, who is a poor college student, told me that he buys eggs from Safeway when they go on sale for $2 for one and a half dozen. Unbelievable how cheap eggs are! No wonder the lives of those hens are so terrible!
The American Poultry Journal has some great advertisements. I'll probably be including some of them when I post about chickens. Here is one you might like:
Click to enlarge. People used to actually make money with a small backyard flock.
4 comments:
Oh my, that is crazy! I always think to myself when I'm shopping for eggs, 'how do these farmers make any money?' I'd paying more money for eggs if it meant that the birds could have better lives!
I'm often struck by people who think my honey is too expensive. The truth is that you can find cheaper honey but you can't buy MY honey that cheaply. Or my eggs. I'd rather give them to friends than sell at a cheap price. Nowadays you have to find people who appreciate real local food.
Well, yes, factory farmed eggs are cheap, but last I looked at our farmer's market, organic free-range brown eggs were about $7 a dozen. Still cheap at the price if you ask me. Isn't the old Poultry Journal fun? I had a hoot reading through a bunch of those when I was looking up information on the Dark Brahma post we did. It's just fun to see ads for old equipment, and which breeds were popular back then. Not to mention the price of hatching eggs and chicks!
I hear you, meemsnyc. I would have been paying more, too. But the profits probably wouldn't go to making the hens lives better, anyway.
Amen, Stefaneener!
Clare: $7 per dozen, you say? At least that's a little bit more reasonable. Thanks for sharing that info. And, yes, the old APJ is so much fun to read!
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