15 Things You Could Buy for Under $1 in the 1950s

Coffe For A Penny Per Cup

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Coffe For A Penny Per Cup
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Practically Free

Ah, how things used to be cheaper. Like, truly cheaper. It’d be nice to go back to the days of what things cost in the 1950s, wouldn’t it? There was so much you could buy without even breaking a dollar, things that cost far more than that today. 


We’re talking about prices over the course of a decade, across a country of 150 million people, so none of these are exact. That said, take a look at these 15 things that on average cost less than a buck in the ‘50s. 

Large white eggs in open egg carton lyin
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Dozen Eggs

Average price in the 1950s: 60 cents
Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $7.22


Woulda been nice this year, eh? Even after the surge price cooled down, eggs today still aren't cheap. 

1950/1951 Sealtest Ice Cream Ad
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Scoop of Ice Cream

Average price in the 1950s: 5-20 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $0.60 -$2.41


This one varied, with department stores like Woolworth’s offering 5 cent scoops and some specialty soft serve shops selling cones for 20 cents. Either way, the world’s most delicious treat cost less than a quarter in those days. 

Movie Theater 1950s
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Coca-Cola break at a Roller Rink in the 1950s
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Coca-Cola

Average price in the 1950s: 5 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: 60 cents


Only a nickel for Coca-Cola in the ‘50s? I had a hard enough time controlling myself with a dollar bill when I was growing up. If that perfect, amber nectar was only five cents I would have been in serious trouble. 

Gas Station 1950s
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Gallon of Gas

Average price in the 1950s: 27 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $3.25


Imagine. Just imagine.  

School Lunch 1953
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School Lunch

Average price in the 1950s: 25 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $3.01


Meatloaf, chili, cinnamon rolls, and sausage shortcake were all common parts of a ‘50s school cafeteria. Send your kid off to school with a quarter, and they’d be feasting. 

Wonder Bread
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Loaf of Bread

Average price in the 1950s: 15 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $1.81


Good bread is worth paying for, but today a nice loaf of good bread can cost as much as $5. Wonderbread was huge around then, and most kids that weren’t eating a 25 cent school lunch were probably eating a Wonderbread sandwich. 

1950s Pay Phone Stuffing Trend
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Pay Phone Call

Average price in the 1950s: 5 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: 60 cents


Pay phones today, if you can spot one, are still about 50 cents. That’s a relief. 

Vintage Toothpaste Ad
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Toothpaste

Average price in the 1950s: 50 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $6.02


Toothpaste is only about $2 today for a basic tube, but it’s nice to know you could spend that in the ‘50s and grab enough paste for your whole family. 

1950s Bus Ticket
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Bus Ticket

Average price in the '50s: 10-15 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $1.20-$1.81


Bus tickets varied throughout the country of course, but major city buses in places like New York often cost only a dime. Depending on the city, tickets today would only cost a buck or two when adjusted for inflation. 

1950s Soap Ad
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Bar of Soap

Average price in the 1950s: 10-15 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $1.20-1.81


The soap industry today is nothing like the soap industry in the 50s; back then, its main use was to get dirt off of you and not much more.  

1950s coffee shop
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Coffee

Average price in the 1950s: 5-10 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $0.60-$1.20


Coffee was generally 10 cents throughout the 50s, but a nickel cup was never too hard to track down a classic nickel cup from a local diner

3-cent Service Women stamp
3-cent Service Women stamp by citationneeded

Stamps

Average price in the 1950s: 3 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: 36 cents


Considering the astronomical rate that some of these other things rose at, does it feel like 3 cents is a little on the expensive side? A Forever Stamp is only 73 cents today. 

In-N-Out Burger 1950s
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An Entire Meal at In-N-Out Burger

Average price in the 1950s: 55 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: $6.62


Thirty cents for a cheeseburger, 15 cents for fries, and 10 cents for a drink. For the quality and the time, this had to be the best value … on the planet? 

Vintage Feature Matchbook 1950s
fondlemeLeroy/Reddit.com

Box of Matches

Average price in the 1950s: 5 cents

Adjusted for 2025 inflation: 60 cents


Matches are still extremely cheap today (if you’re my dad, they’re free from any restaurant), but a whole box only ran you five cents back in the 1950s.