What $20 Would Buy 130 Years Ago! 💰

[@Anamericanhomestead]

DOUG & STACY Spring Fest TICKETS! www.homesteadinglifeconference.com/spring-festival/ DOWNLOAD THE PDFs At PATREON! www.patreon.com/posts/book-1-2-now-85532240

[@chrisp308]

I made a couple dollars today on the stock market, enough to buy a 10 dollar lever action so I think I will go ahead and go subscribe to your patreon

[@bobbyberry5559]

Handmade acoustic guitars start at about 2k and go up from there.

[@chrisp308]

@@bobbyberry5559 that's crazy

[@themaldonados]

I had an odd looking leaf plant growing up in my backyard. Because I didn't plant it, I left it alone out of curiosity. Found out through a leaf ID app that it was a sassafras tree. I cut it down because it was on my way. I noticed a seedling with the same leaf shape growing in a different part of the lot. That I will keep. I read somewhere it was !llegal to have one and the "dangers" of it. No man can stop God from planting seeds on people's yard.

[@joe1940]

We should never have gotten off the gold standard.

[@theronfarrer8974]

I have a hundred year old GE fan with brass blades that still works fine. Try that with a Wang chung wally special.

[@LZH13067]

My great grandparents lived in a Sears Roebuck home...and I used plenty of SR catalog pages in the outhouse. Lol

[@missourigirl4101]

I used one in the outhouse too. lol

[@LZH13067]

@@missourigirl4101 not the most comfortable, but better than nothing! 🤣

[@faintlyartistic7803]

Back in the 70's my brother was on home dialysis. I remember riding out on gravel country roads with my dad to dig up sassafras root so they could give him the tea during dialysis. It is a blood thinner and sped up the process.

[@georgemarcouxjr6192]

I stumbled across an old, local original ledger from the 1930's. It's a real eye opener! This long gone individual wrote EVERYTHING down. Even what they bartered.

[@missys6719]

My grandmothers sister had one of the sears cook stoves. She ordered it in the early 1900’s and it came by train. She even kept the catalog page for it.

[@teresawebster3498]

My grandmother used to dig up sassafras when I was little and make us tea with it. She didn’t ever teach me what it looked like or how to make the tea. I wish she had.

[@klondikeone3413]

I have the trees and there are sites that will teach you

[@klondikeone3413]

Sears use to be a top store. Sad that its gone 😢

[@DeeMoback]

my Dad (born in 1914) told me that once he went to town in 1930's with $2 .....bought a work shirt, pair of overalls, brogans(work shoes) and had lunch and had a few pennies left...... I know many times my Dad and I (when I was a little boy) would go to store and get viennas,crackers,2 drinks,and coconut snacks for less than $1 ..... (coca-cola was a nickel)....yup... things have changed

[@KathyFitz1113]

The first house on our street was purchased as a kit from the Sears catalog.

[@chriswertz7434]

Lol! My grandmother just passed into the homestead of the future. I have her house/farm. The farmhouse living room section was purchased through Sears and Roebuck. Like she said, 3 dollars for a gun was hard! Perspective on life as you live it. Keep that garden safe!

[@a-humbleservant]

I actually have that all copper tea pot! Wow, I paid $10 for it at a resell shop.

[@Anamericanhomestead]

You hit the jackpot with a TEAPOT!

[@a-humbleservant]

@Anamericanhomestead yes sir! I had no idea they are that expensive. I tried to find copper pots and pans, but go figure we can't even buy them here unless they are coated with something.

[@robertschmidt9296]

I would have thought it was a sting operation.

[@jacobshelt01]

Good for you I found two solid, brass kettles and one copper kettle I guess for beans or sauces. One of them is pretty big I got lucky myself I found them at a old antique store in Ripley Ohio a few years ago I paid no more than 20 bucks for all three.

[@a-humbleservant]

@jacobshelt01 yeah I'm actually working on making my own pots and pans our of pure copper

[@TheMyrrhMaid]

Cadence bought her high end barrel racing saddle for about $800 used - retails for $2,400 new.

[@floorman92]

I HAVE A STOVE I RESTORED JUST LIKE THAT ONE!!!! It is HEAVY. All cast iron. I cleaned it one piece at a time. SQUARE NUTS on the bolts. Wonder how much it’s worth now? 💵👀

[@TeresaR966]

I live in a Sears Roebuck home in St. Louis area. Built in 1930. 😁💗

[@Erica-i9h]

In 1999 Regular Unleaded was $0.79/gal. also, milk and eggs ran less than a buck. In 2001 that all changed almost over night!

[@hippyhebrewhomestead8593]

Man, I’ve got $2500 in my hand from selling one of those prebuilt sheds…and I looked over at some of my precious metals (specifically an ounce of gold)… I couldn’t help but think “wow we are really detached from our moneys worth”

[@charlottesometimes2364]

In highschool (80's) a friend and I had a blast looking through one of those old Sears catalogs. I want EVERYTHING in there!

[@rustynails8756]

I would be like the boys having a blast seeing the cost of things back then. It is pretty amazing comparing today's prices to back then

[@DanielRiley-f5h]

Man the wood cook stoves picture would cost 13.00 now days and it would be art work to hang on wall LOL.

[@ChristineStark-h3t]

Not really. A decent antique COOK stove that is not all rusted out is between $1K and 3K depending on how good of shape it is in. A REALLY nice brand new Kitchen Queen or Alaskan Princess cook stove is around $3-6K.

[@beckyphipps9206]

I love that series! I read it as a child and read it to my younguns when we were homeschooling.

[@dmcadams3775]

Top of the line saddle now costs around $2200 - $3000

[@michaeladams3829]

Really cool video. It is fun to see the history of this county.....and those prices are history, we will never see anything like that again. Thanks Zach!

[@DanielRiley-f5h]

The taxes would cost you more than the gun would have WOW.

[@jeffhaines3354]

My cook stove was $4,300!

[@Peachy08]

Wow! I have an old copper tea kettle that belonged to my husband's grandma laying out in the yard! Turning green and all! Swanson sells the slippery elm lozenges.

[@Anamericanhomestead]

If it's pure copper, restore it. It's probably worth a bundle.

[@offgrid6789]

It is so interesting to think back in the 1870s in Arkansas they had a census book and it had the average price of land listed and it was $3 per acre cultivated 1.50 an acre for wild lands, it also had the average wage of farm labor at the time $2 a day so literally for a days wages you could own land for a months wages or a few months you could own lots of land lol 😂

[@FelonyVideos]

It's still roughly about the same. Roughly. At least not orders of magnitude different. That's probably within some range of reasonable/sanity. Land is actually cheaper after the effects of the banking system is factored in. That is, the bank pays for 80% of the land cost, for a relatively small interest rate.

[@NUMENOREAN91]

​@@FelonyVideos i cant buy an acre with one days wages today.

[@FelonyVideos]

@@NUMENOREAN91 Work harder! 😂 I am just saying it's not too far off from then compared to today. SS pays me about one acre per month, and that is the result of withholding 13% of my wages for the 30 years that I worked, and for an expected life expectancy of 10 years in retirement. That's 39% of my monthly earnings-year check to buy an acre, or about 40 hours, if my math is right. Maybe its twice that rate, so maybe it takes 2 weeks to buy an acre today. When I was last working, my rate was 100/hr, so I was being paid about 2 acres per week. Maybe a little less, but that was before Brandon became president and made everything so much "better". 😂

[@FelonyVideos]

@@NUMENOREAN91 Oh, and arkansas land in the 1870s was probably still extra cheap due to the effect of federal silent subsidies impacting land. They were giving it away just a few decades earlier. That, and there may have been somewhat of a wage premium back then due to issues with Indians and whatnot. Not sure that is even the right century, LOL.

[@offgrid6789]

​Getting a loan from the bank for an acre, and paying your own money cash for an acre are not remotely the same. Nothing wrong with taking a loan ,but first off over the course of the loan you are probably going to pay double the price of the land or triple if you just make your payments saying it is a small interest rate is not necessarily true 3% is actually quite a lot which would be an amazing rate ,but it especially a lot compounded, and it is an opinion it is a small rate, plus the annual taxes, you will possibly break even with inflation ,but it depends where you are and it is not always the case. ​Second you do not actually own the land until that loan is paid off you are not actually buying it you are promising to buy it in the future over time and buying it slowly, sure your name is on the title etc ,but in reality you could not own it with out continuing to pay it you are hardly a free man at that point as you are required to work and have little choice in the matter without defaulting on the loan and ruining your future. If I took out a loan to buy 40 acres and paid it off over 15 years, I would much prefer to work 3 months and own the 40 acres outright if the wages kept pace with the prices. I think most people feel the same. the wages have definitely not kept up with the price of living, our of land that is a fact if you look at the wage growth over time and compare it to inflation it is clear and acre in Arkansas today is roughly 2500 conservatively, so if you take minimum wage let's just round up to $13 and per day you are making on a 12 hour day $156 minus tax, wages have grown 78 times and land prices comparitively 833 times at those rates and that is in a cheap state it is much higher in a more expensive place where I'm from land is 15k an acre. Even if you were making $25 or $100 an hour it still wouldn't have kept pace with current land prices comparitively. Yes the area was unsettled at the time rugged etc ,but the point remains the same the opportunity was much more readily available, not saying there isn't still opportunity just that it is harder to find and there is less of it requires more time often for a lower reward comparitvely.@@FelonyVideos

[@leslieapplegate65]

I remember a box of sassafras tea bags in our cupboard at home when I was a kid.

[@briarpalek9254]

That Sears&Roebuck catalog is very interesting. As for the cost of merchandise inside it, it is super important to remember that many people earned less than a dollar a day. Many probably earned less than 50 cents a day. So you cannot look at these costs with today's income in your mind. However, when it comes to the quality of products now it is totally relevant that you got much more for your investment. I have an old price list from the early 1930's for the raw fur prices that were being offered at the time by F.C. Taylor company and a trapper could actually earn a damned good living at the time. One of my trapping partners that lived through the depression actually lived high on the hog through those times by selling his skunk pelts to Sears & Roebuck company and yes, they bought raw fur from trappers. Harold was paid on average $2.00 / skunk. My father earned 75 cents/ day in the 1940's working on a local farm. He would have been far better off running a trapline.

[@gaylenorrell8733]

I loved Sears and Roebuck!

[@Jinnajones]

We will see you in MO next month!

[@annadavis6322]

Two of my closest neighbors' houses were bought out of a Sears catalog 😊 Very cool

[@SgtSnausages]

Loved those Great Brain books. I read 'em back in the 1970s.

[@alisabethjeffery1178]

There are two Sears and Roebuck houses on our street....most attractive houses to boot.

[@offgrid6789]

I think probably as well with sassafras it was banned in the 60s and safrole oil is the main ingredient in ecstasy which became popular at the time food for thought on the connection between that

[@paulgreenleaf600]

I would love to have a brand new 130 year old built shovel

[@FelonyVideos]

Perhaps the most fundamental price comparison would be how many hours of labor were required to pull a tooth back then versus now. I paid 330 bucks a month ago. Thats 3 hours of my labor... Maybe folks can look up wages and dental prices for past ages.

[@tenabarnes3269]

@Felony Videos most people don’t have the opportunity to make 110 dollars an hour, with the average price of cleared land being 15,000 to 30,000 per acre it would take you working 6months to one year of doing nothing else but paying on the one acre (interest not charged) to pay for that one acre. Compare this to one day’s wage a century ago.

[@brendah4773]

13:03 sassafras is considered a carcinogenic 🤣 Had a MIL, who would dig for it in Virginia

[@susanpeters4608]

LOL, I had a great Aunt born in Cincinnati who lived in W Virginia and taught others how how to harvest sassafras. Her sister, my Grandma,

[@edwinhageman9377]

According to my 1 grandfather who was born in 1896 = was pist in the end of being of 60s&70s! Because he couldn't get sassafras = comes from the root bark of the Sassafras tree!

[@Anamericanhomestead]

Yep, now days you have to dig it up yourself! Makes you wonder why the outlawed it. They make BILLIONS on heart disease treatments and drugs.

[@edwinhageman9377]

@@Anamericanhomestead also my mother was born in the early years of the depression! Her mother and her and her middle sister got Scarlet Fever! Under Quarenteen! But her father & youngest sister didn't! In same house! Probably because? Her father went to his parents! Looked up in old OLD French doctors medical book! Took "SULFUR"!! Which has been used in medicine for ever! Don't know if that is why? Or not? But it is what they believed! Also if animals or people have certain worm & parasite infections = sulfur! Well veterans use it!

[@edwinhageman9377]

@@Anamericanhomestead PS = they're is 2 types of sulfur = as i was tought! Flowers of Sulfur = powdered! Then 1= holes are drilled! Then steam is pumped down the hole! And the sulfur comes out! = probably safe! 2 = sulfur is mined! Rocks with sulfur is put in iron baskets! Oil/diesel/gas/ETC. Is poured over it & litte a fire! Then the sulfur is running out and collected! = POISON !!.

[@BobTheBuilder-fs4rj]

Cheapest 357 i could find was rossi and it was over 600

[@embroiderygirl3926]

my husband used some inheritance money and splurged for a Martin guitar. It was $3500.

[@randallcordell2090]

Y’all need to have a one day ticket, we don’t do Saturdays?

[@mod690]

Saddle!! Mine, top of the line made by Tucker was just over $2k. Was just in my favorite tack shop the good saddles run that same price plus more. Yup expensive

[@tynelson4672]

I went over to Bud’s gun shop. Had a used colt peacemaker in 22 long rifle it was $930. I haven’t looked for them in a while, but you used to be able to get a modern peacemaker which is a hand fitted revolver. Three grand like 10 years.

[@Siyanda82]

Loved this! Especially the drug section 😅🙌😇

[@embroiderygirl3926]

my uncle in his 90s was telling me about the 42 acres my grandfather bought from his brother for $35. My uncle said he had to walk to pay the monthly $2 payment. I am not sure what year this was purchased.

[@FosterFarmsOk]

a carpenter was making $10 a week back then too so its all relative.

[@Anamericanhomestead]

No it's not. Back then a carpenter could support the whole family. Today, both spouses work and sometimes more than one job and they are barely getting by. Millions today are on government money and back then, that was unheard of.

[@shaneott7660]

Homesteading for years, mild prepping, and silver stacker. Love to hear your opinion on stacking silver.

[@thedesertangelhomestead9981]

Amazon did not even show the price of those two books I looked them up.

[@missourigirl4101]

Zack I love love this video! I have really enjoyed it. Thank you!

[@herbal_patty]

I would love to look thru that book!

[@jeas4980]

A new dressage saddle can go for $8300 for just the saddle... not the fitting service, the stirrups or leathers, the pads, or fit straps. I've seen some ridiculous horse paraphernalia.

[@whitepinehomestead]

I want a Defender, just because that is the best name for a gun!

[@oops8985]

ZACH SOMETHING is killing all the SASSAFRAS TREES

[@beverlymichael5830]

I am a guitar player. And own Martin guitars. Now their standard series for a D18. Expect to pay $3,000. Rosewood much higher. A higher end Martin starts around $6,000

[@popuphomesteadlivingoffgri8606]

Great book, will you be selling those Sears books at the Doug and Stacy event?

[@Aussiehomestead1965]

I'm in Australia and I make my own Arnica cream. I grow my own Leopards Bane. It's also known as Wolfsbane. It's one of my most popular herbal medicines/creams /Salves in terms of sales per year.

[@packy0462]

I found a wood burning stove nice big one for $300 on market place, I have it saved and so want to just buy it. Just afraid to move it LOL

[@northernozarkhomestead]

The medical information is very interesting. I wonder how many hours work it would be for these items in some common trades jobs from both eras. Mason, carpenter, farmer, chef, typist, teacher might provide insight into 130 years of real inflation.

[@truthfaction6187]

I see we are both wearing our Operators Union hats.

[@bobbyberry5559]

Love Rob Ski. Best neighbor one could ask for too lol

[@constancejackson6309]

What's good is bad and what's bad is good.

[@dianasweetpea2561]

If you account for inflation it's still great deals.

[@authentichomestead]

Think, back then all that stuff in that book was well made, compared to today's quality. It seems like the more we pay for something, the worse the quality...at least in my experience. Too many disposable items today, especially Big Ticket items. Greed at its finest!

[@flintknappingtools]

Good stuff!

[@thatonegirl1837]

I love sassafras tea. I go to an area where there are q bunch of them. There are always little saplings. I just pull them up and use their roots. It's much easier

[@Anamericanhomestead]

Yeah, even the saplings are tough little trees.

[@deannaisom342]

And I am a quarter Cajun and use the sassafras leaves in Cajun foods I make. The leaves are dried and growned up and known as file' powder.

[@thatonegirl1837]

@@deannaisom342 I had no idea that it was used in Cajun food. Very interesting!

[@deannaisom342]

I buy slippery elm tea for my throat from Kroger grocery or Whole Foods. I learned about it back when I was singing in bands.

[@sueyoung2115]

​@@thatonegirl1837has a flavor like no other herb! Gumbo just doesn't taste right without it!

[@brendah4773]

You’re right. Smells 15:10 amazing

[@kramitdreams]

Wow..saddles more than a woodstove😂

[@brucemunro7257]

Good stuff. Btw, I got my herb books , reprinted from Zach’s pdf, via the Cooper family. $61 total. Very good quality. It took a month to get them, though. I’m sure the Cooper’s are busy printing these books along with everything else they do. Not complaining at all, just saying to get your order in while you still can.

[@gwhln]

Zach ..just got my books today they are fabulous. The printer did a great job.

[@Jay-pp7uv]

Who did the printing?

[@BNM-b7t]

Great content!! Thanks

[@BNM-b7t]

I just checked today (4/28) and tickets are still available for Off Grid with Doug and Stacy's Spring festival.

[@brendah4773]

11:30 oh thousands!! My ex husband had horses

[@donnettehenderson2447]

I found arnica tea on Amazon “tè de Arnica” from Mexico and I bought some Arnica seeds that are actually sprouting now. Sometimes Etsy sellers have seeds and starts from those medicinal herbs. I have been working on my medicinal and dye gardens the last few years.

[@wiremanibew]

Arnica should not be taken internally

[@donnettehenderson2447]

@@wiremanibew lots of herbs say to not take internally. People have to do their own research. I personally use it to make salves.

[@chadthomas09]

So if those books don't tell you how to make the tinctures how do you get the information on how to do it

[@1faithfamily181]

Where I get me one of those catalogs!?!

[@FelonyVideos]

TBF, it isnt useful to think of things in terms of dollars. Relative prices of one thing versus another is actually useful. Any monetary system fails if people hoard the money itself, which never has any functional value, other than its sole purpose of being used in transaction. Comparing prices to that of an hour of labor, an acre of land, an ounce of silver or gold IS useful. A 1964 silver dime filled up your car in 1964, and it basically fills up your car today, at least somewhat closely. I personally like using "hours of labor" for unit pricing comparisons. Things havent changed too terribly much. My land, which I thought was expensive, cost me 20 hours of labor per acre. I can buy about half an acre per week of my labor, after living expenses.

[@hadrianwall9157]

Hey Zack, dumb question but, how did you pay for stuff out of that catalog? Money order?

[@MHayes7777]

Where can we get that Sears catalogue??

[@edwinhageman9377]

The price = value of things 130 yrs ago vs. Now! = it's not worth any more!! It is the amount of inflation = now entering hyperinflation! = you're $ is worth less than back then!

[@klondikeone3413]

Tucker saddle 1500 to 2000. 😮😂😢

[@shadad7774]

Please don't get me wrong, I know the economy is crap now, But in the 1895 era a standard working mans wage was between $15 to $30 dollars a month ($50 being very good with massive long hours like 80+ hour work weeks and depending upon location and market), again don't get me wrong, but I would HATE for my now days (monthly average wage per USA Today) wage of 5000.00 to only get me a wood stove and a dozen shovels' - Home Depot wood stove average $1500, dozen shovel's $15 to $30 so say $25 x 12 = $300 so total $1800 bucks out of average 5000 and still alot left to go around

[@barbaramorris1677]

Unbelievable!!

[@mrspleasants8529]

That 80 cent shovel would still work with a new handle. New shovels are not made with good steel and won't last my lifetime, let alone my grandchildren.

[@CarolynRobinson-u3j]

Maybe I missed something, but what was the average weekly wage at the time of that catalogue.

[@timskelton4958]

What no "Plow" prices ?

[@brendah4773]

12:15 weren’t you able to buy homes in the catalog?

[@Rick_Sue0601]

Zac, $70 bucks a person? You people are nuts

[@joebobjenkins7837]

Sears catalog bra section started me down a bad path.

[@roberthealey7238]

Basically, what 1 Troy oz of gold could purchase 130 years ago is what 1 Troy oz of gold can purchase today: Gold hasn’t gotten more valuable but fiat currency has become mostly worthless by design/intent.

[@thedesertangelhomestead9981]

$1500.00 dollars

[@brucerisen9825]

Wait so God's monetary policy actually is better? Who would have thought???

[@Anamericanhomestead]

Honest weights and measures.

[@justin7801]

Sounds good but pay was $1 a day

[@EllochkasG]

What did people earn back then per month?

[@Anamericanhomestead]

It doesn't matter what they made. It's about purchasing power. Take a $10 bill today and put it next to 10 silver 1 dollar coins from 1900. A silver dollar from 1900 is worth $39 today. You've lost buying power. Do you see?

[@FelonyVideos]

I wonder how much meth cost back then. 😂😂😂

[@mikecude4167]

Back in 1894 $20 would buy you an ounce of gold. Today an ounce of gold is $2364. Today if prices were adjusted accordingly: Shovel $94.56 Axe $90.00 Stove $1600 Ex.Freight $107 Saddle $4700 I’d argue prices are much lower today and videos like this are intellectually dishonest. Now if you want to argue that an oz of gold is more difficult to get than back then, I’ll listen. Thanks and still a fun video!!!😁😁😁

[@Anamericanhomestead]

Not dishonest. Not everything is going to go up by the same percentage. But that saddle you listed is pretty close to correct. Today, people have to work 2-3 jobs and can barely get by when 100 years ago, one man could support a very large family. Contrast to everyone in crazy debt and millions on the government food lines, (EBT, social security, etc.)

[@petroc62]

I used to follow Doug and Stacy pretty regularly on YT and on X. However, a recent comment from Doug on the X platform saying something to the effect of the 10 Commandments not being scriptural kind of threw me a bit. Maybe I misunderstood his remark, but he said something about watching too much TV to the person he was chatting with and that there was no "10 Commandments". Maybe you can ask him what he meant by that when you see him... If he truly believes that, I think I'd rather spend my limited time elsewhere...

[@dulahdaglace]

The comment that threw me off if when he stated that the virgin birth, man God, etc were pagan....

[@rustynails8756]

I really enjoyed their channel when it was more about off grid living, gardening and such. Since the channel has become more political I don't watch much.

[@petroc62]

@@dulahdaglace yeah, for somebody that claims to want to emulate the Amish and the Amish lifestyle, he certainly has strayed far from that in both faith and politics

[@petroc62]

@@greenbean8826 that would make sense, if that's what he meant. Like I said in my original post, I may have misunderstood him. However, his wording was such that it sounded like he was saying there weren't 10 Commandments. What he would have been referring to IMHO, would be the Torah.

[@cherylwatkins5760]

Have you heard about the dorricade security door bar?Canadian prepper did a review- I was impressed.

[@annetaylor5260]

Most people didn't make 100 thousands dollars a year either! Your not comparing apples to apples.