8-cent Menu at Relief Banquet
May 7, 1938
Served in the Gold Room at the Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
(Image by Peter Engler)
8-cent Menu at Relief Banquet
Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963), May 8, 1938
“Fifty persons sat down yesterday to the cheapest luncheon ever served in the Gold room of the Congress hotel. Its cost was itemized at 8 cents by the Illinois Workers Alliance of Cook county, which took this way to point to the asserted need for more funds for its members, all on relief.
…
“This portion was figured from the $28.50 budget of the average relief family of four. It equals 95 cents a day for the whole family. The alliance pointed out, however, that the 8 cents a meal would run less where rent or other necessities must be met from food money.”
| 1938 | 2011* | 2011* | 2010 | ||
| Ounces | Cents | Pound-cost | April 12 | Calculated relative to inflation** | |
| Beef Chuck | 3.55 | 4 | $3.99 | $0.89 | $0.6 |
| Potatoes | 5.33 | 0.66 | $0.66 | $0.22 | $.099 |
| Carrots | 2 | 0.25 | $1.29 | $0.16 | $0.0375 |
| Onions | 1.33 | 0.33 | $0.63 | $0.05 | $0.9495 |
| Ounces | Cents | Ounce – cost | April 12 | Calculated relative to inflation** | |
| Coffee | 0.25 | 0.25 | $0.439 | $0.11 | $0.0375 |
| Sugar | 0.3 | 0.1 | $0.0467 | $0.01 | $0.015 |
| Evaporated Milk | 1 | 0.6 | $0.099 | $0.10 | $0.09 |
| Piece | Cents | Pound-cost | April 12 | Calculated relative to inflation** | |
| Oleo | 1 | 0.3 | $1.09 | $0.03 | $0.045 |
| Apple | 0.5 | 0.5 | $0.69 | $0.12 | $0.75 (3 apples per pound) |
| Bread | 2 | 1 | $0.80 | $0.10 | $0.15 |
| Total cost: | 6.99 | $1.79 | $1.20 | ||
| Cents | Dollars | Dollars |
*Cost of food at Garden Fresh Market in Northbrook, IL.
**Annual inflation over this period was 3.83%.
$1.00 in 1938 had the same buying power as $15.00 in 2010.
Calculated dollar values from an inflation calculator at DollarTimes.com.
Catherine Lambrecht assembled information and calculations for the table.