Not quite as far of a throwback: Groceries in 1996
Today’s fun ephemera was also a gift from my husband; it’s a pair of Sunday grocery-store circulars from January 1996. Normally, we look at what I consider “older” old stuff – 30, 40, 50 years or more.
So, in this case, 15 years and six months later, what are some of the biggest differences?
Well, the now-vacant grocery store on Route 74 at Hilton Avenue – the one that was most recently SaveSmart – was still a Shur-Fine, for one!
At Shur-Fine, a 10-lb. bag of navel oranges was selling for $2.99. This weekend at Giant, we priced navels at $1.50 apiece, or $5 for about a five-pound bag.
Pepsi 2-liters were on sale for 89 cents; you can OCCASIONALLY find that now, but honestly, a good buy is about $1 a bottle. Even $1.25 a bottle is a savings over the regular price of about $1.89.
An unusual area of inflation? Trash bags! With an in-ad coupon, you could get 10 Glad-brand 30-gallon-sized trash bags for $1.49 at Shur-Fine. This past weekend, we paid $9 for what I believe was a 40-pack of bags that size in a generic brand!
They would also develop your film – FILM! – for 12 cents per 3 1/2″ print.
Over at Weis, again back in January 1996, there was a big promotion regarding S&H Green Stamps. If you had your “mini book” of stamps, you could get certain items at real bargains, like some Wishbone salad dressing for 49 cents or a roll of Scott paper towls for 19 cents. Crazy! I miss Green Stamps.
Red grapefruit? Four for 50 cents with your Green Stamps book, or 4 for $1 (still a great buy nowadays) without it!
So, who’s helping me build a grocery-store time machine to head back 15 years?
