Universal York

Part of the USA Today Network

Win a new 1958 Renault Dauphine at the York County Shopping Center

That’s what the York County Shopping Center (now York Marketplace) on East Market Street was offering in celebration of its Second Anniversary fifty years ago.

Does anyone know who won the brand new 1958 rear-engine Renault Dauphine automobile? It was a 4-door, 4-passenger sedan and you could enter the giveaway every time you visited the shopping center that October. It was a reasonably priced car (around $1,650) and reportedly got over 39 mpg. But, who cared in those cheap-gas days?
You can get a good idea of the cost of living in 1957 by comparing the following specials offered by other York County Shopping Center merchants:


McCrory’s 5 & 10: Wood-top coffee table with sturdy wrought iron legs $5.00
Sa-Lee of York: Cashmere-finished three-piece flannel suits $8.98
Acme Market: Bar-B-Q chickens $.59 lb.
Concord: Men’s suede jackets $12.50
Thom McAn Shoes: Men’s bowling shoes $4.99
Father & Son Shoes: [Men’s] nylon hose 3/$1.00 pr.
Feller’s: Long-sleeved women’s cotton shirts: $1.99
W.T. Grant: I’sis sheer nylons $.44 pr.
Sears Roebuck & Co: Allstate permanent type anti-freeze $1.95 gal.
Joe, the Motorists’ Friend: Hoover steam or dry iron $11.88
Sun-Ray Drug Co.: Live parakeets $1.29
Terry Shops: Ladies flannel pajamas $1.90
Mayflower Shops: Ladies blouses (only 50 available) $1.79
Miles Shoe Store: Children’s cowboy boots $4.59-$4.99 (Free gun & holster with each pair).
Loft’s Candy Shop: Kitchen-fresh chocolates $.98 for 3/4 lb.
In addition: Rogers Toy shops had all baby cribs and mattresses greatly reduced and Patti-Cake Bakery offered a $.10 coupon off their $.59 home-baked pumpkin pie.
Food Fair invited you to enter their company-wide jingle contest to win a trip for two to Paris and Quaker State Finance just wanted you to know they had money available for you.
Vintage toy cowboy guns and holsters are bringing respectable prices these days on eBay.
Check your attic and garage.
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some of those flannel pajamas in the back of the dresser drawer–after all, this is York County.