The Cost Of Living

The Home

Three-bedroom ranch house in Parsippany, New Jersey: $23,000
Three-bedroom, two-bath house in Crystal Lake, Illinois: $20,900
Four-bedroom, two-bath house in South Bend, Indiana: $16,000
“Penthouse view” in doorman building on East Sixty-ninth Street, Manhattan: $245 per month
Furnished apartment with heated pool “convenient 10 minutes to Long Beach or Los Angeles,” two bedrooms: $120 per month
GE washing machine: $169
GE dryer: $99.95
Sears 16.5-cubic-foot refrigerator: $349
GE Thinette air conditioner: $119.95
Mohawk carpet: $9.95 per square yard
Admiral AM/FM clock radio: $39.95
Simmons Hide-a-Bed sofas: $199.95–$599.95
Simmons Beauty Rest mattress: double, $89.50; queen, $199.50; king, $299
Hoover Slimline vacuum cleaner: $40
RCA color television: $549.95
GE 11-inch portable television: $199.50
Tensor “fold-a-way” lamp: $9.95

Orange juice (frozen): five 6-ounce cans for $.99
Fresh whole pineapple: $.39
Chicken of the Sea tuna fish: three 6.5-ounce cans for $1
Hershey chocolate bar: $.05
McDonald’s hamburger: $.15
Slice of pizza: $.15
Sabrett’s hot dog: $.15
Cup of coffee: $.10
Howard Johnson’s turkey dinner (with gravy, cranberry sauce, peas and carrots, whipped potatoes): $1.49
Dinner at the Forum of the Twelve Caesars restaurant in Manhattan: $12
Steak dinner at the Palm in Manhattan: $8

Brooks Brothers suit, worsted and navy serge: from $150; tropical weight: from $115
Men’s Dacron and cotton suit: $45
Jockey T-shirts (three): $4.39
Warner original Stretchbra: $5.95
Thom McAn “upholstered” leather shoes: $9.95
Ranger Oxford shoes from L. L. Bean: $12.85
Rainfair cotton raincoat: $32.50
Fruit of the Loom boxer shorts: $.69
Hand-crocheted blouse from Henri Bendel, Manhattan: $245

Honda 50 motorbike: $245
Ford Mustang: starting at $2,368
Volvo sedan: starting at $2,330
Ride on New York City subway: $.15
Rental cars: Falcon, $5 per day, $.08 per mile; Thunderbird, $9 per day, $.12 per mile
Gasoline (gallon of regular): $.27

Cover Girl powder and liquid makeup: $1.50 (each)
Max Factor California Bronze tanning oil: $1.35
Maybelline Ultra Lash mascara: $1
Rex razor blades (10): $.88
Blistex: $.39
Scott tissues (two boxes of 400 each): $.49
Crest toothpaste (extra large): $.44
Rexall toothbrush: $.69

American Airlines, first class, New York to Los Angeles: $160.90
BOAC, first class, New York to London: $712.50; coach, $300
Moore McCormick Cruises, 35-day tour of Scandinavia, the Baltic, and northern Europe: from $1,285
El Al Airlines, twenty-one-day European Tableau tour: $505
Matson Line, five-night Hawaiian cruise: $414
Imperial 500 motel room: single, $7.50; double, $9.50
Williamsburg Inn in Colonial Williamsburg: double, from $16
The St. Moritz on the Park, Manhattan: single, $12; double, $16

Chris-Craft 27-foot Constellation (sleeps four): $9,345
Bulova President wristwatch: from $39.95
De Beers one-carat diamond: $500–$1,800
First-class postage stamp: $.06
Pack of Camel cigarettes: $.50
Zippo chrome cigarette lighter: $3.95
Term’s tuition at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York: $750
Year’s tuition at Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina: $1,815
Year’s tuition at Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts: $2,400
Typical visit to a doctor’s office: $25
Ticket to Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing: Monday through Thursday, $3.60–$8.80; Friday and Saturday: $3.60–$9.40
Ticket to Goldfinger with Sean Connery: $1

—Phil Patton’s books include Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World’s Most Famous Automobile.