> On Tue, 05 May 2009 09:16:15 -0500 in rec.food.cooking, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote,
> In the 1950s Mom used to travel about 100 miles to a commercial cannery
> to can whole chickens. It had to have been economically practical in
> order for her to do that.


I'll bet that in the 50's a whole chicken was something like
9-12 cents a pound.

That was before the supermarkets took over so there may
never have been sales and she probably bought her chickens
at a butcher shop or even a specialized poultry shop. She
may have even grown them in the yard. We had a Kosher
butcher in town that sold ONLY freshly-killed chicken.

For you youngsters, a bar of good quality bath soap cost 5
cents, a loaf of bread 10, a box of cereal 12-15 cents,
potatoes cost 5-6 cents a pound, canned soup (of which there
were very few flavors) was 10-15 cents. Steak never sold
for more than $.69/lb. Of course the minimum wage was less
and $1 an hour.

gloria p