price of loaf of bread 1914-18

[Skipman]

Where can I find some information on prices during the war. for example the price of a cup of tea, or a pint.

Any old shopping lists?

Cheers Mike

[River97]

Mike,

There have been a couple of threads on the forum over the years. Below is a link to one.Home and POW's

Cheers Andy.

[Guest]

Thanks Andy. That's a great help.

Mike

[Tony Lund]

From the Holmfirth Express:

On September 13th 1914, the Government announced that the maximum retail prices for food should be: Granulated Sugar 4½d. per pound, Lump Sugar 5d. per pound, Butter 1s. 6d. per pound, Cheese 9½d. per pound, Lard 8d. per pound, Bacon (by the side): Colonial or Continental 1s. 2d. per pound, British 1s. 3d. per pound. It was accepted that sugar prices could be higher for a week or so, due to a shortage caused by panic buying and hoarding. In London the Flour Millers Association responded to the spiralling price of flour by setting a reduced wholesale rate. Household flour was reduced from £2. a hundredweight to £1. 15s.

The Government also placed this notice in newspapers across the country warning against profiteering: “The Government request any member of the public discovering any tradesman charging increased prices for food to send his name and address to the Commercial Dept. Board of Trade Offices. Gwydyr House. Whitehall. S.W. This will guide the Government in the drastic action they will take should they find that any attempts at extortion are being made.”

There are a few other such reports; I will dig them out for you.

Tony.

[Tony Lund]

A few more bits and pieces:

In 1916 the Holmfirth Express calculated that since the start of the war the cost of a typical family’s food had increased from 15 shillings 1½d. per week to 24 shillings 3d. per week, or approximately 35%. They also published an old wholesale food price list from 1814 that showed some prices were higher during the Napoleonic Wars than in this war; with tea and sugar prices three times higher than in 1916.

In the Holmfirth area in 1914 coal was 15s. 2d. per ton at the pit-head, and by 1916 it had risen to 19s. 9d. per ton. People were being encouraged to cook with gas to save coal.

At a meeting of the Holmfirth Urban District Council on September 5th 1916, an application was put forward for a pay rise from sixpence to seven pence an hour for the road sweeper; it was decided to compromise and the man was awarded six and a half pennies per hour. At a property sale held at the Mason’s Arms at Underbank, three dwelling houses and 1½ acres of land were sold for £385. Two other houses at Well Lane were sold for £138. At Holmfirth Cattle Market a newly calved cow was sold for the record price of £43. 7s. 6d.

At the end of 1916 the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company announced that in the New Year all railway fares, except for workman’s daily and weekly tickets, were to be increased by 50%. This made the fare from Holmfirth to Huddersfield rise from 6d. to 9d., and return tickets from 1/- to 1/6d. Weight restrictions on luggage were set at 100 lb. per person.

On March 15th 1917 a meeting of the Cabinet in London was presented with a report on the rising cost of living. Cabinet records from that date state: “The Board of Trade estimate that from July 1914 to March 1917, the increase in the cost of all the items ordinarily entering into working-class family expenditure including food, rent, clothing, fuel, and light, may be estimated at 65 per cent. In other words, 20s. has only a purchasing power equal to 12s. in 1914. The rise in the prices of food has been considerably greater than the rise in the general cost of living. Up to the 1st February 1917, the rise in the level of prices of food was returned by the Board of Trade at 92 per cent. The price of the 4lb. loaf has risen from 5½d. in July 1914 to 8d. in July 1915, 9d. in July 1916, and 11d. in March 1917. Thus in the most important article of consumption the rise has been exactly 100 per cent.”

October 13th 1917.

Mr. Herbert Heeley appeared at Holmfirth Police Court charged with selling potatoes at a price that was above the rate specified by the Government Food Controller.

He pleaded guilty but added that he was only guilty technically, morally he was not guilty. He claimed he could not keep within the law unless the wholesaler at Huddersfield did so. At Huddersfield he had to pay thirteen shillings for a hundredweight of potatoes. Allowing half a stone for dust and bad potatoes, this left him with seven and a half stones for his thirteen shillings. Selling these at the Government price of one and a half pennies per pound equaled one shilling and ninepence a stone, giving him a total of thirteen shillings and one and a half pennies per hundredweight, which left him with one and a half pennies for his wages for bringing the potatoes from Huddersfield and selling them in Holmfirth.

The Magistrates imposed a fine of ten shillings with two shillings and sixpence costs.

September 1917.

The introduction of a wide range of Food Control Orders was announced, with effect from September 3rd maximum retail prices were fixed by the Food Controller. Floor was to be sold at no more than 3/6d. a stone, and suppliers holding stock that would have to be sold at a loss were invited to apply for compensation from the Government. Bread was to be no more than 9d. for a 4 lb. loaf, 4½d. per 2 lb. loaf and 2½d. per 1 lb. loaf. Restrictions were applied to cheese and meat, with butchers limited to adding 2½d. per pound to the meat they sold.

On Saturday September 22nd 1917, at the Holmfirth Police Court, John Hollingworth & Sons, grocers of Burnlee, appeared in court charged with selling plum jam at a price exceeding the maximum price stipulated by the Food Controller, in contravention of the Jam Prices Order 1917, a regulation under the Defence of the Realm Act.

Superintendent McDowall told the court that on September 15th a police officer found an invoice in the street. It was made out by the defendant to Mr. J. Roberts of Victoria Street. Upon examining the invoice, the officer noticed that the price quoted for plum jam was 1/10½d. for 2lb., which was 5d. in excess of the maximum permitted price for plum jam, which was set at 1/5½d. for 2lb.

As a result, Inspector Whincup visited Hollingworth & Sons’ shop at Burnlee and told them they had overcharged for plum jam. Mr. Hollingworth said there must have been a mistake made somewhere, he was not aware that they had any plum jam at the shop, although he believed a small consignment of strawberry jam had arrived a few days earlier. Inspector Whincup asked him to refer to his ledger, which showed an order for groceries worth £1. 3s. 6d. for Mrs. Roberts. Mr. Hollingworth reiterated that a mistake had been made, saying: “There has been a mistake Inspector, it was strawberry. We have no plum jam in the place, and we have not had any plum jam for a considerable time. Neither can we get it.” The Inspector pointed to the invoice and told him that he was going to hold him fast to the invoice, and he would consequently be summoned to appear before the Holmfirth Magistrates’ Court. After consulting together the Magistrates dismissed the case on payment of 8/- costs.

Tony.

[Clive Maier]

Richard Holmes' book Tommy has some useful information in the introduction. According to this, a loaf of bread cost 4d in 1914 and 11.5d by the end of 1917. Overall, prices rose by approximately 27 percent from the outbreak to January 1918. For food alone, the rise was about 33 percent.

[Guest]

Andy.Clive and Tony. That's just what I was after.

Many thanks Mike

[ackimzey]

You might find mail order catalogs at a local library (either a reproduction or on microfilm would be a possibility). They are good gauges of prices and interesting as well.

Ann

[phil@basildon]

Ration books frequently appear on e-bay. Mostly WW2 but with a sprinkling of WW1. I was outbid on the last one I bid for at the last second! They are not expensive, even the great war examples.

[Guest]

Thanks Phil and Ann, good ideas.

Mike

[phil@basildon]

Thanks Phil and Ann, good ideas.

Mike

There is a couple on e-bay now! £4.99 each.

[per ardua per mare per terram]

This is a brilliant book, try borrowing it through your library if you can't get one from the usual suspects. Harold Priestley, The what it cost the day before yesterday book, (K. Mason, Havant, 1979)

[Guest]

This is a brilliant book, try borrowing it through your library if you can't get one from the usual suspects. Harold Priestley, The what it cost the day before yesterday book, (K. Mason, Havant, 1979)

Cheers, I will do just that.

Mike

[per ardua per mare per terram]

It gives average prices, not only for bread, but also meat, beer etc.

[zooloo]

To give an idea of what 6d in 1914 would be today... Measuring Worth

They have 5 ways of working this out:

Retail Price Index

GDP Deflator

Average Earnings

Per Capita GDP

(relative share of) GDP

[Tony Lund]

There is one and a half pages of prices from July 4th 1918 in the back of "How we lived then" by Mrs. C. S. Peel, 1929.

I cannot reduce a scan to the size required to post here, but if you send me your email address I will send the pages as email attachments. And the same goes for anybody else who may want them.

Tony.