High Prices in 1864

[Silvana Siddali]

I've been looking at prices of consumer goods in Missouri late in the war. It seems that prices were at an all-time high in mid-1864 and then gradually dropped again. The Kansas City, Missouri Western Journal of Commerce explained this inflation as a result of a steep rise in the price of gold, and a sharp drop in the availability of labor.

Anyway -- the question I have is this -- check out the commodities prices below. What do you think the @ symbol means here? I'm inclined to believe that it's just intended to show a range of prices (e.g., 32 @ 33c means 32 to 33 cents). When they're referring to the prices of fabrics and cloths, are they talking about price per yard?

In addition, some of these entries invite other questions. For example, I tried finding out more about Hamala cloth; all I could discover was that there's a city by that name in Algiers. Also, Sprague seems to be a kind of printed fabric; in 1865 the Journal refers to it as "Sprague Print."

I'd be grateful for any information or ideas you fine people could supply. Thanks.



DRY GOODS.
Spragues 32@33c
Other good styles 28@30c
Denims, according to quality 40@75c
Striped Shirtings 30@50c
Check Shirtings 25@65c
Brown Sheetings, according to quality 30@63c
Brown Shirtings, “ “ 28@55c
Bleached goods, “ “ 25@55c
Cotton Flannels 35@50c
Woolen Flannels 50@1.00
Kentucky Jeans 50@85c
Satinets 75@1.25


GROCERIES.
SUGARS—New Orleans, 25@26c; Clarified “O” in sack, 30c; Crushed, 31@32c.
COFFEE—Prime Rio, 50@52c; St. Domingo, 48@50c.
FLOUR--$4.50@$5.50.
SOAP—Superior Family, 11c; Palm, 10@11c; Oline Oxide, 12c@13c; German, 11c; Castile, 20@30c.
CANDLES—Star Candles, 30c p lb.
TOBACCOS—No. 3, 65c. No. 2, 75c. No. 1, $1.00; Natural Leaf, $1.40; Smoking Tobacco, 20@30c p lb, owing to quality; Laclede, $6.50@$7.00 per box.
NAILS—We quote $8.50@$9.00, owing to size.
HIDES—Dull, 15c for dry flint.
SALT—Sacks, $4.50; Onondaga in bbls. $4.50@$5.00.
TEAS--$1.25@$2.50 p lb.
CANDIES—Assorted, $7.00; Hoarhound $8.50.
RAISINS—New M. R. $6.75; Layer $7.25.
SODA—English 12 ½ c; American 11 ½ c.
CHEESE—W. R. 18@20c.
WHISKY--$1.75@$3.00.
WOOL—We quote, Mexican, washed, 32@35c; unwashed, 30c; American, fine, washed, 55@75c; unwashed, 40@45c.

From Western Journal of Commerce, Kansas City, Missouri, July 8, 1864

[Michael Comer]

Re: High Prices in 1864

At first glance I would think they are referring to price per lb or yd or each and the number reflects inventory on hand. The usual amount or measurement for the way things were sold would have been commonly known and there was no need for further clarification.

There are a few questions still remain though. If you only have one yard of unwashed Mexican wool would you list it as an item in your advertisement? And nails are $8.50 @ $9.00. That might be a price range as you indicated since it says they are quoted according to size. I have never seen the @ used in such a manner though. Perhaps someone else has and can shed more light on this.

[Hank Trent]

Re: High Prices in 1864

I'd agree the @ is being used in its oldest sense of the Latin "ad" meaning "to," indicating a price range, hence the explanations in some places where there's a wide spread, that it's "according to quality."

I'd guess the fabric prices are per yard. They look in the range of high period prices per yard.

There are a few questions still remain though. If you only have one yard of unwashed Mexican wool would you list it as an item in your advertisement?

I believe it's a list of commodity prices rather than an advertisement for an individual business, so there's no real inventory. It's an attempt to list what various items are selling for on the market, so people can decide whether to buy or sell and what a fair price is. At most there might be an indication of market volume, but I've typically seen that summarized by an adjective like "steady" or "dull" rather than a number.

These little reports in period newspapers have grown into the Chicago Board of Trade commodities quotes in the financial section today like this http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Enfilade]

Re: High Prices in 1864

Anyway -- the question I have is this -- check out the commodities prices below. What do you think the @ symbol means here?

I'd be grateful for any information or ideas you fine people could supply. Thanks.



Just substitute "at" for the @ symbol.

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles

http://www.northstaterifles.com

combinations@northstate.net

[Hank Trent]

Re: High Prices in 1864

Just substitute "at" for the @ symbol.

I'm probably being really really dense here, but what do you mean?

For example "FLOUR--$4.50@$5.50"

That would be: "Flour--four dollars and fifty cents at five dollars and fifty cents."

Do you mean that $4.50 worth of flour was now priced at $5.50? In other words, a quantity of flour that sold for $4.50 previously was now selling for $5.50?

If you mean that the listings are supposed to be read as "(quantity) at (price)," it seems too much of a coincidence that the quantity is always just a little lower than the price, and the quantity is sometimes fractional with a dollar or cent sign.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Silvana Siddali]

Re: High Prices in 1864

No, I'm sure the other explanation is the right one -- that the @ symbol is being used to express a range.

I'm not quite ready to post the rest of the info yet (still in the process of obtaining & transcribing) but I can tell you that it's always reported in the same way, with lower prices @ higher prices, over the following year.

Primarily I'm interested in the sudden, sharp increase in commodity prices in Missouri in 1864. The newspaper reports a gradual lessening of prices over the following year -- just a few cents per item. I find that interesting because it seems to me that at least one of the factors -- scarcity of labor -- must have continued into 1865, and perhaps even worsened. I'm not knowledgeable enough about economic history to be able to say whether gold prices would have affected other commodities such as food, dry goods, etc., but no doubt shipping must have become more expensive west of the Mississippi River as the war dragged on. I'll report more as I continue to get into this.

[MrsArmstrong]

Re: High Prices in 1864

Is this "@" from a single source or does it show up in other sources?
If a single source could the "@" sign have been used as an alternative for something else, as in the case of the correct symbol missing when printed, or a quirk of the printer?

Susan Armstrong

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: High Prices in 1864

Is this "@" from a single source or does it show up in other sources?
If a single source could the "@" sign have been used as an alternative for something else, as in the case of the correct symbol missing when printed, or a quirk of the printer?

Susan Armstrong

The @ sign is consistent in the publication of commodity prices in newspapers. I've seen it in papers from all over the country.

[Enfilade]

Re: High Prices in 1864

I'm probably being really really dense here, but what do you mean?

For example "FLOUR--$4.50@$5.50"

That would be: "Flour--four dollars and fifty cents at five dollars and fifty cents."

Do you mean that $4.50 worth of flour was now priced at $5.50? In other words, a quantity of flour that sold for $4.50 previously was now selling for $5.50?
Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

What I mean is that flour was probably $4.50 at $5.50/per pound.... or whatever the going rate was then. I'm no Pythagorus by any means, but as a business owner, we try and keep it simple. I would have expected the same historically.

But you may have the correct notion. I don't know. I don't have the original document nor can I tell if someone was calculating items quickly and simply left off the "lbs." symbol while doing so. Maybe you can tell all that. But I am looking at it from a "business owner's" perspective rather than yours.

Your mileage may vary...

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles
combinations@northstate.net

[Hank Trent]

Re: High Prices in 1864

What I mean is that flour was probably $4.50 at $5.50/per pound....

Oh, I see! Yes, I've seen store daybooks written like that. A customer buys 3 yards of cotton @ 25 cents per yard, or whatever, followed by a debit of 75 cents to their account.

The difference is that this isn't a store ledger or a list of items sold in small quantities. It's a printed price quote for commodities in the local market, like one sees in numerous period (and modern) newspapers. So the prices are based on the average selling prices of dozens, or more likely hundreds, of barrels of flour, not an individual transaction of a fraction of a barrel or a few yards of cloth.

For what it's worth, here's an earlier British list of market prices, written out in paragraph form, but one can see the similarities, and "to" is used rather than a symbol between prices: http://books.google.com/books?vid=OC...80&output=html

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net