From cake mixes to cereal, a drastic change in grocery prices

The rate at which prices have gone up over the last 50 years varies significantly from product to product.

October 10, 2019 at 1:25PM
Red Owl was one of the supermarket chains open 24 hours in the Twin Cities. For Taste 40.
Red Owl advertised that it had become a “Nite Owl,” staying open 24 hours a day to better serve its shoppers. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

During the 1970s and 1980s, most issues of Taste were lined with page after lucrative page of supermarket advertising.

Promoting low prices was a big business, and reader interest in those low prices was a big reason why Taste drew such an immediate following. Scanning the ads from National and Red Owl to Piggly Wiggly and Country Club Markets and others is not only an eye-opening exercise in the cost of groceries but also of the number of store options for shoppers.

For a sense of the change in grocery costs, consider this: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median American household income in 1969 was $8,389. In 2017 — it's the latest year that the Census Bureau has similar data — it was $61,372. That represents a 631% increase.

Compare these 1969 Target prices with their contemporary counterparts, gleaned at a St. Paul Target store in mid-August.

about the writer

Rick Nelson

Reporter

Rick Nelson joined the staff of the Star Tribune in 1998. He is a Twin Cities native, a University of Minnesota graduate and a James Beard Award winner. 

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