{"id":872,"date":"2021-08-12T22:35:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T02:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/?page_id=872"},"modified":"2021-08-12T22:35:51","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T02:35:51","slug":"wow-high-end-restaurants-have-changed-what-they-serve-over-time-april-24-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/posts-written-at-ohio-state-univ\/blog-posts-written-at-ohio-state-univ\/wow-high-end-restaurants-have-changed-what-they-serve-over-time-april-24-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Wow, high end restaurants have changed what they serve over time! (April 24, 2018)"},"content":{"rendered":"

My investigation on changes in the price of going to the prom in the Wall Street Jorurnal (see here<\/a>) got a number of comments and emails.\u00a0 The most interesting email came from Marie Concannon.\u00a0 She is one of the head librarians at the University of Missouri.\u00a0 Ms. Concannon created a web site called \u201cPrices and Wages by Decade\u201d (click here<\/a>).\u00a0 It contains links to the retail prices for all sorts of things that people buy like food, clothing, transportation, housing and education.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, I didn\u2019t know there is an online collection of restaurant menus (click here<\/a>) that show what was served and the price of items.\u00a0 Delmonico\u2019s is a very famous steak restaurant that started in New York City.\u00a0 While it has been through various incantations and owners<\/a>, there has been a high end restaurant by that name on Beaver Street for a long time. \u00a0You can compare their online menu (click here<\/a>) of today, with the menu from 1899 (click here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Two things jumped out at me comparing the menus.\u00a0 First, today Delmonico\u2019s focuses on steak.\u00a0 The current dinner menu has at least nine steak items ranging from the Prime New York Strip for $49 to the olive fed Japanese Wagyu Rib Eye for $150.\u00a0 For those outraged by the $150 price, check out my post about eating and paying for Wagyu beef (click here<\/a>).\u00a0 In 1899 the menu has just two steak items; the sirloin of beef with mashed carrots, for the bargain price of just 75 cents, and the tournedos of beef for $2.50.\u00a0 While I was not alive in 1899 to try the tournedos, my best guess is this was like today\u2019s filet Mignon.<\/p>\n

While today\u2019s menu is steak focused the Delmonico\u2019s from over a century ago was the place to eat duck.\u00a0 \u00a0The menu has five duck entrees and some were more expensive than the steak.\u00a0 You could go cheap and eat either the Ruddy duck or the Mallard duck for $1.50.\u00a0 This was double the cost of the sirloin!\u00a0 You could spend a bit more and have the Duckling for $2.50.\u00a0 If you were a high end duck eater they offered Red-headed duck for $3.50 or Canvas-backed duck for $4.\u00a0 The current menu doesn\u2019t have even a single duck entry.\u00a0 I enjoy eating duck and have been to many restaurants but I have never seen a choice of duck on a modern menu, never mind seeing five types.<\/p>\n

The second thing that jumped out was that the cost of eating in a fancy New York City restaurant has not changed dramatically since 1899.\u00a0 While official government consumer price indexes only go back to 1913, numerous economic historians have constructed series which cover a longer time frame.\u00a0 Using data in the Historical Statistics of the U.S.<\/a> shows overall consumer prices have increased about 28 times since 1899.\u00a0 This means something that cost $1 in 1899 should cost around $28 today.<\/p>\n

Adjusting the 1899 menu by multiplying all the prices by 28 shows some things are cheaper than their modern day counterparts.\u00a0 In general the cost of eating poultry in a nice restaurant appears to have come down.\u00a0 For example in 1899 Delmonico sold a half-chicken for $1.25, or $35 in today\u2019s prices.\u00a0 The current menu has chicken for $30.\u00a0 The $1.50 Ruddy or Mallard ducks would cost about $41 today, while the high end Canvas-backed duck would cost about $112.<\/p>\n

Today the filet mignon costs $49.\u00a0 Multiplying the tournedos price of $2.50 by 28 means dinners 100+ years ago paid $70 for their beef in today\u2019s terms.\u00a0 The low end sirloin used to cost 75 cents.\u00a0 After adjusting for price changes today it would go for about $21.\u00a0 Without eating either steak it is impossible to say if steak\u2019s price went up or down, because the quality and quantity of beef likely changed over time.<\/p>\n

In general it doesn\u2019t matter if you a beef eater, duck lover or even vegetarian. If you are looking some information on prices over time, Marie Concannon\u2019s \u201cPrices and Wages by Decade\u201d website <\/a>is a great resource.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My investigation on changes in the price of going to the prom in the Wall Street Jorurnal (see here) got a number of comments and emails.\u00a0 The most interesting email came from Marie Concannon.\u00a0 She is one of the head librarians at the University of Missouri.\u00a0 Ms. Concannon created a web site called \u201cPrices and … Continue reading Wow, high end restaurants have changed what they serve over time! (April 24, 2018)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5335,"featured_media":0,"parent":785,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/872\/revisions\/873"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/zagorsky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}