1903

Automobiles

New

  • Locomobile, steam, 2 passenger, 550.00
  • Hoffman, Light touring car, 975.00
  • Waverly, Electric, Runabout, 350.00

Used several advertised, no prices

Clothing

  • Boy's kneepants, linen, .50/pair
  • Boy's overalls, .19/pair
  • Boy's school suit, .98/each
  • Children's shoes, .85-1.75/pair
  • Girl's dress, 2.78/each
  • Hat, straw, .25-1.23/each
  • Men's coat, Alpaca, 1.76-2.45/each
  • Men's neck tie, silk, .38-.75/each
  • Men's shirt, Madras, .39-.79/each
  • Men's slacks, corduroy, 1.15/pair
  • Men's suit, serge, 5.75-6.50/each
  • Women's shoes, patent leather, oxford, .85-1.00/pair
  • Women's skirt, .98-1.75/each
  • Women's suit, summer, 1.98-2.49/each

Food & beverages

  • Baking powder, Daisy, .45/lb
  • Baking soda, Daisy, .10/lb
  • Beef, sirloin steak, .20/lb
  • Butter, Elgin Creamery, .25/lb
  • Chocolate, .17/half lb
  • Cocoa, .19/half lb
  • Cookies, Nabisco, Uneeda, .07/pkg
  • Crackers, milk, .25/3 lbs
  • Flour, Christian's Best XXXX Minnesota, 4.98/bushel barrel
  • Ham, Armour, potted, .07/half lb tin
  • Ice cream, "Brick Ice Cream," .45/quart brick
  • Lamb, hindquarters, .18/lb
  • Mustard, German, in mugs, .17/mug
  • Oats, Quaker, .30/3 pkgs
  • Peanut butter, .10/jar
  • Potatoes, Fancy Rose, .59/half bushel basket
  • Salad dressing, .20/bottle
  • Soda, Hire's, ginger ale, .09/bottle
  • Soup, Burnham's, clam chowder, .15/3 lb can
  • Syrup, pure raspberry, .25/pint
  • Tea, Ceylon, mixed, .50-.60/lb

Furniture

  • Bed, iron, 2.50-3.25/each
  • Cot, wooden, 1.40/each
  • Couch, 4.00-5.00/each
  • Mattress, 1.50/each

Garden & lawn equipment

  • Garden tools, 3 pieces, .05-.25/set
  • Hammock, Mexican grass, .85-1.00/each
  • Hose, rubber, garden, .08-.10/foot
  • Lawn mower, 2.50-3.00/each
  • Lawn sprinkler, .24-.60/each
  • Lunch basket, .05-.50/each
  • Rake, hay, .20-.35/each
  • Vegetable plants, celery & cabbage, 1.60/1,000 plants
  • Watering can, galvanized, .20-.65/each

Household goods

  • Ammonia, .25/pint
  • Broom, whisk, .25/each
  • Cleanser, Borax, .17/lb
  • Coal, 6.25/ton
  • Cookstove, Perfection, oil, 4.98/2 drawer size
  • Drinking cups, collapsing, .10-25/each
  • Freezer, ice cream, 2 quart, 1.50/each
  • Fruit jars, Mason, pint size, .45/dozen; quart size, .55/dozen
  • Ice cream spoons, .05/dozen
  • Lemonade shaker, .05-25/each
  • Mattress, 2.20/each
  • Metal polish, EZ-Klene, .10/jar
  • Milk bottles, .63/pint
  • Napkins, paper, .35/100 count box
  • Pillows, feather, .90/each
  • Refrigerator, 4.75-15.00/each
  • Roach powder, Gold Medal, .10/box
  • Sheets, percale, .98-1.48/each
  • Soap, gasoline, .49/10 cakes

Personal care & health

  • Cough syrup, Ayer's Cherry Pectoral, .25-1.00/bottle
  • Hair "vigor," 1.00/bottle
  • Medical Lake Tablets, rheumatism cure, .25/bottle

Real estate

Houses for sale None advertised Houses for rent Morristown, 7 rooms and bath, 12.50/month Apartments & rooms 5 rooms, 15.00/month

Recreation & amusements

  • Air rifles, Daisy, .75/each
  • Balloons, paper, .10-.25/each
  • Baseballs, rubber, .05-.25/each
  • Croquet set, .98/each
  • Doll carriages and go carts, .25-.98/each
  • Fire crackers, .03/pack
  • Fishing rod, 3 pieces, .10-3.00/set
  • Jump ropes with fancy handles, .05/each
  • Phonograph, Edison, 10.00-30.00/each
  • Railroad tickets, Newark-San Francisco, 67.00/round trip ticket
  • Sand pails & shovels, .05-.10/set

How much did it cost to stock Thanksgiving tables in 1903? These prices were advertised in The Daily Record [Morris County, New Jersey], November 20-23, 1903. Meat, fowl & fish

  • Bacon, 13 1/2 cents/lb
  • Beef, Porterhouse steak, 14 cents/lb
  • Chicken, 14 cents/lb
  • Ham, Swift's premium, 13 1/2 cents/lb
  • Lamb, leg, 12 cents/lb
  • Mackerel, 12 cents/each
  • Oysters, 25 cents/qt
  • Pork, loin roast, 12 1/2 cents/lb
  • Sausage, link, 12 cents/lb
  • Turkey, 22 cents/lb

Vegetables

  • Beans, baked, 10 cents/can
  • Peas, 12 cents/can
  • Potatoes, Jersey, $1.00/bushel
  • Tomatoes, 9 cents/can

Fruits & nuts

  • Almonds, 18 cents/lb
  • Apples, 10 cents/lb
  • Apricots, 30 cents/2 lbs
  • Cranberries, Cape Cod, 12 cents/quart
  • Dates, 6 cents/pkg
  • Grapes, Malaga, 15 cents/large cluster
  • Oranges, Florida, 25 cents/dozen
  • Peaches, heavy syrup, 19 cents/can
  • Prunes, 25 cents/3 lbs
  • Raisins, seeded, 9 cents/lb
  • Walnuts, 13 cents/lb

Dairy, eggs & cheese Milk, 29 cents/3 cans Desserts

  • Cookies, ginger snaps, 4 cents/lb
  • Plum Pudding, Richardson & Robins, 20 cents/can
  • Pop Corn, 15 cents/lb

Baking, cereals, spices & condiments

  • Baking powder, Daisy, 45 cents/lb
  • Baking soda, 10 cents/pkg
  • Cloves or cinnamon, 10 cents/quarter lb
  • Lemon or orange peel, 12 cents/lb
  • Mince Meat, Brick's, 58 cents/5 lb
  • Vanilla extract, 10 cents/bottle
  • Worcestershire sauce, Lea & Perrins, 18 cents/bottle

Beverages

  • Cider, 18 cents/gallon
  • Cocoa, Walter Baker's, 18 cents/can
  • Coffee, Java, 35 cents/lb
  • Tea, English breakfast, 35 cents/lb

Thanksgiving Proclamations

Carefully preserved in the state department at Washington are all of the proclamations ever issued by the presidents of the United States. They are kept in large brown envelopes and carefully filed away in series for each year. Among them are the Thanksgiving proclamations issued by our presidents and include one dated Jan. 1, 1793 and signed by George Washington, while another bears the signature of James Madison. The issuing of Thanksgiving proclamations by the president of the United States is a more complicated affair than most people imagine. It is the duty for the president, for it is customary for him to write this proclamation with his own hand and to put into it as much of the spirit of the day as possible. President Harrison used to take a pencil and a little pad of paper and write out the proclamation in full. Then he would turn it over to one of the executive clerks to be copied. Mr. Harrison preferred to use his pencil rather than to dictate. President Cleveland also wrote some things with his own hand, but he used a stenographer, too, a great deal. The president in writing a Thanksgiving proclamation makes a draft of what he wishes to say. Such a high official as he is cannot afford the time to make pretty copies of his letters. He simply scrawls what he thinks ought to be said, with corrections and amendments here and there, and after the wording has satisfied him he hands it over to a clerk to be copied in proper shape. In the state department there are two or three clerks who make a specialty of penmanship, and one of them engrosses the proclamation on parchment artistically, when it is sent over to the White House to receive the president's signature. Then the great seal of the state department is affixed. It is a very ornate seal. It ought to be, for it cost $1,000. It is kept in a rosewood case. The affixing of this seal is a momentous affair. A warrant for it must have been previously obtained from and signed by the president. The proclamation having been made entirely formal and authentic by the addition of the seal, copies are take of it by clerks, and one is sent to each of the states and territories, addressed to the governors. The state department uses the typewriter for some purposes, but not for official correspondence. All of the copies of the proclamation are written out on the long sheets of blue paper which are used for official correspondence. Each governor who receives a copy of the president's proclamation will make a proclamation of his own. Just in the meantime the proclamation of the president has been made public, and the people all over the country know what day has been chosen for Thanksgiving." ---Daily Record [Morristown, N.J.] November 25, 1903 (p. 2)
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