There's a reason older generations still wince at the price of a cup of coffee. For much of the twentieth century, a nickel was a meaningful coin — not something you tossed in a jar and forgot about. Here's a look at what five cents actually bought in the golden years, and what those same things cost today.
1. A Hershey Bar
From the 1920s all the way through the 1960s, the standard Hershey chocolate bar cost five cents. Milton Hershey himself resisted raising the price for decades, reportedly finding creative ways to keep costs down rather than pass increases to customers. A Hershey bar today costs approximately $1.79 — a 3,480% increase over the nickel price.
2. A Phone Call
The nickel phone call was an American institution from the early 1900s through the 1950s. You dropped your coin in the slot, heard the click, and spoke to an operator who connected you to wherever you needed to go. By the late 1960s, the cost had risen to a dime. Today, of course, the concept of paying per call has been replaced entirely — but if you factor in the monthly cost of a smartphone plan, the average American pays roughly $110 a month for the privilege of calling anyone, anywhere, anytime.
3. A Glass of Coca-Cola
At the soda fountain — that magical American institution that combined a drugstore with a restaurant and a gathering place — a glass of Coca-Cola cost five cents from the 1880s through the 1950s. Coca-Cola actually ran advertising campaigns specifically around the five-cent price point for decades, making it one of the most successful marketing relationships between a product and a price in history. A fountain Coke at a fast-food restaurant today costs around $1.50 to $3.00, depending on size and location.
4. A Candy Bar (Almost Any Kind)
It wasn't just Hershey's. Through the 1950s and into the 1960s, virtually every candy bar on the market — Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Snickers, Milky Way — sold for five cents. The candy industry held the line on the nickel price point with extraordinary tenacity, eventually yielding to inflation in the late 1960s and early 1970s when prices moved to ten and then fifteen cents. Today the average full-size candy bar sells for $1.50 to $2.00.
5. A Cup of Coffee
At the diner, a cup of coffee cost five cents well into the 1950s. Refills were often free. The ritual of the nickel cup of coffee — bottomless, served in a heavy ceramic mug by a waitress who knew your name — is one of the great lost American experiences. The average cup of drip coffee at a café today costs around $3.00, and a specialty coffee drink can run $6.00 or more.
6. A Postage Stamp
First-class postage cost three cents from 1932 to 1958, then jumped to four cents, then five cents in 1963. For a nickel, you could mail a letter anywhere in the United States with a penny to spare. A first-class stamp today costs 68 cents.
7. A Ride on the Subway or Streetcar
In most American cities, public transit cost a nickel well into the late 1940s. New York City's subway held the five-cent fare from 1904 to 1948 — forty-four years. Chicago's elevated railway and most streetcar systems similarly held at five cents for decades. The New York City subway fare today is $2.90 per ride.
8. A Stick of Gum
Wrigley's Spearmint, Juicy Fruit, Doublemint — all five cents for a pack of five sticks through the 1960s. The chewing gum industry, like candy, treated the nickel price point as sacred. A pack of gum today typically costs $1.49 to $2.00.
9. A Newspaper
The morning paper — folded under the arm of every commuter, spread across every kitchen table — cost five cents through much of the mid-twentieth century. For a nickel, you got the entire news of the world delivered to your door. Most major daily newspapers that still publish print editions today cost $3.00 to $4.00 per copy, if you can find one at all.
10. A Popsicle
The twin Popsicle — two sticks, designed to be broken in half and shared with a friend — was a nickel from its invention in the 1920s through the 1960s. On a hot summer day, a nickel could buy you one of the great simple pleasures of American childhood. A Popsicle at a convenience store today costs around $1.50, and at a theme park or ballgame, expect to pay $5.00 or more.
Inflation from 1950 to today means that $1 in 1950 is worth approximately $13 today. So that nickel of 1950 is the equivalent of about 65 cents now — still much less than what most of these items cost.
The numbers tell one story. But the real story is about something harder to quantify: a time when ordinary pleasures were within reach of ordinary people, when a child's weekly allowance of a quarter felt like real wealth, and when a nickel in your pocket meant something.