Prices and Wages by Decade: 1840-1849
Links to government documents and primary sources listing retail prices for products and services, as well as wages for common occupations.
Wages in the United States, 1840-1849
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for WOMEN
in INDIVIDUAL STATES
in FOREIGN COUNTRIES
WAGES in the 1840s - ANALYSIS
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FOOD
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
CLOTHING
TOOLS and BUILDING MATERIALS
BOARDING HOUSE RATES
SERVICES
TRANSPORTATION
EDUCATION
HEALTH
HOUSING
PRICES in FOREIGN COUNTRIES
WAGES -- GENERAL SOURCES
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Unskilled occupations - Average wages, 1840-1891Shows average daily wage earnings for a sample of laborers, yard hands, watchmen, teamsters, quarrymen, coal-heavers, helpers, unskilled factory operatives, without any geographic breakouts. Source: Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 13 (1905).
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Wages from colonial times to 1928Extensive tables show average wages paid each year for a variety of occupations, reported by state and sometimes by city, often broken out by sex, in the following industries:
- Building trades
- Wages for bricklayers, carpenters, stationary engineers, stationary firemen, hod carriers, marble cutters, masons, painters and plasterers.
- Farm labor
- Glass and clay products
- Wages for glass blowers and potters.
- Iron and steel workers
- Wages for furnace keepers, bar mill rollers and roughers and puddlers.
- Laborers
- Metal trades
- Wages for blacksmiths, boiler makers, lathe hands, machinists, millwrights, iron molders and pattern makers.
- Mining
- Wages for coal miners and iron miners.
- Printing and publishing
- Wages for press feeders, compositors and pressmen.
- Cotton textiles
- Wages for doffers, drawers-in, speeder tenders, spinners and weavers.
- Hosiery and underwear manufacture
- Transportation industry wages
- Wages for railroad brakemen, conductors for passenger railroads, conductors for freight railroads, locomotive engineers and firemen and teamsters.
- Woodworking trades
- Wages for cabinet makers, coopers, sawyers and woodworkers.
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Farm labor wages in selected states in the 1840sShows wages paid on some farms in Rhode Island, New York state and New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Oregon. Source: USDA publication Farm Labor in the United States published 1892.
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Farmers', farm laborers' and husbandmens' wages, 1845Two-page table shows data collected from twenty states including Michigan, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky as well as the eastern and southern states.
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Farm labor in Vermont - Daily wages, 1830s-1860sTable 26 shows daily wages for laborers, with board. The complete chart shows wage data for every year from 1780-1937; the explanation begins on page 43. Source: Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station.
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Navy pay charts (U.S.) - 1814-1893This is not a government website but it does a good job of organizing a complex topic. If you need original government documents showing pay, contact us.
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Congressional salaries, 1789-presentHistorical chart shows salaries of members of the U.S. Congress, along with dates of enactment and statutory authority for each pay increase.
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Monthly wages by occupation and sex, 1840-1891Reports monthly wages paid in January and July of each year to individual, unnamed male and female employees in a variety of jobs at selected establishments in the northeast U.S. Not all listings date back to 1840, so it is recommended to use the "Search in this Text" box to quickly find the right pages. This advantage of the source is that it tracks how much individual businesses paid for various jobs over several decades, and it shows what was paid to male and female employees, sometimes in the same job title (see example). Pay for apprentices or "learners" are listed separately from more experienced staff. Industries/states covered: agricultural implement manufacture (MA), brewers (NY), book and newspaper publishers (CT, NY, MD), building trades (CT, MD, MA, NJ, NY, PA, RI), railroad car and ship building (DE), wagon and carriage manufacture (NY), city public works (MA, NY, PA) and cotton milling (MA). Source: 1893 report of the U.S. Congressional Committee on Finance titled "Wholesale prices, wages and transportation."
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Women's wages in textile factories, 1833-1850Federal report states that "the average wages of women in textile factories from 1833-1850 appear to have been $2 a week plus board, which varied from $1.25 to $1.50 a week."
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Women's wages as domestic servants in 1845, New YorkHousehold servants in New York were said to have been paid between $4.00-10.00 per month, according to this congressional report on the history of women in the labor force.
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Women's wages for domestic service and tailoring, 1840Notes that there were only seven vocations outside the home open to women (p.12). Source: Early Factory Labor in New England, from the 14th Annual Report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor.
Wages reported at State and Local Levels, 1840-1849
WAGES reported at the STATE and LOCAL LEVEL, 1840s -- Multiple States
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Governors, state officials, legislators and judges' pay by state, 1830-1860Find salary information listed under state names in the tables of contents for this source, the American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge. Enter the page number found in the table of contents in the "Jump to page" box. This is not a government document.
WAGES in CALIFORNIA, 1840s
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San Francisco wages in 1849The Gold Rush brought about extreme wage inflation. "Laborers' wages were a dollar an hour; skilled mechanics received from $12 to $20 per day. The carpenters struck work because they were getting only $12 a day, and insisted on being paid $16." Source: Annals of San Francisco, published 1855.
WAGES in MASSACHUSETTS, 1840s
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Wages by occupation in Massachusetts (1840s)Click "MORE..." to see wage breakouts for 29 occupations.
WAGES in MISSOURI, 1840s
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Bank job salaries in Missouri, 1844-1846Shows monthly pay to bank cashiers, tellers, clerks, bookkeepers, porters, watchmen and bank administrators at the State Bank of Missouri at St. Louis and its branches in other Missouri towns. Table extends from page 74-122.
WAGES in NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1840s
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New Hampshire wages, 1840sThe 1872 Report of Commissioners on Bureau of Labor Statistics to the [New Hampshire] Legislature is an incredibly rich source of prices dating from the 1840s; pages 45-46 focus on 1840-1850.
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Clergy salary in 1846This publication tells a Congregational reverend's salary for 1846 in Chester and for a minister in Candia from 1833-1841 and 1841-1854. Source: History of old Chester [N.H.] from 1719 to 1869 by Benjamin Chase (1869).
Wages in Foreign Countries, 1840-1849
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Worldwide wages by occupation, 1840sShows average daily wages for males and females by occupation, state and country. Source: A Compilation of Wages in Commercial Countries from Official Sources, Volume I and Volume II. Issued as the 15th Annual Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Labor (1900). Click "More..." for direct links to each occupation...
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Europe - Farm wages, 1848American journalist John Aiken collected farm wage data for Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Belgium and Germany. About Ireland he wrote "Wages in Ireland are exceedingly low in every department of industry. In agriculture, any number of men can be employed at from nine to twelve pence sterling a day, and a woman at half that sum." This is not a government source.
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France - Wages, 1840sData and discussion are provided in the "Wages" entry in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, 10th edition, vol. 33, p. 724-726 (source)
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Great Britain and Ireland - Factory and agricultural wages, 1847American journalist John Aiken visited England, Ireland and Scotland in the Autumn of 1847 and reported wages being paid to factory workers in Belfast, Manchester, Leeds, Grenock and Glasgow, and compared these wages to those being paid in Massachusetts. Farm labor wages are also mentioned, as well as the cost for room and board and to rent farm land. See further background in the Notes section of the book. This is not a government source.
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United Kingdom - Wages, 1810-1886Extensive, 437-page government report indicates detailed wages by occupation in many locations throughout the UK. Wages are reported in British currency.
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Ireland - Wages by county, ca. 1846This book gives anecdotal evidence of wages in each county around 1845-1846. In other chapters, it tells typical amounts required for rent and the cost for articles of clothing. Source: Report on the Irish Coercion Bill, Causes of Discontent in Ireland, Condition of its People...by T. M. Ray, printed in Dublin in 1846. See title page.
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Ireland - Wages and cost of living, 1770s-1890sThere is data on 1840s wages in Ireland in the book Wages in the United Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century published in Cambridge in 1900. This chapter on Ireland discusses not only wages, but discusses the difficulty of finding work, number of hours typically worked, the daily cost of food and ways that the Irish supplemented their income with family "potato patches," etc. This chapter extends from pages 45-53.
Wages, 1840s - Analysis
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Nineteenth Century Wage Trends30-page booklet reviews overall wage trends from 1800-1899. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Staff Paper #2.
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Online calculator: Present-day purchasing power of historic monetary amountsThe MeasuringWorth.com website provides online calculators, guides and tutorials to help researchers understand historic monetary purchases and payments in present-day terms, for the United States, Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
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"How Much is that in Real Money? A Historical Price Index..."Provides explanations and charts to help users calculate the current value of historic dollar amounts. Source: Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Association, Vol. 101 #2. Source
Prices in the United States, 1840-1849
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Massachusetts - Prices for foodSource: Sixteenth annual report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, for 1885. Click "more..." for detail.
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Selected food prices in South Carolina, 1846Robert's Prices Current shows what appear to be retail prices for coffee, tea, sugar, molasses, rice, bacon and crackers, as well as some personal and household items.
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New York market - Prices of staple items, 1840sThis U.S. Treasury document shows prices for each month as well as yearly averages from 1825-1863 for flour, rice, fruits, fish, pork, beef, butter, cheese, salt, sugar, molasses, whiskey, brandy, wine, gin, rum, coffee, tea, tobacco, candles, hides, furs, leather, nails, whalebone, wool and more. Items are priced are by the barrel or the ton are likely wholesale prices.
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New York (Albany) - Price of wheat and fowls, 1793-1846Table reports annual data for price of wheat and fowls as well as wages paid for one day's service for every year from 1793-1846.
Food prices in the MIDWEST, 1840s
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Ohio food prices by city, 1840sPrices in Cincinnati are shown on pages 801-804. Prices in Columbus are on pages 816-818. Prices in Cleveland are on pp. 830-831. All are part of a longer table that shows annual price data from 1825-1892. Source: Ohio Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17th Annual Report.
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Ohio prices, 1830-1862Table shows the price of coffee, sugar and tallow candles by the pound; corn and wheat by the bushel and hogs per each 100 pounds for each of these years: 1830, 1832, 1835, 1838, 1840, 1845, 1847, 1850, 1853, 1855, 1858, 1860, 1862. Source: Ohio Commissioner of Statistics, 7th Annual Report (1863).
Food prices in the WESTERN U.S., 1840s
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San Francisco food prices during Gold Rush, May 1849The 1855 book Annals of San Francisco cites examples of price inflation for food, tools, medicine, housing and more at the height of the Gold Rush. Page 253 in the chapter titled "1849" provides greater price detail for foods and services. Page 641 discusses typical restaurant prices. This is not a government document.
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Oregon prices, 1846Newspaper printed a letter from an Oregon emigrant citing high prices for coffee, sugar, salt, beef and pork as well as shoes, boots, window glass, hand tools and more. See additional corroboration from another emigrant's letter printed in a different newspaper.
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Prices of common items, 1849Chapter 1 of Emigrant's Guide to California (published 1849) lists prices of guns and pistols, powder, lead, matches , etc. Also shows price of a wagon, harness, wagon cover, etc. This source also tells the typical prices for oxen and mules.
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Massachusetts - Prices for household itemsSource: Sixteenth annual report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, for 1885.
- Furniture - Bedsteads, bed cords, bureaus, tables and chairs, etc.
- Carpet
- Cutlery - Prices for table knives and forks, and pocket knives
- Paper
- Tallow, candles, soap, etc.
- Oils for Illumination - to light lamps and lanterns
- Fuel - Charcoal, oak wood, pine wood, coal, etc.
- Miscellaneous, not elsewhere classified - Prices for brooms, brass kettles, brick, matches, tubs, tumblers, clocks, candlesticks, silver watches, feathers (by the pound), wine glasses and more.
- Tobacco and snuff - Prices for cigars by the dozen, and tobacco and snuff by the pound or (sometimes) ounce.
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San Francisco - Price of boots in 1849The Gold Rush brought about extreme price inflation in San Francisco. "Coarse boots...could not be purchased for less than $30-40 per pair, while superior ones of the same class were sold for more than $100." Source: Annals of San Francisco published 1855.
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Hat prices, 1846Gentlemen's white beaver broad brimmed hats cost $2 to $6, and wool hats were 75 cents according to Robert's Prices Current.
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Men's tailored clothing prices in NYC, 1843Newspaper advertisement shows one establishment's prices for men's coats, vests, pants, etc.
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Massachusetts - Prices for clothing and sewing suppliesSource: Sixteenth annual report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, for 1885. Click "more..." for direct links.
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Materials and cost of labor to build a log house on a prairie, 1844On pages 26-28, this emigrant's guide describes all the materials and supplies needed to build a log house in the American midwest. It also gives itemized estimates of the hours and cost of labor needed to construct the dwelling. The writer makes reference to the year 1844 on page 25, so it appears the figures were most likely gathered in the early 1840s. Because this is not a government document, it is best to seek additional primary sources to corroborate the figures.
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Window glass and nail prices, 1846Window panes cost approximately 4-6 cents each, depending on size, according to Robert's Prices Current.
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Massachusetts - Prices for hardware and building materialsSource: Sixteenth annual report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, for 1885.
- Tools and implements
- Prices for shoe knives and shovels.
- Tacks, brads and nails
- Priced by the pound.
- Tools and implements
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New York City hotel rates, 1846List starts on page 103, "Dimensions and cost of several hotels." Directory also tells the location of each hotel. This is not a government document.
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San Francisco boarding rates in 1849See chapter titled "1849" and the chapter titled "Hotels, Restaurants and Boarding Houses," especially page 641 for typical restaurant prices and page 651 for hotel prices from 1849-1854 in the book Annals of San Francisco, published 1855.
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Boarding house rates in Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1848American journalist John Aiken reported that cost for room and board for employees of the Lawrence Manufacturing Company was deducted from their wages and paid directly to the boarding house keepers. The rate for men was $1.75 per week, and $1.25 per week for women.
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Price of a haircut and shave -- New York, 1840sBarbershop and hair salon prices advertised in newspapers:
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Price of a newspaper or newspaper subscriptionUse the Library of Congress' "Chronicling America" website to find newspaper prices. The price is usually in the masthead or on the second page, together with publisher details.
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Postage rates for letters mailed in the U.S., 1792-1863Source: Historian of the United States Postal Service.
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Postage to Europe and domestic telegraph prices - 1847The appendix of this travel guide lists postage for letters and newspapers bound for Europe aboard ships as well as telegraph prices on the New York and Buffalo, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and New York and Washington Telegraph Lines.
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Passenger fare to travel west from NYC by boat, 1840sEmigrant's Guide published in 1848 shows detailed fares to travel by waterways and canals from New York City to Chicago Illinois, and to cities in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky. Shows both cabin and steerage fares and costs for excess luggage.
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Canal boat, steamboat, railroad and stagecoach fares - 1844This travel guide includes fares from Albany to Buffalo by railroad; on canal packet boats vie the Erie, Oswego, Cayugy and Seneca, Genesee Valley Canals (listed on pages 3 and 4 with the Syracuse to Oswego route detailed on p.28); on steamboat lines leaving Buffalo bound for Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Barcelona (more details on each route given on pages 61 & 62); aboard steam propellers from Buffalo to Chicago; and via stages leaving Rochester.
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Railroad and steamboat fare from New York, 1845This guide to New York's railways, steamboats, canals, and stare routes includes many fare tables. From this Table of Contents, jump to a desired page.
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Railroad and steamboat fare, 1847This travel guide includes railroad and steamboat fares for many routes, use the table of contents and jump to a destination of interest. The appendix also shows fares for Atlantic passages as well as values of foreign money.
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Railroad fares - Comparative rates in the U.S., 1847Source: American Railroad Journal, Nov 20, 1847 issue, p. 738.
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Railroad passenger fares, 1848USDA statistical publication shows interstate railroad passenger fares for various destinations leaving from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. See title page of this source.
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Railroad passenger fare in Michigan, 1849Chart shows fares from Detroit to other cities in Michigan as of 1849, traveling in first and second class.
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Railroad and stage coach passenger fare in MassachusettsSource compares fares on the Boston-Lowell lines for both stage coach and railroad, for the years 1835, 1844, 1845 and 1848. Source: state legislative testimony.
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Travel to California in 1849The Emigrant's Guide to California gives detailed prices for all manner of conveyances from New York to California, telling the costs or fare for each leg of the journey. Also details the price of supplies and equipment deemed necessary for the trip.
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Traveling to New Mexico, California, and Oregon - 1849This emigrant's guide details travel routes, including prices, from New York to New Mexico, California, and Oregon. It includes routes from New York to St. Louis then discusses route options for continuing west.
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New York - Hackney coaches & fare to Connecticut, 1841This travel guide shows hackney coach rates as well as fare to travel from New York to Hartford and New Haven by steamboat or rail. For hackney fares in 1846, see The Great metropolis: or New-York almanac.
PRICES for BOOKS, 1840s
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Book prices in the United States - 1847The American Booksellers' Complete Reference Trade List shows prices of books published in the U.S. as of the mid-1840s. Includes school books. This is not a government document.
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Harper's Illustrated Catalogue... of General Literature, 1847Shows book titles, descriptions and prices. Includes a section showing college and school books.
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California - Doctor's fees in gold mines region, 1848"An ounce of gold is the fee generally given" [for a doctor consultation] according to the 1849 publication Four months among the gold-finders in California.
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Connecticut - Physician's fees, 1842This fee table, found it the Constitution and by-laws of the the New Haven Medical Association, was adopted in 1842.
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Georgia - Medical service rate chart, 1841This is the fee bill established by the physicians of Macon (GA); it lists prices for practices of medicine, midwifery and surgery. Source: Botanico-Medical Recorder Vol. 9 No. 21, July 1841.
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Indiana - Doctor's fees, 1845-1850This list of charges were found in the books of a Sullivan county doctor dating from 1845-1850; it includes medical services and medicines and also details how payments were made in cash, notes, material, and services. Source: Source: A medical history of Sullivan county, Indiana, by James B. Maple, M.D. (1936).
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Michigan - Medical fees in Detroit, 1848The fee bill of the Detroit Sydenham Association seen here lists charges for medical services such as verbal and written advice, visits with and without a prescription, vaccination, applying leeches, bleeding, midwifery, amputation, tapping for dropsy, post mortem examinations, and more. Source: The Lancet, 1848 volume 2, p.319.
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Pennsylvania - Medical service charges in Philadelphia, 1848This table of charges established by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1848; it set price ranges for the professional services performed by Fellows of the College. Source: Summary of the transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
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Cost to build homes, 1847These volumes show many house drawings, floor plans, design details, specifications, and cost to build assuming certain wage rates. Provides significant detail on the quantities and costs of component building materials such as shingles and window glass. Source: The architect : a series of original designs for domestic and ornamental cottages and villas... Volume I and Volume II, both published in 1851 but copyrighted in 1847.
Estimated cost to build this 1847 house
Prices in Foreign Countries, 1840-1849
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England - Household income and expenditures in Manchester, 1836 and 1841Twelve Manchester families' income and expenditures are listed individually on pages 323-332. Shows how much each family spent per week on rent, various food items, coffee, tea, salt, soap, candles, etc. Source: Journal of the Statistical Society of London.
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England and Wales - Cost of food and fuel supplied to workhouses, 1847Table shows the average contract prices of the provisions and fuel supplied to the workhouses in England and Wales. One column shows "Average weekly cost per head of in-door paupers" for food and clothing. Shows the price paid by workhouses for wheat bread, meats, butter, cheese, potatoes, peas, oatmeal, candles, soap, tea, sugar, milk; and coal for fuel.
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England - Bread prices, 1817-1846Shows average prices of bread in England for each year from 1660-1899 on pages 27-35. Source: Three Centuries of Prices of Wheat, Flour and Bread (not a government document). The introduction to this table explains that these prices are for the type of bread consumed by lower middle classes, not the "fancy bread." Price sources are provided on page 21-22.
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Average house rent in Great Britain, 1821-1881Also calculates average house rent per house inhabitant. Does not include Ireland. Amounts shown in British currency. Source: Mulhill's Dictionary of Statistics, p. 236.
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England - Grain prices (average monthly) 1840-1853Average monthly prices calculated from figures printed in the London Gazette newspaper, for an "imperial quarter" of wheat, barley or oats. Source: Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom.
TAXES
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Duties (taxes) in Great Britain, 1842Property tax was based on the number of windows in houses. Duties also had to be paid by those who owned horses, dogs, carriages, had servants, wore hair powder, or employed waiters or coachmen on pages 93-95 of this British Almanac.
PRICES in IRELAND, 1840s
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Ireland - Prices by county, ca. 1846In the1846 Dublin publication titled Report on the Irish Coercion Bill, Causes of Discontent in Ireland, Condition of its People..., T. M. Ray reports anecdotal evidence of rents and the price for clothing in Ireland around 1845-1846. It also indicates consumer expenditures, or how much they were spending overall for clothing and other necessities annually -- see example of clothing expenditures in County Wicklow; with more examples scattered through pages 99-106. Although there is a chapter on food, it gives only a little price data, such as the price of salt herrings. This is not a government document.
PRICES in ITALY, 1840s
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Italy - Prices of wheat, bread, etc. in Milan, 1801 to 1908Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, No. 87, Volume XX. Published March 1910.
PRICES in SWEDEN, 1840s
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Cereal (wheat, rye, barley, oats) prices in Sweden, 1836-1900This table shows average prices for wheat, rye, barley, and oats in Sweden for 1836 to 1900. Yearly consumption per inhabitant for wheat and rye can be found in another table on page 156 of this book.
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