Came across some letters from the 1830’s that relatives sent to England from Oneida NY before they moved to SE Wisconsin in 1836. He wrote of getting a great price for hops at $18.00 per hundred weight with a low of $11.00. If I understand weights and measures there are 1600 oz. in a hundred weight so what we pay $1.75 an ounce retail today as a tenant farmer he got 11 to 18 cents a pound to produce.
Stupid inflation…
On the other hand, if you want to relive your relative’s experience I would gladly buy some hops from you for 11-18 cents a pound. Hell, I’ll even up it to a quarter and pay for shipping!
yes, but how far did 11-18 cents go back then?
According to various inflation calculators, what cost 18 cents in 1830 had roughly the buying power of $4.50 in today’s dollars.
So in real terms the prices he was getting on bulk hops were 60%-160% higher than the retail price I’m used to seeing for single-ounce packets. Or 175%-350% higher for hops sold by the pound.
For another interesting example of inflation, a book I’m reading just mentioned a sheriff of London buying 35 acres of land in Shoreditch for £20.
I’m just wondering if the hops were sold wet or dry. I don’t think the small farms had their own hop kiln and would probably sell them to a middle man for processing. Kind of like grain to mill, mill to retail. My first experience raising hops, my first harvest was 2.6 lbs. wet which gave me 11.6 oz. dry. Very roughly 3 to 1. That gives a final cost of approx. $1.50 an oz. or right where we are now.
