Quick: How much was a bar of soap in 1917? A box of corn flakes? A roll of toilet paper?
If you were at The Price Was Right on Friday at the Morristown & Township Library, no hints, please!
We’ll say this much: If Drew Carey ever cashes out as host of The Price Is Right on CBS, Stephen Brunskill and his fellow librarians are ready to step in.
Friday’s version at the library had patrons guessing prices from 1917, the year the present library opened to the public.
The other big story that year was America’s entry into World War I. A fascinating exhibit on the second floor revisits that pivotal event and its impact on Morristown.
Okay, enough suspense.
A “99 and 44/100ths percent pure” bar of Ivory Soap would have set you back 7 cents during Woodrow Wilson’s second term.
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes sold for 8 cents a box.
And a roll of “soft as linen, snowy white, and very absorbent” Scott toilet tissue cost a whopping dime.
Ah, the good old days!
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
