The Cost of Goods the Year You Were Born

Thanks to inflation, the cost of basic goods has risen every decade. Today, a single apple costs nearly 50 cents. A carton of eggs runs for about $2.50 and a gallon of milk nearly $4. Even a garden-variety bottle of wine will set you back about $10 in 2016 — and we're talking about the bottom shelf at the grocery store, not a 1979 Bordeaux.

With this in mind, the data geeks at FindTheData rounded up the prices for six popular items for every year from 1940 through today. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we collected the average price of each item.*

Specifically, we tracked the cost of an apple, a pound of coffee, a pound of chicken, a dozen eggs, a bottle of wine and a gallon of whole milk.

For each year, we'll list the price of each item, as well as highlighting a famous event that defined the year. See how much these goods cost in the year you were born, then compare to the prices you see in the grocery store today.

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