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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
Wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Guys, get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottle of water, you know the routine. Let's see what's happening.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.88 a bushel. 550lb steer calf $5 and a nickel, $5.05 Butcher Hog in Iowa 59¢ a pound, and a 100lb lamb that's fat in Billings $2.72 a pound. But guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:I remember when a candy bar was a nickel. A nickel. Now some of you remember just as well as I. I was talking with Jeff Hould. Jeff reminded me that down at Buttery's, that's now Albertsons right here in Malta, Montana, used to be the Buttery store.
OK Solberg:They would have a special going on often where you could get 6 candy bars for a quarter. That's buy five get one free. Jeff remembers over there at Saint Mary's, you were told for Christmas, just spend a dollar on the gift for your friend. You drew names. Right?
OK Solberg:And a Christmas present, don't spend more than a dollar. Well, Jeff said go to Buttery's with that dollar and get 24 full size candy bars for your friend, and that made a wonderful Christmas present, and you only spent a dollar. A candy bar for a nickel and don't forget 6 for a quarter at Buttery's.
OK Solberg:Let's look at the nickel candy bar today, right after our bible verse. Listen. They are sweeter than honey than honey from the honeycomb. Psalm 19:10 Oh, wait. Since Buttery's would give you a 6 for the price of one, I'll give you 2 bible verses for the price of one. In Proverbs 25:16 it says, if you find honey, eat just enough. Too much of it and you will vomit. Good advice.
OK Solberg:So remember, if your friend gets you 24 candy bars from Buttery's, don't eat them all at once. Now listen to what I found.
OK Solberg:Americans once measured childhood not by birthdays, but by nickels. Five bright scents clutched in a small hand, enough for a trolley ride, enough for a newspaper, or the finest treasure in the corner drugstore case, a chocolate candy bar. And for an astounding stretch of American history, that treasure cost exactly the same amount, a nickel. Now here's the curious part of the story. The standard American chocolate bar, especially those made by companies like Hershey's, was deliberately priced at 5¢ beginning around the year 1900.
OK Solberg:Can you believe it? A price that quickly became the industry standard across The United States. By the time 1910 rolled around, the nickel candy bar was just common. It was expected Drugs drugstores, 5 and dime counters, and a school corner candy shop all stocked them. For a nickel, a boy or girl could buy a bar of chocolate, sometimes larger than the one sold today.
OK Solberg:Now think about this. Between 1910 and the late 1960's American and America endured 2 world wars, the great depression, rationing, labor shortages, and inflation. Yet, yet, the price of a standard candy bar in many stores remained incredibly 5¢ for decades. How could that be? Well, manufacturers had a trick.
OK Solberg:Instead of raising the price, they quietly reduced the size of the bar. Okay? End of quote for now. But even though they shrunk it a little, it still stayed a nickel. It is a remarkable piece of history.
OK Solberg:Okay. The kids of today can hardly believe that that was possible. But you and I, well, believe it. We remember it. Listen as I continue to read.
OK Solberg:Store owners loved the simplicity of the nickel price. Children understood it instantly. And the coin itself, the sturdy American 5¢ piece, became almost synonymous with candy. But not everywhere. Mm-mm.
OK Solberg:Not everywhere. Travel north of the border to Canada in the year 1947 and you'll find something remarkable. Candy bars there suddenly jump from 5¢ to 8¢. I bet you didn't know that. A price increase of more than 60%.
OK Solberg:Are you kidding? And the customers most outraged were not businessmen, they were children. Students in Ladysmith, British Columbia organized protests and boycott in in what newspapers called the chocolate candy bar strike in 1947.
OK Solberg:Guys, it's true. Pull up the pictures. There those kids are standing with posters. It's a real thing. They marched with signs that read, don't be a sucker, and they demanded the return of the nickel candy bar. For a few spirited weeks, youngsters across Canada joined the protest, but guess what?
OK Solberg:Guess who won? The manufacturers held firm. The price stayed at 8¢. Meanwhile, in The United States, the nickel candy bar stubbornly survived. End of quote, interesting history, and many of us lived it.
OK Solberg:We saw it. We ate it. And we enjoyed it. Then as you know, all good things must come to an end. And finally, in 1969, while the Archie's were singing sugar sugar and every rough neck out there was saying it just doesn't get any better than this, right like that, the price went to a dime double overnight.
OK Solberg:Oh, yeah. It's fun to remember. So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.