Examines what things have cost and how much money people have had to buy them, recording the actual prices of thousands of items that consumers purchased from the Civil War to the present, along with facts about investment options and income opportunities. Draws on over 500 sources, including trade cards, newspapers, magazines, catalogues, direct-mail letters, and posters. The first of the five chronological chapters, covering up to 1899, is in a different format because the foundations for a national consumer economy were just being established and little in the way of public advertisements or government statistics were produced. The subsequent chapters begin with a background essay describing the major social and economic forces of the period, then report prices and income in subchapters on such areas as investments, standard incomes, food, and amusements. There is no index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR