[PW] A dime a dozen

[Ivan Van Laningham]

Hi All--
I seem to recall from my own research into homesteading in 1870s Kansas 
and Nebraska that the usual price of eggs was in the vicinity of 10 
cents.  _Sod-House Days: Letters from a Kansas Homesteader, 1877-78_, by 
Howard Ruede (http://tinyurl.com/2re8q9), lists prices paid for lots of 
food items.  Unfortunately I don't own it (libraries like to have their 
books back); perhaps someone out there has access to it.

Metta,
Ivan

Andrew Warren wrote:
> John Henderson wrote:
> 
>> my own speculation is based on the fact that even during the time
>> periods when the average price of eggs ranged from 30 cents or
>> more, in the spring eggs are most plentiful, and suppliers need
>> to unload them in a hurry (especially in a non-refrigerator era).
>> Therefore, at certain times, eggs might easily have [been] looked
>> down upon as only worth a dime a dozen.
> 
> John:
> 
> I think it's reasonable to assume that the "dozen" in "a dime a dozen"
> are indeed eggs, since eggs cost little to produce -- "chickenfeed"
> colloquially means "a trifling sum of money", right? -- but I'd
> speculate that the phrase refers not to the springtime-discounted price,
> but to the USUAL price.
> 
> I don't think "a dime a dozen" means "as cheap as eggs when eggs are
> cheap"; rather, I suspect that it must mean "even cheaper than eggs".
> 
> No definitive basis for that conclusion or any of the assumptions made
> in reaching it; just my opinion.
> 
> -Andrew
> 
> === Andrew Warren  - awarren at synaptics.com
> === Synaptics, Inc - Santa Clara, CA
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-- 
Ivan Van Laningham
God N Locomotive Works
http://www.pauahtun.org/
http://www.python.org/workshops/1998-11/proceedings/papers/laningham/laningham.html
Army Signal Corps:  Cu Chi, Class of '70
Author:  Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours