Check out this old receipt from the St. Paul Daily News.This crumbling piece of paper fell out from behind a trim board that I had removed to install a door bell.
It's interesting in a number of ways. First of all, it's old. There is no specific year listed, but the receipt form says "191__." So unless the paper carrier was using a really outdated pad, this receipt is probably from the 1910s.
I also like the reference to "the boy." No chance a girl would be delivering the paper, I guess. And the prices! Get the paper for $.07 per week or $3.50 a year. Adjusted for inflation using this calculator, that's about $75 per year today.
The St. Paul Daily News is long gone, of course. The St. Paul Public Library informs me here that three publications used the name St. Paul Daily News, but only one was printed during the time indicated on this receipt. That Daily News lived from 1900 to 1938. My house was built in 1903.
Here's a copy of my house's building permit. The Ramsey County Historical Society maintains an archive of permits issued from 1883 to 1975. You can get a copy of a permit for a small fee. Info on the process here.
Love how they were saving paper in 1903 ... not the overwrite of "18__."
$3,500 when built, huh? The calculator tells me the house is worth just south of $79,000 today. The market that bad? ;-)
Posted by: mattmurdock | February 12, 2009 at 08:14 PM