# How Big A Deal Was Roast Beef In the 50s **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509 "2009-12-16T19:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/41 "2009-12-19T00:18:31Z")
I think another thing about roast beef might be this. A roast is pretty big if you are not feeding too many people. When you have a roast, there is plenty of meat to eat. You get to eat as much MEAT as you want. Mom will make do with whats left over later. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/42 "2009-12-19T00:33:09Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > When I married my ex-wife I about had to divorce her one month into the marriage (instead of five years later). > > She threw a pot roast in the crock pot with potatos and all sorts of veggies. You know when you cook a pot roast in the crock pot how it make’s that awesome savory broth? > > Yeah, she pours that down the sink when the roast is done!! :smack: I refused to marry my ex-wife. I learned my lesson the _first_ time around. (badda boom, badda bing ;)) The introduction of the crock pot in the 70s actually extended my marriage. We both worked, so we’d prep the night before then start it in the morning before going to work. I (now single) still like to do that. Coming home to that smell is like being in love. When I was growing up in the 50s _nobody_ in our circle (dad ws a delivery man, mom was a mom) had meat every night. We got soup bones and chicken wings free from the butcher. I remember breaking the bones with a hammer. Sunday dinner was often Glorified Pork Chops. My mom was a lousy cook, but dad did good. BTW: [recipe](http://www.campbellkitchen.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?recipeId=24330&ref=%2fSearchRecipesResult.aspx%3fSearchType%3d1%26q%3dglorified%2bpork%2bchops). Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/43 "2009-12-19T03:14:09Z")
Another thing…Roast Beast will take a while to prep and cook. Steaks can be marinated, but they can also be unwrapped and thrown on the grill or in the skillet in a matter of seconds. So the upshot of this is that you have to plan to roast a hunk of Beast. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/44 "2009-12-19T03:26:26Z")
This [method](http://www.americastestkitchentv.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=4190&iSeason=8) for frying up a steak is so good, I just have to share it here. It’s at America’s Test Kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/45 "2009-12-19T03:58:21Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > How much more expensive was chicken and beef compared to pork in the olden days? Twice as much? Thrice? I tried to find an old butcher shop ad featuring different meats’ prices, but came up short. However, [this page](http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50sfood.html) may be of some interest. Of course, the regional and temporal differences prohibit direct comparisons, but here are some highlights: > [@](#): > > Chickens 43 cents per pound New Hampshire 1950 > > Chuck Roast 59 cents per pound Florida 1952 > > Hamburger meat 89 cents for 3 pounds Ohio 1957 > > Porterhouse Steak 95 cents lb Maine 1950 > > Pork Roast 39 cents per pound Florida 1952 > > Rib Roast 29 cents per pound Wisconsin 1954 > > Sirloin Steak 55 cents per pound Florida 1952 > > T Bone Steak 59 cents per pound New Hampshire 1950 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/46 "2009-12-19T20:09:09Z")
We ate a lot of pastas, chicken, turkey, wild fish and game. I don’t recall beef being all that much more expensive - more that we couldn’t raise it or find it ourselves. Plus, due to lack of practice, my mother wasn’t quite as good with that as she was other things. It was a heck of a treat though! I remember things changing around the first part of the 60s except for times when work was tough or the family was having problems. By say 1965 I would say we had some form of cow (other than hamburger/meatloaf) at least once a week. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/47 "2009-12-19T21:25:02Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > Ha, you beat me to it! 🙂 > > Now I’m second-guessing myself–I always thought “pudding” in that context meant “dessert” (which kind of makes sense) but maybe it meant Yorkshire pudding. In the context “No pudding if you don’t eat your meat” it would be a dessert. Remember, the emphasis with Yorkshire pudding was more the other way around: if you don’t eat up your pudding, no (or less) meat. From James Herriot’s vet books, I know that it was quite the done thing to serve pudding in both senses at the same meal. A little meat could be eked out with generous amounts of Yorkshire pudding and gravy, and any remaining hunger addressed with a big dish of rice pudding: again, relatively cheap grain and milk as the major source of calories. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/48 "2009-12-19T21:56:14Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > I tried to find an old butcher shop ad featuring different meats’ prices, but came up short. However, [this page](http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50sfood.html) may be of some interest. Of course, the regional and temporal differences prohibit direct comparisons, but here are some highlights: > Chickens 43 cents per pound New Hampshire 1950 > > Chuck Roast 59 cents per pound Florida 1952 > > Hamburger meat 89 cents for 3 pounds Ohio 1957 > > Porterhouse Steak 95 cents lb Maine 1950 > > Pork Roast 39 cents per pound Florida 1952 > > Rib Roast 29 cents per pound Wisconsin 1954 > > Sirloin Steak 55 cents per pound Florida 1952 > > T Bone Steak 59 cents per pound New Hampshire 1950 For some [perspective](http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070602210342AAvnSEe) here’s something about wages around that time. An example from that site: > [@](#): > > In the 1940’s, my Father made approximately $125 dollars a month, we lived well. There was no minimum wage law. Hamburger was comparitively cheap back then, but it was also high in fat. We also had ground round at a higher price. Snobs ate ground round. 😛 IIRC, “working poor” are better off now than we were then. Expect no nostalgia from me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/49 "2009-12-19T23:01:49Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > We also had ground round ‘Ground round’ always struck me as an archaic term. I knew what it was, growing up; but ‘nobody’ ever called it that. My mom worked at Montgomery Field, and my dad learned to fly there. Another airport in the area is Brown Field. People joked that pilots would slip up when calling Brown Ground [Control]. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/50 "2009-12-19T23:19:04Z")
During the 1940s and 1950s we lived with my mother’s father; he raised chickens so chicken wasn’t a big deal with us. We ate a lot of liver and onions; I loved that meal then and now. A large glazed ham with pineapple slices on Sunday wasn’t uncommon but roast beef was a special treat and my mother made the best roast beef hash I’ve ever tasted. We also ate a lot of pork; quite a few people in my hometown kept pigs and other families sometimes invested in them or bought them outright with the understanding that someone else would raise them and get half a pig for his trouble. We also ate a fair amount of fish as I was an avid fisherman in my youth. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/51 "2009-12-19T23:21:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Ground round’ always struck me as an archaic term. I knew what it was, growing up; but ‘nobody’ ever called it that. > > My mom worked at Montgomery Field, and my dad learned to fly there. Another airport in the area is Brown Field. People joked that pilots would slip up when calling Brown Ground [Control]. Back then it was ground round steak or roast. It was much leaner than the common 30% fat hamburger. My mother’s boyfriend, after my father died, ate it raw. He also bought it for burgers for us. We thought we were in hog heaven, and bragged to our friends. Real classy, huh? We put velveeta on it for cheeseburgers. :eek: Nice guy. He died in a car crash. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/52 "2009-12-20T02:12:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Back then it was ground round steak or roast. It was much leaner than the common 30% fat hamburger. Even today, if you buy ground beef, you’re getting the cheaper cuts, and the cheapest per pound will have a higher percentage of fat. If you want a better burger, you have to read the packages. Ground round is all right, but I think that ground chuck is the most flavorful. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/53 "2009-12-20T02:26:43Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Even today, if you buy ground beef, you’re getting the cheaper cuts, and the cheapest per pound will have a higher percentage of fat. If you want a better burger, you have to read the packages. Ground round is all right, but I think that ground chuck is the most flavorful. I agree, but not _too_ lean. I like it about 85-90%, prefer 85. I cook it barely medium because I don’t really trust supermarket meat counters. I prefer to use my George Foreman and preheat it good. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/54 "2009-12-20T02:32:45Z")
I like about 85% lean myself, if it’s ground chuck. If it’s any leaner, then it will fall to pieces if I try to form patties from the meat, unless I want to mix in a beaten egg and some milk and bread crumbs. And if I’m going to do that, I might as well make a meatloaf out of it. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/55 "2009-12-20T02:58:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I like about 85% lean myself, if it’s ground chuck. If it’s any leaner, then it will fall to pieces if I try to form patties from the meat, unless I want to mix in a beaten egg and some milk and bread crumbs. And if I’m going to do that, I might as well make a meatloaf out of it. Even at 85% it’s kinda fragile. I have a really wide spatula and I use a fork to slide the patty into the skillet or grill then back onto the spatula. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/56 "2009-12-20T15:25:43Z")
I remember my mom making, on occasion, roast beef. It was a Big Deal, yes. I can definitely say I have not cooked or eaten roast beef in, oh, decades. (Beef in various forms , yes, but as for picking out a nice roast and cooking it on a Sunday afternoon - 1) one of us wants it cooked till its tough and gray, and 2) do I look like I can spend half a week’s grocery money on one piece of meat?) ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/57 "2009-12-23T20:01:03Z")
The Wife just went grocery shopping. Anybody wanna guess what we’re having for Christmas dinner? I should point out that my wife is an excellent cook. She’s a bit of a recipe junkie, but she’s gotten quite good at separating the wheat from the chaff. One thing she’s not good at though, is picking out meat. She called me to say, “I’m making prime rib!” And the pedantic nitpicker that I am, I said, “Really? Acme has prime rib? Are you sure it’s not just a standing rib roast?” An eggplant is always an eggplant (unless it’s an aubergine). But a steer becomes 2 sides and those sides become cuts, and those cuts become dishes. So we’ll have a recipe for “London Broil” but my wife will stand at the meat case glassy-eyed until a butcher helps her select something. Sadly, she never, ever remembers the next time. She said that she couldn’t find the package labeled “prime rib” and asked for help. When I mentioned “standing rib roast” she said, “Yeah, this is a rib roast. The butcher said it’s prime rib.” I’ll be lucky if it’s choice. (I’m not complaining, just picking nits!) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509/58 "2009-12-23T20:13:49Z")
That’s a good reason for finding a good butcher and sticking with it. Even if the cost is a little higher, if you can afford it. I think I may have just found one with a reply in another thread and an online visit to [yelp.com](http://yelp.com). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-deal-was-roast-beef-in-the-50s/521509.md?page=2)