A throwback supermarket ad from the '60s is blowing Kiwis’ minds after resurfacing online - and let’s just say, your weekly grocery receipt is screaming at the cost of some of these pantry staples.
A Kiwi Reddit user shared a scan of the New World sale ad, originally published in The Auckland Star on July 2nd, 1969.
The retro print has since gone viral for showing just how cheap meat, cleaning products, and veggies were back in the day.
“Yes, reading this makes me yearn for being able to afford a 'family size' leg of lamb,” the user wrote after spotting the big cut of meat for just $1.69.
Some of the other standout prices include:
Pork sausages - 19c per pound
Chelsea golden syrup - 15c
Purex one-ply toilet rolls - 8c
10lb of spuds - 39c
Surf washing powder - 45c
Sunlight dishwash liquid - 49c
Wattie’s mixed veggies - 45c
Tip Top Tegal Chicken (size 7) - $1.65
Oak tomato sauce - 25c
A leg of hogget - $1.35
I can’t explain my horror of realising I was getting two TNT lollies from the dairy back in 2009 for the same price as some snags from the '60s.
While the prices might seem laughably cheap, a few Reddit detectives were quick to add some context.
“The minimum wage at the time was $1.30,” one user pointed out.
Another added: “Here's the obligatory reminder that inflation over the past 56 years has pushed up wages and consumer prices.”
“If you looked at these prices as a fraction of the minimum/average wage of the time, you'll find the difference to today isn't quite so stark,” they added.
Others jumped in to defend the portion sizes of ‘69 and the good ol’ shrinkflation in 2025.
“Pay attention to pack sizes, these would have been huge tins compared to the shrinkflated crap we have now,” someone said.
And if you really wanna get into it, another user did a side-by-side cost comparison with modern prices, showing some items have gone up by over 5000% over the last five decades.
But what might just be the most mind-blowing reaction came from someone just stoked to finally understand the purpose of a one cent coin.
“So that's what people used to do with one cent coins…”
I’ll tell ya what, next time I’m forking out for a whole chook or a pack of sausies, I’ll be remembering this one.
