Here at this bustling marketplace surrounding city hall, the Blanchet family buy their provisions. Farmers from the region come to sell produce which they display from their wagons.
Price of foodstuffs at the Valleyfield market, February 1907
Fresh butter, per pound $0.25 - 0.26
Potatoes, by the sack .60 - 0.65
Fresh eggs, per dozen .30 - 0.35
Chickens (two) .70 - 0.80
Flour, one hundred pounds 2.10 - 2.20
Maple syrup, per gallon .90 - 1.00
Honey, per pound .09 - 0.10
Paul Trottier, market clerk, Valleyfield
These were the most prevalent prices paid for produce at the market. At first glance, these prices seem quite low compared with the prices we pay today for the same items. In relation to the wages paid then, however, these prices were very high. Marie's father, who earned $12.00 per week, could buy 48 pounds of butter or 40 dozen eggs; today, a worker earning $150.00 per week can buy 150 pounds of butter or 185 dozen eggs.
Courtesy: Le ProgrΦs de Valleyfield, February 14, 1907, p. 5. Painting by Arthur Brault.
