"31"

Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon.

While out working with Bruce Butler on Work Train duty, I managed to harvest a date nail from the CW Sub. Most of the date nails have long disappeared from ties along the actual right of way. This '31 nail let me discover it at a former Davenport Stock yard located just west of the US 2 underpass. I'd always wanted to check out the ties that had been used as fence posts at the yard while engineering past it and finally got my chance. In '31, 88-years-ago, America was still reeling from the stock market crash with over 8 million unemployed and the "Dust Bowl" wasn't helping matters. Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz, and "Frankenstein" was at the movie houses.

Average Cost of new house $6,790.00
Average wages per year $1,850.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 10 cents
Average Cost for house rent $18.00 per month
A loaf of Bread 8 cents
A LB of Hamburger Meat 11 cents
Alarm Clock $3.50
New Car Average Price $640.00