2 weeks Ago By Monica Zurowski, Calgary Herald
In days past, Easter often signalled that it was time to refresh one’s wardrobe. Winter was ending, Lent was over and spring had arrived. It was the season to break out Easter bonnets, spring suits and so much more.
Archived pages from the Calgary Daily Herald more than 100 years ago show that local merchants stocked up for the season and many took out full-page ads to showcase their new stock. “Sunday is Easter and everything that you wear on Easter day must be new,” noted an ad for Parker’s Limited store. Topping the shopping list for women was an Easter bonnet.
While a top-of-the-line chapeau with flowers blooming from the brim could cost $20, millinery salons at local stores also had hat offerings as low as $3.50. The Hudson’s Bay Company even advertised it had 100 new hats being sold at $1.
98 each, on April 12, 1922. A new spring dress could start anywhere from $14.95 to $25; silk hosiery starting prices were $1.
50 a pair; and, gloves could go for $1.25 to $2.50.
What was underneath was important, too. As one ad noted, “A corset is generally a pre-Easter purchase, for one would never think of putting on a new costume or dress over an old and ill-fitting corset.” Cost? $2.
50 to $8.50. Bloomers, meanwhile, went for $3.
50 and petticoats could be had for $5.95. For men, suits started around $25, shirts at $1.
95, neckwear at $1, “men’s Easter gloves” were $2.50 and “fancy half hose” were $1.25.
Many of the other items still purchased for Easter today were also popular a century ago, too. Easter lilies and daffodils could be had for as little 40 cents to $1 a dozen, while 12 roses started at $3. The sweet stuff was a big seller, then as now.
As one store, Rochon’s Chocoate, told customers, “Lent is over.” Chocolate Easter eggs cost anywhere from 15 cents to 50 cents a century ago; two tins of peanut brittle went for 39 cents; and, a dozen hot cross buns would set you back 15 cents. — 30 —.
