Comments on: Send, CARE Food Packages Abroad… $10. (Oct, 1948)

By: Arglebarglefarglegleep

Arglebarglefarglegleep — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:22:47 +0000

CARE is still around; http://www.care.org/index.asp
History http://www.care.org/about/history.asp

Ten bucks was a hunk of change for most Americans in 1948. My dad thought in the *1950s* if he could earn $5.50 an hour, he’d have it made as a artisan.

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:24:28 +0000

@Family bonding: Forget it, “pandadonkey” sounds like an endangered jackass.

By: Family bonding

Family bonding — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:49:56 +0000

@pandadonkey: The thing is that this was aimed at people with relatives in Europe – You could possibly get 100$ from your family for this kind of thing.

And a lot of Americans had relatives in Europe.

By: Toronto

Toronto — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:33:41 +0000

I believe the CARE packages were assembled and shipped in Europe, with food that was bulk-shipped across the Atlantic, so the transportation costs were minimized. My grandmother sent them to England in the post-war era as rationing was still in effect for some time.

And my my mother tells of getting “Canadian Food” parcels when my folks were in Alsace (Metz) with the RCAF in ’53. Carnation Milk was a cherished item, as were maple sugar, molasses and several other items.

By: Firebrand38

Firebrand38 — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:17:09 +0000

pandadonkey:”I suppose when the refugees are the same color as you the purse strings tend to be a little looser” ? What a gratuitous shot. I get it, white people suck. As I’m writing this donations to US organizations totals about 780 million dollars for earthquake relief in Haiti. Reference http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/ Sorry I can’t break it down by skin color. US donors donated 2 billion for relief after the Asian tsunami (guess they didn’t figure out they weren’t the same skin color)

By: pandadonkey

pandadonkey — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:10:08 +0000

To ship this globally today would cost about $50 in 2010 dollars – $10 in 1948 money is roughly worth $94 in 2010 dollars. I’m curious to know how popular these types of programs were in their time as $10 was a hefty sum back in 1948 and I can hardly imagine the average modern Americans donating $100 for a relief basket of food for Afghan or Haitian refugees although I suppose when the refugees are the same color as you the purse strings tend to be a little looser.

By: nlpnt

nlpnt — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:47:09 +0000

THAT’s what was missing from the package- there’s no Spam! Thanks for reminding us!

By: Christoph

Christoph — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:21:44 +0000

A lot of Germanscivilians survived after the war because of these CARE packages. My grandma said that it was like birthday, christmas and eastern at once when they got a package. Even if she said that the US coffee tasted weird .

By: Charlie

Charlie — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:15:38 +0000

It would be interesting to add up what all those items would cost today. I’ll bet it would be much less than $87. Though shipping 21+ lbs to eastern Europe might cost a bit.

By: Dave F.

Dave F. — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:05:00 +0000

According to an online inflation calculator, $10 in 1948 money is worth $87.22 in 2006 dollars.