Surviving Seattle on a Shoestring
A newcomer details the precise costs of feeding a family of eight in 1890s Seattle, offering a rare glimpse into the household economics of the era.
Mrs. Blount, a newcomer to the city, shared her detailed expense records for a family of eight over a three-week period. She noted that while she had not suffered, she was waiting for her husband to find work. Her budget included two sacks of flour, one hundredweight of potatoes, meat, cornmeal, beans, bread, onions, milk, beef suet, lard, soap, sugar, rice, coffee, tea, and herbs. The total cost for three weeks was $29, averaging about 46 cents per day, plus $4 for shelter. She expressed a sincere liking for Seattle, citing the climate, resources, and the courteous manner of its people toward strangers.
“I have found a sincere liking for Seattle and her people... because of their optimistic self-reliance, their cheerful looks and their universally courteous manner to strangers.”
This 1890s budget highlights the extreme precarity of early Seattle life, where a family of eight lived on less than a dollar a day. It serves as a stark reminder that the city's current housing and cost-of-living crisis is a continuation of a long-standing struggle for working-class families to establish a foothold in the region.
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