by Paula Johnson
Many of you have met my little brother John through these pages. He knows me well and supplies me with various thoughts and ideas that are like flinging poop at a barn door to see what sticks – it’s often amazing what I pick up on to keep.
He sent me a column that included an ad from June 1951 (75 years ago) in The Galesburg Registered Mail. The theater was showing a Danny Kaye comedy in their “Comfortably Cool Orpheum.”
What really caught my eye was the daily price of the adult ticket of 37 cents. When I worked there from 1961-1964, the price of an adult daily ticket was 90 cents. That is an inflation rate increase of 143.243% in 10 years (or less, since I didn’t work until 10 years after the ad).
Of course, if people wanted to see a movie, the only place in 1951 was the local theater – no streaming, no Red Box, etc.
Speaking of inflation, have you had a talk with the Tooth Fairy lately?
Delta Dental keeps a TFI (Tooth Fairy Index). Their research shows a strong parallel between the S&P 500 stock index growth since 1998 and the value of lost childhood teeth.
The first time the TFI was done was in 1998, and the average child’s tooth brought $1.30. If adjusted for average inflation, the tooth value should be $2.50.
But the index research shows the average amount a child received per tooth in 2025 is $5.84 – a 349% increase. The S&P growth in this period was 480.93%.
Tooth Fairies are not equal. Some leave more only for the first tooth ($7.17 avg), and some leave gifts rather than money.
I think I got a dime for my lost teeth – including the one I tied a string to and had John shut the screen door to get it out.
Another interesting bit of information that John has sent me is about the largest ethnic group in the United States. We are the melting pot of the world, and for many of us, it is a proud title that we shout.
One might think English since we were colonies of England before declaring our independence. Others might think Mexican/Mexico since we share a southern border. Yet, our Industrial Revolution owes much to the Chinese and Irish.
Since our country started keeping records of immigration in 1820, the largest influx of US immigrants seemed to come from Germany.
The top five 2022 and 2023 averages are: Germany (41.1M), Irish (32.6M), English (31.2M), African American (26.2M), and Mexican (22.3M). These figures reflect raw data that includes Hispanic and Asian American groups that are excluded from the Census Bureau.
With different questions, data gets different results. When questions were listed in the 2020 census, the wording of ancestry questions changed, and thus, so did responses. All of a sudden, “English” topped over “German.”
Data analysis experts saw a confusion in the wording leading to a possible conclusion of language rather than country of ancestor origin. The top five immigrant country origins remain the same – only German and English reverse depending upon question analysis.
As we relish in our 250th anniversary of declaring independence, remember that we are a nation founded on immigration and freedom of religion. Our Constitution is abundant in verbiage for naturalized citizens from other countries and no national religion. It is our heritage as much as our ancestry.
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