The Old Men Reminiscing thread made me thing about old newspaper ads as data points. The White Plains library is open late on Thursdays, so I drove over after dinner and dove into the NYTimes microfilm. I only had a few minutes and could not find any of the “Take a Drive to Scarsdale” ads from Zachy’s, BUT I found two. Second week of October, 1976.
D. Sokolin in Manhattan
Special on 1967 Bordeaux.
Gloria $5.50
Lafite $13
Mouton $14
Haut Brion $12
Latour $13
Vieux Certan $7
La Lagune $6
Smith Haut Lafite $6
Cos D’Estournel $8
Figeac $6.77
La Gaffeliere $7
Pichon Baron $7
Goldstar in Queens (producers often left out of the ad)
1967 Lafite $13.50
1971 Talbot $6
1970 Savigny Les Beaune $3
1973 Urziger Wurzgarten $3.25
1971 Meusault Charmes $6.50
Back then, a car only cost $30 dollars, so wine was actually quite expensive. That was a Model T Ford I believe. And, based on real estate prices at least, an $8 bottle of Cos could buy you a week at the Waldorf Astoria today.
My grandfather, who served in WWI in the Austro-Hungarian army, used to tell me that he never actually fought in a battle because the night before every battle, he would drink a bottle of green Hungarian wine and it would make him so sick that he spent every battle in the medic tent. Until I saw that ad, I had no idea there really was something called Green Hungarian wine. I guess I owe my existence to it.
