The Surprising Difference In Lubbock Thanksgiving Meal Prices: 1926 vs. 2026

You've probably seen a few stories already of how much the price for a typical Thanksgiving meal costs now compared to last year or even ten years ago. I decided to go even further back and ask the question: "How different are the prices today than they were 100 years ago?"

Why? Because I can, that's why. I'll also include the grand totals from each year at the end.

Thanksgiving Meal Prices Today

Let's start with today. Looking to our friends at United Supermarkets, the average price of a 12- to 24-pound turkey is about $40 ($2/pound).

A pound of cranberries today will run you about $2.56 per pound. Oh, and let's assume you're going to make your dressing from scratch. In this case, a loaf of bread costs, on average, between $2.50 and $4.00.

You can't have a Thanksgiving meal without potatoes. A 10-pound bag of russet potatoes at United costs about $5.00 if you were to go right now.

You know what, just for fun, let's include eggs in this meal. Today, the price of a dozen non-organic eggs is around $1.73.

2026 vs. 1926

Alright, now let's get to the fun part: Thanksgiving meal prices from 100 years ago that the average West Texan would expect to pay.

I'll save the turkey for last, so let's go straight to cranberries. One pound cost about a dime.

When it comes to bread for homemade dressing, don't be blown away at how expensive each loaf was. Back in 1926, the average loaf of bread cost a whopping 9 cents.

If you wanted to make mashed potatoes 100 years ago, then you better be prepared to pay roughly $0.66 for a 10-pound bag.

And one carton of eggs in 1926 cost the average family around 34 cents.

Finally, and by far the best we have the turkey. Remember how I said turkey prices today are about $2.00 per pound, on average? Yeah, well back in 1926 it was about 50 cents per pound.

That may not seem like a huge difference, but you have to remember that they weren't eating 24-pound turkeys back in 1926 like we do today.

In fact, I did a little digging, and the average turkey size back in 1929 was only 13 pounds. So, we're definitely paying A LOT more nowadays.

Before I let you go, let's look at the grand total for the average Thanksgiving meal today compared to 1926.

Getting all of the basics (and I mean basics) at United in the year 2026, you're looking at a price tag of about $52.54.

Travel back 100 years ago, and those same items would total about $7.69.

Boy, wouldn't it be nice to spend the same on your Thanksgiving meal as you would a Big Mac combo at McDonald's?