Home delivery saves more than 50% off rack or store price.

In October, the newsstand price of the Lake Okeechobee News will increase for the first time in more than 20 years. Instead of 50 cents on Wednesdays and Fridays and 75 cents on Sunday, the newspaper price will be $1 per issue when purchased at a store or from a newspaper rack.

The last time the newspaper price increased was in 1998. While we have tried to keep the cost of the printed newspaper as low as possible, over the past 20 years, the costs of running the business have continued to go up. Nationwide, newspaper prices have risen as printing costs increase.

There’s good news for loyal newspaper readers: While the news stand price is going up, you can still get your hometown newspaper delivered to your home three times a week at the old home delivery price. That’s more than a 50 percent savings over the news stand price!

To avoid paying the higher rate, come by the newspaper office at 107 S.W. 17th St., Suite D, or call us at 863-763-3134 to set up your home-delivered subscription! For just $6.42 a month, you will receive three issues of the newspaper each week, conveniently delivered to your home.

The Lake Okeechobee News got its start in 1915 as the Okeechobee Call. The price of that first edition was 5 cents. Ads in those early editions and other historic publications give the reader an idea of other costs at the time. In a 1916 edition, land is advertised for $25 an acre.

The price was still 5 cents in 1925. At that time the annual cost for a college student at Cornell University — including living expenses — was $1,400. A pound of coffee cost 47 cents.

By 1950, the cost of the Okeechobee News was 10 cents. A large head of lettuce cost 10 cents. A bottle of aspirin cost 54 cents. In 1953, Raulerson’s Department Store advertised dresses on sale for $1.98 each (reduced from the normal prices of $3.95 to $5.95).

In 1980, the newspaper’s newsstand price was 25 cents. Movie tickets at the Okeechobee theatre were just $1 on Mondays. A six pack of beer cost $1.49. By then the newspaper was a twice-weekly publication.

By 1990, the newspaper price had gone up to 35 cents, as other prices continue to rise. Publix advertised shrimp for $5.24/pound and a loaf of rye bread for 89 cents. At that time, the newspaper came out thrice weekly, published Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

In 1992, the Okeechobee News went daily. The price for the Sunday edition, which at the time was the largest paper of the week, went up to 50 cents.

By 1998, the newspaper price was 50 cents on weekdays and 75 cents on Sunday. In 1998, a 16-ounce box of Kellogg’s cereal was $1.89. A new Ford Mustang was $14,998. Fat Boys BBQ offered all you can eat barbecue dinners for $6.50. At the Brahman theatre, matinées were $3, and seniors paid just $3 for any show.

Source: Some information for this article came for “The History of What Things Cost in America: 1776 to Today” on the website 247wallst.com.