The fighting in Europe ended in November 1918, but American prices kept climbing through 1919 almost as fast as they had during the war itself, rising 14.6% for the year. Wartime price and production controls were being dismantled, millions of soldiers were returning to the civilian labor market, and demand that had been held back for years ran into supply that had not caught up, a combination that kept the cost of living rising even with the guns silent. Workers, whose pay had fallen behind three straight years of double-digit inflation, pushed back: a general strike shut down Seattle in February, Boston’s police force walked out in September, and a nationwide steel strike that same month drew in roughly 350,000 workers and ran into the following January. One price did fall that year: first-class postage reverted to 2 cents on July 1, ending the wartime 3-cent rate that had funded part of the war effort since late 1917. By year’s end, prices had risen close to 75% since the CPI’s 1913 starting point, compressing more than a decade of typical peacetime inflation into six years of war and its aftermath.
Year in review
Inflation in 1919
The U.S. inflation rate in 1919 was 14.6% (CPI: 17.3). Convert 1919 dollars to today →
14.6% 1919 inflation rate
10.0% 1910s average
17.9% peak month (Jan)
13.1% lowest month (Oct)
What things cost in 1919
| First-class stamp | $0.02 |
|---|
What $100 from 1919 was worth later
| In 1920 | $116 |
|---|---|
| In 1930 | $96.53 |
| In 1940 | $80.92 |
| In 1950 | $139 |
| In 1960 | $171 |
| In 1970 | $224 |
| In 1980 | $476 |
| In 1990 | $755 |
| In 2000 | $995 |
| In 2010 | $1,260 |
| In 2020 | $1,496 |
| In 2026 | $1,917 |
Inflation in 1919, month by month
| Month | CPI-U | 12-month rate |
|---|---|---|
| January | 16.5 | 17.9% |
| February | 16.2 | 14.9% |
| March | 16.4 | 17.1% |
| April | 16.7 | 17.6% |
| May | 16.9 | 16.6% |
| June | 16.9 | 15.0% |
| July | 17.4 | 15.2% |
| August | 17.7 | 14.9% |
| September | 17.8 | 13.4% |
| October | 18.1 | 13.1% |
| November | 18.5 | 13.5% |
| December | 18.9 | 14.5% |
Economic events of 1919
- Postwar prices keep climbing even after the fighting stops Consumer prices rose 14.6% for the year, the third straight year of double-digit-plus inflation. Wartime price and production controls were unwound, returning soldiers reentered the labor force, and pent-up consumer demand collided with still-constrained supply, keeping prices rising well after the armistice.
- A wave of major strikes hits American cities Workers whose wages had lagged years of wartime price increases walked out across the country: a general strike shut down Seattle in February, Boston police officers struck in September, and roughly 350,000 steelworkers began a nationwide strike that same month that would run into January 1920.
- First-class postage drops back to 2 cents The wartime 3-cent rate, in effect since November 1917, reverted to 2 cents on July 1, 1919, as the temporary revenue measures that had funded the war began winding down.
- The 18th Amendment is ratified, setting up Prohibition State ratification reached the required three-quarters threshold on January 16, 1919. The amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages starting one year later, and Congress passed the Volstead Act that October, over Woodrow Wilson's veto, to enforce it.
Sources: USPS historical postage rates; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index history.
Inflation figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages. See the methodology.