The Cost of High Living

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 2, 1915

The Cost of High Living

The prevailing complaint over the increased expense of living leads us to inquire if the “high cost of living” is not in many cases really a matter of “high living,” or extravagant, luxurious, or debased gratification. The following statistics first appeared in Leslie’s Weekly of June 2, from which the Pacific Christian Advocate quotes:—

Eighty-eight million gallons of whisky were made in the United States last year. Who drank it all?

Fifteen million cigarettes were manufactured in the United States last year. Who smoked them all?

Thirty-two million pounds of snuff were manufactured in the United States last year. Who did all the sneezing?

Two hundred and twenty million pounds of smoking tobacco were made in the United States last year. Who had all the pipe dreams?

Eight and a half billion cigars were made in the United States last year. Who made all the smoke?

Half a billion packages of chewing gum were manufactured last year in the United States. Who worked their jaws?

Twenty thousand moving picture theaters paid $25,000,000 for films last year, and 11,000,000 persons saw the moving pictures. Where did they get all the dimes and nickels?