She certainly can make $1.50 go far (!)
She gets a pair of Italian sandals, a haircut in a nice salon, an ice cream cone, a scarf, and still has change left over.
Could you really do this in 1953?
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It may have been possible. $1.50 in 1953 is the equivalence of about $13.28 now.
There could've been low overhead for the vendors and potentially a "Super Cuts" type of price on the haircut, plus Italian goods and services may have generally had lower pricing and/or Ann may have had a natural gift for haggling
There was a time when I was a kid that I could've gotten all the things she got for a relatively small amount. Many food items were below a dollar.
There's an article pertaining to this subject, but it kind of goes off track...
http://www.theamericanmag.com/article_print.php?article=2450&show_images=1
Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.
According to wikipedia the Italian official Lira rate was US$1= 625 lire from 1949 until the early 1970s. So the Joe character was about right that the US$1.50 he gave her was worth about a 1000 lire. Whether it was enough for the food and services she bought hard to say but Italy then was a poor country still recovering from the devastation of WWII. (The aftermath clearly seen in the Italian "The Bicycle Thief" film from the late 40's ). Apparently a man's haircut cost 50 cents to a dollar in 1950 in USA cities so it's possible a woman's cut in a cheaper hair salon in Rome then was similar or less.
sharewonder how much a calzone cost back in the day...
The food I've liked in my time is American country cookin'-Colonel Sanders 🇺🇸