A couple could have enjoyed a lavish dinner for two for a “whopping” R36. 62 in 1987, according to a restaurant review published in the first edition of the Tabletalk.
The review of the Winning Post restaurant at the Killarney Hotel in Koeberg Road gives a breakdown of the bill: R12.95 for the seafood platter, R8.95 for the rump steak, R5.20 for the Grunberger Blanc de Blanc, with two Irish … Irish coffees and “GST” account for the balance.
This was at a time when the currency was R2.04 to the dollar.
The Winning Post and the Killarney Hotel are no more, but these days, a seafood platter costs anything from R270 to R400, a rump steak R120 to R200 and a bottle of Grunberger Blanc de Blanc R54.
An advert for the same restaurant, also published in that first edition of Tabletalk, refers to grilled sole for R7.50, Sunday lunch for R8, or R5 for children under 10, and bar and business lunches from R3.50.
Other adverts published in Tabletalk over the years make for equally interesting – and very scary — reading.
The difference in prices for a haircut in 1987 and 2017 are also likely to make your locks stand on end.
A gent’s haircut these days costs a minimum of R30. In the 1980s, the going rate was R6 and R4.50 for children.
Women today pay anything from R170 to R250 for a blow and cut. But in 1987 they would have paid R16.
And you don’t have to go all that far back in the past to find huge disparities in price.
A 2008 edition of Tabletalk advertises “high speed” internet for R49 a month, whereas companies these days advertise 40 gigs a month for R299.
Thirty large eggs cost R8.99 nine years ago; today you will pay R56.99.
A 2-litre juice that cost R5.89 in 2001 is now R20 and strawberries that cost R10.99 for a kilogram now cost R19.99 for 800g.
Mike Shergold-Smith is one of Tabletalk’s oldest advertisers.
He owns Spec-Savers in Bayside and has been advertising with the paper for 21 years.
“It is a great way to get in touch and get the attention of the residents,” he says.
“Printing flyers and filling up people’s post boxes was not what we wanted to do, so we decided to go with the newspaper.
“We have had a very fruitful relationship, and the paper is always our go-to when we have promotions and so on.”