CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
         (average all items)
            1800 - 2007
  
 When dollar amounts appear in older American literary works, we're not always sure how to gauge their value. We sense that inflation has changed the value of a dollar over time. But how much? Computing the differences in the CPI gives us at least a rough notion of historical values.
    
    The chart on these two pages graphs one version of the Consumer Price Index—the value of a dollar—back to the year 1800.  

(Click on the charts for larger size. You should be able to copy these large jpg. images and print them at 100 dpi.)



Chart_1
                1800 -1900

Chart_2
                 1905-2007