Look at those 1971 prices for Halloween sweets

Browsing through the newspapers of yore, I came across these two advertisements for Halloween sweets from 55 years ago, in 1971. Look how low those prices are! Meanwhile, in modern day, prices for candy have risen 7.7% in one year and more than 18% over the past two years, according to federal data and as reported by NPR. That's one way to fight cavities, I guess, by making chocolate unaffordable.

First up is this advertisement for cookies and cupcakes at the Federal Bake Shop in Lancaster, Pa., from the October 26, 1971, Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. Twelve cents for a cupcake! And if you buy two dozen you get the third dozen for free! (Federal Bake Shop opened in 1925 and closed its doors for good sometime in the late 1970s.)

This advertisement for Halloween candy at Woolworth is from the October 28, 1971, Lancaster New Era. You can click it on it to see a larger version and see the low, low prices on all that name-brand chocolate. Woolworth went out of business nationally in 1997.