I can give you some historical information, but only you can convince your father that you know the real value of a dollar. He's probably referring to the fact that he works very hard to earn his money and not everyone seems to appreciate the fact that money tends to go out a lot faster than it comes in. To help you answer his questions, here are some comparisons of what things cost today and what they cost in 1830s New England.

Today a pound of cheese might cost a couple of dollars in the supermarket (or a lot more if it's fancy or imported); in 1830 a pound of cheese could cost just 6 1/2 cents. Today a new car costs $10,000 (or more, of course); in 1830 a chaise with a harness and a horse might run the buyer about $150. Today a gas or electric kitchen stove can cost $600 (or more); in 1830 a wood-fired cook stove cost $25. Today a one-story house can cost $100,000 (or more); in 1830 you could build one for $500.

Some other comparisons: In 1830 a pair of shoes might cost just 60 cents; today they can easily cost $60, or 100 times more. In 1830 a dozen eggs cost just 10 cents and a lady's fancy bonnet as much as $5; nowadays eggs are still cheap (but not that cheap) and you couldn't pay most women to even wear a bonnet—let alone buy one!

But comparing the prices of things tells only part of the story. We also need to compare what people got paid in earlier days with what they get paid today. The minimum wage in the United States is now about $6 an hour, although most people earn more than that and Bill Gates gets about $1,000 a minute. In the 1830s a blacksmith could make as much as $1-$1.50 a day and a farm laborer about 60 cents—during farming season. While a country lawyer could make as much as $1,000 a year back then, a female factory hand might earn just $125. The Governor of Massachusetts was paid $3,700 in 1830, but a top Boston lawyer could make as much as $10,000!

One of the best ways to think about the cost of something is to figure out how long the buyer would have to work to pay for it. In 2000, Bill Gates earns enough for a $100,000 house in a little over an hour, but most people would have to take out a 25-year bank loan to buy it. The farm laborer in 1830 who made less than $200 a year would not have been able to buy that $500 house outright; even the country lawyer (with $1,000 a year) would have had to borrow most of the money. The Boston lawyer's wife (with $10,000 a year) could easily afford a $5 bonnet—or 20 bonnets—but a country widow with annual earnings of only $100 could not use 1/20^th of her total income on so frivolous a thing.

Share some of this information with your dad and then impress him with your willingness to do some more household chores to earn that extra allowance. Whatever career you end up having, I think it's a good idea to learn now that earning a dollar demanded hard work in the 1830s and still does.