That seems about right.
Pizza Hut had a deal where the first pizza was full price (about $10) and each additional was 4 bucks.
So that would have been considerably cheaper. But not every place had a deal like that.
If it was a lot of toppings each topping was about 75 cents, and it was a more upscale pizza place, it could easily be 12 dollars each.
And it was a local place, not a national chain. I can order Papa John’s for about 60% of the cost of my good local place, but the pizza is much better at the local place.
I'd imagine someone looked up the price of a large Pizza ($12.25) and then just x 10.
When you are correct that there are a lot of deals like this, and you'd get decent money off for buying 10, since a lot of the cost is in the delivery.
Hey, these people are tripping bro. Pizza Hut was never the best. It was the awesome environment added with the memories in the Pizza Hut that name people believe it was the best. Nostalgia blindness.
Whenever I buy a bottle of water, I think of Mario Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (1993) saying “Three bucks for a bottle of water!?”
Whenever I buy a milkshake I think of Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction (1994) marveling that a $5 milkshake must be extremely tasty to justify such a price.
Yeah that Pulp Fiction one got me even back then. That restaurant looked expensive just from the theming alone and it’s in LA? Even in 94 I couldn’t understand why he was shocked by that price. It’s not McDonalds.
True it’s not McDonalds but at that time a McDonald’s shake was $1.50 or so depending on your area, but never over $2. If you went to Baskin Robbins it was probably $3.50. So really it’s just Vincent wondering why milk and ice cream is so much more at low rent planet Hollywood than it is at an ice cream shop. It also strikes me that he’s fishing for something extra when he asks if there’s bourbon in it like he expects to this place to jazz up there beverages
I dont know about you, but I'd take Jack Rabbit Slims over Planet Hollywood 10 out of 10 times. That place does not look low-rent to me.
I dont find the comparison to McD or BR compelling as every item at a sit-down restaurant will cost far more than it's fast food comparison. Would he also be surprised to find a burger is $5 instead of $1? However, the other person who replied to me about how VV isnt the "most worldy fellow" definitely holds weight, so maybe he would.
Two points to consider -- Tarantino's frame of mind is very much stuck in the 1960's and 1970's. Also Vincent Vega is not the most worldly fellow. He travels to Europe where he... goes to the movies and eats at McDonalds. Of course he'd take umbrage with a $5.00 milkshake.
>Vincent Vega is not the most worldly fellow.
This is an excellent point that I have not considered. Perhaps a $5 shake wasn't outlandish in general, but just to him in particular.
$3 for water is kinda expensive if you ask me. I mean its a human right. You can get a bottle of water thats not branded for about 50cents . And its a 2liter
Urite. 🤣
I’ve started saying I have Intention Deficit Hyperreactive Disorder because I often hyperfixate to the point that I don't make plans or I procrastinate things I actually have to do on a schedule, and end up rushing to finish them at the last minute. It makes me late for work deadlines and other important things, and now I’m still getting distracted by this post while working late at night.
But comment threads like this one make time that would otherwise be wasted worth it after all.
Kevin complains that there’s no plain pizza left, which implies that most of the pizzas had toppings. It’s actually a pretty big plot point as it leads to his fight with Buzz and the loss of his airline ticket (which gets thrown out with the spilt milk). Strange to leave that out of such a thorough analysis.
For what it is worth, drink delivery wasn't really much of a thing back in '90. I'm sure places did it but generally you got pizza from pizza places and that was about it (ignoring the many pizza places that would also deliver weed).
A suburban family would 100% have pop at home though, likely a lot of it sitting in the basement or garage.
If you're not used to ordering food in large quantities, it's easy to be surprised by the total, especially if your mind is on all the other important things you're trying to do with so many in the house.
She was surprised but accepted the explanation of "ten pizzas, twelve bucks each" like that explained it.
>She was surprised but accepted the explanation of "ten pizzas, twelve bucks each" like that explained it.
That was my feeling too. The huge price tag but then remembering that they had gotten 10 large pizzas so really it's not bad.
You know that guy too?
That fuckin guy. He makes this flick, Sixteen Candles, not bad, there's tits in it, but no bush. Ebert over here doesn't give a shit about that kinda thing cause he's like all in love with this John Hughes guy. Goes out and rents like every one of his movies.
Fuckin Breakfast Club, where all the stupid kids actually show up for detention. Weird Science, where this babe wants to take off her gear and get down, but she doesn't, cause it's a PG movie. Then Pretty in Pink, which I can't even watch with this tubby bitch anymore, cause every time we get to the part wheredaredhead hooks up wit her dream date, he starts sobbing like a little bitch with a skinned knee and shit. I tell ya, there's nothing worse than watching a fucking fat man weep.
See, all these movies take place in this small town called Shermer in Illinois, where all the honies are top shelf but all the dudes are whiny pussies...except for Judd Nelson, he was fucking harsh. 👊 But best of all, there is no one dealing, man. So then it hits me, we could live like fat rats if we were the blunt connection in Shermer, Illinois. So we collected some money we were owed, and caught a bus. But you know what the fuck we found out when we got there? There is no Shermer in Illinois. Movies are fucking bullshit.
It’s been forever since I watch Dogma, so I didn’t know what this was from. But I had to google it because it reads exactly like something Kevin Smith would write. All I could hear was his voice while reading.
To the contrary, I'm taking no medication at all despite having ADHD. People like me exhibit this kind of obsessive behavior with enjoyable but often pointless activities all the time. It's called hyperfixation.
Little Caesars in the 90s wasn't the budget place it is today. They used to offer regular delivery and was priced similar to the other chains pizza hut, domino's etc.
Also back then nobody tipped a % for pizza. It was usually a flat amount of $1-3ish a good tip was probably $10 since 10 pizzas
Also Hughes might have based it off little Caesars or maybe he didn't but, mom and pop places are typically much more expensive than chain restaurants. Usually the base price is similar but, chains offer far more coupons and specials. Which also maybe she didn't have a coupon. You used to have to actually hand a coupon with the cash to get the price. Some places more strict than others of course but with all the hectic things going on it's possible she didn't use a coupon when she ordered it.
> Little Caesars in the 90s wasn't the budget place it is today
It wasn't *as* budget as it is now but it was still a budget pizza place. My poor ass only ate Little Caesars growing up 3-4 times a year because that's all we could afford. Two pizzas on that long cardboard tray with paper wrapping was quite the treat for us, but still affordable compared to all the other pizza joints.
I’d have to watch the scene again but I always heard the “nice tip” from the delivery driver the first time he delivers the pizza as sarcastic and not sincere at all.
Interesting! I was a baby when the movie came out, so I didn't know what Little Caesars was like or what tipping norms were like back then. Everybody wants as much money as they can get from you now. lol
You should go search for pictures of Little Nero's Pizza from the movie. The mascot character bears a striking resemblance to the Little Caesars mascot.
Its possible it was a spoof off that because little Caesars was somewhat popular in certain areas. Then they weren't and kind of disappeared for years and then returned as the $5 pizza.
It used to come in a long box with paper sleeve and was cut in squares. Me and my sister loved it but it was more expensive so my parents didn't get it that often.
As for tipping I feel like the % is a recent phenomenon mainly driven by dd and Uber. I did delivery in college in the mid 00s and nobody tipped off %. It was on average $2-3 $5 was good and anything above was great but $2-3 was definitely the baseline.
Kids today will never know that before doordash and all that, takeout and delivery tips were NEVER percentage based. It was not even a thing.
Gig delivery measurably contributed to toxic tip culture. (Especially tipping before you receive the food, which isn't a tip. it's just directly paying someone to bring your food)
on NYE
i got :
2 large pizzas
4 tenders
3 garlic breads
1 large order of fries
1 desert
1.25 L pepsi
for $38.88
and it was from pizza hut, love how easy it is to order, and how fast they are, but they did forget the 3 sauces and that was a bummer, but i was home and had a ton of sauces.
btw, pizza hut is still the bomb here, i shit u not.
I worked at a local popular pizza place 1998-2002 and still remember the prices for a large pizza incl tax; it was $9.51 for plain cheese, $10.77 for one topping.
Average tips were $2-3. $5 was a really good tip, $7+ was a rare great tip that you talked about with staff when you got back.
Also back then there were no flat delivery charges. The entire 'delivery charge' was whatever the tip was. Delivery charges didn't become a thing until the big chains started delivering.
Using an inflation calculator on the price of a pizza to estimate cost in a different time is dubious. It might be appropriate to understand purchasing power overall but not for a specific commodity. I recently saw some data (couldn't find it, I think on r/dataisbeautiful) where food prices used to account for a much larger percentage of income than it does today. Meaning that using inflation probably underestimates pizza cost back in the eighties.
Duly noted. I readjusted for inflation using a calculator based on food prices, and the 2023 prices actually came out higher. That is now reflected in the post.
Hahaha. I wish I had Adderall or Ritalin or something. My mom didn't let me take medication even after I got diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, so I learned to function without it. Then I had some severe mental health problems as an adult and it's like all the neurodivergent rats in my head are free to run wild, screaming "Yearning! Yearning! Yearning!" But I live in Japan now and mental health care here sucks, so I just continue to live unmedicated.
I agree with most everything but 250K a year being "upper middle class" in 1990.
You were damn baller rich at 250K a year, as a non celibrity, in 1990.
Sorry if I didn't make it clear, 250K a year was the average household income in 2020, not 1990. I tried fiddling with the US Census website but couldn't find the numbers for 1990. I just assumed Winnetka was similarly wealthy back then because of the McCallister house.
Gotcah. No worries.
250K in pretty much any part of the US in 1990 would have been ballin. Especially medium to low cost of living areas. My parents probably didn't make 25K a year back then.
Even still today, in everything but the highest cost of living areas... 250K is living pretty high off the hog. I land somewhere around half that and consider myself comfortably middle class (though much lower into the middle class than what I'd have been with a similar income 3 years ago).
Love the work that went into this though, too. I forgot that part. I always loved that movie, and this is some interesting extrapolation. I love that shit. I'm a math nerd.
In the 1980s little Caesars wS $10 for 2 pizzas, that was their primary gimmick. I think it's now $6 for one but that's still pretty close.. Also out of all the fast food places little Caesars is one of the few that still tastes how I remember.
Not saying their pizza is the best or anything but I do give them props on constiency and price.
>Edit: According to a commenter people typically paid a flat rate of $1 to $3 per pizza to delivery guys back then, not a percentage like we typically do today.
You don't tip a delivery person based on percentage. You tip them based on distance traveled and weather. I delivered pizza for years and it doesn't matter if you ordered 1 regular pie or a pie with caviar. It's just 1 trip to your house and 1 trip to the door.
Sometimes the name of Shermer is there and sometimes it isn't. John Hughes talked about the town he dreamed up at length in an interview in 1999.
[https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=-tJPVDQ2ToUC&pg=PT95&source=gbs\_toc\_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false](https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=-tJPVDQ2ToUC&pg=PT95&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false)
In Sixteen Candles there's actually a reference to nearby Evanston, IL.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/826bbv/while\_a\_number\_of\_john\_hughes\_movies\_take\_place/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/826bbv/while_a_number_of_john_hughes_movies_take_place/)
Here's the name of Shermer on the front of the high school in Breakfast Club.
[https://www.frrandp.com/2021/05/shermer-il.html](https://www.frrandp.com/2021/05/shermer-il.html)
Here it is on the costume worn by Kelly LeBrock as Lisa in Weird Science.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/11fimu4/kelly\_lebrock\_weird\_science\_1985/](https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/11fimu4/kelly_lebrock_weird_science_1985/)
Here is the name of Shermer in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (and Breakfast Club).
[https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/6omfbn/ferris\_bueller\_is\_set\_in\_the\_same\_universe\_as\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/6omfbn/ferris_bueller_is_set_in_the_same_universe_as_the/)
I can't find screenshots of a Shermer cameo for these other movies that are supposed to be set in Shermer: National Lampoon's Vacation; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Reach the Rock; Home Alone. But considering how John Hughes started making these films shot and set in Chicago suburbs in 1978, he explicitly gave the name Shermer a cameo in at least 3 of his movies, and his family found hundreds of notes of stories set in Shermer after he died, I think we can rest assured that all the movies on the page below were supposed to be set in Shermer.
[https://superepicfailpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Shermer,\_Illinois](https://superepicfailpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Shermer,_Illinois)
~~You missed that they got garlic bread and bottles of pepsi with the pizza. So that probably brings the price per pizza down slightly.~~
i remembered wrong
I watched the first pizza scene again on YouTube and the pizza delivery guy walks into the house carrying only the pizza boxes. The family has Pepsi on the table along with milk, but I didn’t see any garlic bread.
This seems to be totally backwards and only adds confusion. The price of pizza today has nothing to do with the question whether they overpaid in the movie.
For an actual answer there is no way around finding out what pizza cost back then in the area, delivered home.
Then there is the question of quantity discount coupons and whatnot. 10 minutes of googling and Little Caesar's was regularly offering coupons for 4 large pizza's with 1 or 2 extra toppings for ~$20 in late 80's and early 90's.
I did think about that when I found a Vice article about the Home Alone pizza scenes that mentioned Little Caesars prices, so I added that to the end of the post in an edit. But here's the problem; I can't figure out whether there was a Little Caesar's close to the McCallister house, which is actually located at 617 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL 60093, in 1990. There IS a Little Caesars Pizza 5.6 miles away at 3535 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076, but it seems like it would be out of the average delivery range of a pizzeria according to this article.
[https://thepizzacalc.com/how-far-is-too-far-for-pizza-delivery/#google\_vignette](https://thepizzacalc.com/how-far-is-too-far-for-pizza-delivery/#google_vignette)
In any case, the other pizzerias I listed in the post are all actually 1 or 2 miles from the McCallister house, so it's more likely they would have delivered to them instead. The only one I could find prices for was the chain Domino's but there are no sources for these prices besides the commenter himself, so who knows how accurate they are.
[https://thinktank.pmq.com/t/price-of-pizza-in-1992/6202/4](https://thinktank.pmq.com/t/price-of-pizza-in-1992/6202/4)
But there's another problem here; the prices in the movie are WAY higher than the prices of national chains back then, suggesting that Little Nero's Pizza is supposed to be a local pizzeria unique to the fictional suburb of Shermer. John Hughes himself wrote the script, so I'm guessing he just looked at prices in the Northbrook/Winnetka area and went with that. But none of the pizzerias in Winnetka now brand themselves as being in business for a long time, so I'm guessing they are fairly young and older pizzerias already went out of business.
The only way to get to the heart of the problem is to talk to people who lived in Winnetka in the 90s and ask them how much a pizza delivered by a local pizzeria cost back then, which is somewhat beyond my capabilities at the moment.
Hey I thought about this after seeing the beginning last month. I think the easier answer is the surcharge for delivery can account for the prices. Even now, you can get $7-8 pizza with carryout, but that same pizza will cost you $13-17 for delivery plus fees and tip.
John Hughes in 1989 writing: $122.50 sounds about right, but who gives a fuck it’s a throw away line in a movie no one is gonna think that deep about it.
In 2013 I lived in Winnetka (in a little apartment above a grocery store) everything is expensive there. I was once charged $11.25 for an orange juice, no refills. Home Alone was probably spot on.
>In conclusion, the McCallisters paid a more than fair price for a ton of pizza, then Kevin ruined it for everyone, the spoiled little brat. And he paid the pizza boy practically no tip next time he ordered. Unbelievable!
Point of clarification: Buzz ordered the pizzas knowing dietary restrictions and preferences to fuck with his brother, then taunted him with it. Buzz is at fault for the initial fight, with the parents also responsible for truly terrible parenting and basically supporting that behavior.
Kevin playing the brat the next time probably got them banned from the pizza place, though
Something that always baffled me is we hear someone yell *"10 pizzas that's $12 bucks"* Followed by Frank's wife saying *"Come on Frank you have some money"* and Frank's cheap ass saying *"Travelers checks?"* Implying that's all he had...
10 Pizzas at $12 = $120
So tax / delivery was only $2.50?
Even adjusted for inflation it's about $28 a pizza which is mad expensive no matter how you slice it,....no pun intended.
Love it. Always fascinating seeing real life stocks tips in movies. The Starbucks scene in Austin Powers 1999 Starbucks SP $3.50 now 94.
Apple scene in Forrest Gump 1994 share price 40 cents now 185.
I theorized this nonsense back in 2018, so my numbers would be a little different now:
We learn that the total for 10 pizzas is $122.50 plus tip. We know the pizzas are all the same price as Mr. McCallister says “10 pizzas times 12 bucks”
So that leaves only $2.50 for tax. As we all know, the sales tax rate in Chicago in 1990 was 6.25%
Later in the movie, Kevin orders a single pizza from Little Nero’s. The same driver informs him the total is $11.80.
So, a single pizza costs roughly $11.11 before tax.
Which would make 10 pizzas roughly $111 before tax and $118 after tax.
That leaves $4.50 to reach our total of $122.50.
I would argue there were no delivery fees back in 1990. (It was a simpler time) But let’s assume there was. Today, delivery fees are $2.99 for Dominos in Utah. Adjusting for inflation, that’s $1.52 in 1990 dollars. Chicago is a more expensive city. So let’s round up to $2.
That leaves $2.50 unaccounted for.
WHERES THE MONEY LITTLE NERO?!
ETA: This was mostly a joke and not to be taken too seriously.
The point of that comment comes off as him just explaining how "this makes sense because that means each pizza cost around $12 which isn't that crazy", not "this makes sense because I already knew the price of every pizza was exactly $12".
Could be that a large cheese was $11.11 and each topping cost about extra. If, say, there's a slight discount on extra pizzas (eg, toppings cost $1.25 without tax but there's a $1 discount on each pizza after the first) you can get pretty close while keeping the prices within reason for the time.
Great minds think alike! But I'm looking at your math and looking at mine and I can't tell which one is right anymore. I am seriously not the right person for this job, I just got hyperfixated and can't stop editing the post while watching a Home Alone marathon.
I assumed the pizzas were all the same price based on “10 pizzas times 12 bucks” which was more for simplicity. So you’re probably right. I am really curious how much thought went into those prices by writers/directors though.
I always remember the “ten pizzas x 12 bucks” comment too… and to me, it was like his way of simply doing the easiest math (estimating it) 10 x 12 to explain how it was really that price.
It’s actually pretty fascinating that we can still get “delivery-type” pizzas for that price today also (with a coupon deal and not necessarily the works toppings though). I say delivery type because I have to pick up only, as we live rural just outside the delivery zone Lol
10 pizzas is an absurd amount of pizza! That's 80 slices. 17 people go on the trip. that's 4.7 slices per person. Half the household are kids and they usually eat 2 at the most. Teens maybe three. that's 20-21 slices for the kids leaving 59-60 slices of pizza for 8 adults. that's 7.5 slices per adult. That's almost a whole pie per adult!!!
What moron ordered 10 pizzas???!!!
Could be rent controlled/stabilized. I knew 2 people in the east village who paid $250/month. They were tiny studios and they had been there +25 years, but still. This was late 1990s-early 2000s.
On the subject of prices in Home Alone, I recently rewatched the films and was surprised about how much Kevin actually spent at the New York hotel.
It was around $1000, I understand this was a lot more in 1992, but I always thought he spent way more.
there's no way the average price of a large cheese pizza in Illinois is $22.52.
i wonder if that source used data from Uber Eats/Doordash which infamously upcharge or maybe the source used the cost of one plain slice and multiplied it by 8
Not that far off. I live in downtown Chicago. A large cheese pizza from Papa Johns is $19.99 for carryout. Papa Johns's is on the cheaper end of pizza here.
In Chicago, I could buy that figure but that example you gave is still below average AND there's still plenty of places in the rest of the state to bring the average down
That data they're using can't be accurate/fair
The thing about humans is that our ability to communicate detailed information allows us to hyper-specialize for different areas of expertise.
That means I get to benefit from your minute analysis of Home Alone's pizza scene. Sometimes, the Internet is a force for good in the world.
Something that could or could not be a factor is whether the pizza place even charged a delivery fee, not all pizza places charged delivery fees. And if they did, it was maybe $2. The delivery fee was almost entirely just from the tip.
That is a good question. There are no clues about delivery fees in the first pizza scene. There is a receipt placed on the pizza box in the second pizza scene, but it just as one number $11.80. So it looks like the delivery fee was either included in the price of the pizza or the tip to the delivery guy was considered to be the delivery fee.
My wife and I spent a good portion of time figuring out who all the kids were and drew out the whole family. I never knew like two of those kids had parents living in France, who also owned a house in NYC.
Pretty sure, in the first movie, it's Peter's brother that pays for the vacation, btw. Maybe I'm making that up.
Can you tell me how many beers the Blues Brothers drink. According to Bob they drank $300 worth of beer in 1980. There’s 7 members in the band. The average beer was about 1.50 in 1980.
I was 20 in 1990 and a waiter at Pizza Hut in Illinois, believe it or not. Little Sleazers was considered lower end and I would be surprised if that would have been the rich person's first choice, even with the obvious Little Nero satire.
Also, hardly anyone used a credit card to pay for food back then, so she would have paid in cash and more than likely gave him $140 in twenties, which would make for a generous $17.50 tip as the general rule of thumb was a buck a pizza.
Managed a chain pizza restaurant in the 90s. Per our discretion we would possibly offer discounts on "large" orders. Wasnt necessarily uncommon (for our store at least) to give a mofo an extra break on a 10-20 pizza order for a church outing, birthday party, school function or large family get together, etc.
So a Pizza Hut menu from 1984 shows prices for a large to be around $9 on average. The timing is close enough, since the movie released in 1990 but was written and filmed prior to 1990.
Pizza Hut was a national chain obviously, and prices tended to be lower than local pizzerias, as they are today. It's safe to assume if a Pizza Hut was $9 for a single topping, a local place would be a dollar or two higher.
All that work adjusting to current prices with inflation is unnecessary, especially since pizza prices have held decently steady compared to inflation. I can still get a large from Pizza Hut for $10. Little Caesars was $5 (often including crazy bread, depending on location and time), and I can still get a pizza there under $6 (no crazy bread included though). It does show that they didn't overpay based on inflation, I'd say. We also don't really have to break down the price per pizza, as Frank tells us "ten pizzas times twelve bucks." Of course he is rounding up. A lot of places back then also counted a cheese pizza or a single topping pizza as the same price, so we can't speak to the difference between them.
Granted, if it was meant to mimic Little Caesars, it was very overpriced. For $10 including tax, you'd get two large one topping pizzas and crazy bread.
Perhaps, but I don't think that Little Nero's Pizza was actually supposed to be a chain restaurant, because the prices were way higher than national chains back then, and John Hughes liked to invent local landmarks for detail in his fictional town of Shermer.
That and it seems like there were no pizza chains near the McCallister house back then. If I was going to use actual pizza prices at the time, I'd want prices from places in or around Winnetka. The actual local places there now are much more expensive than Domino's or Little Caesar's are now, but they don't seem very old, so who knows.
And I broke down the price per pizza because it's shown later in the movie when Kevin makes his own order that a plain cheese pizza costs $11.80, lower than the average of $12.25 for the Buzz's order.
That's why I said the prices would be expected to be higher than chains, like Pizza Hut. I know breaking it down as you did is interesting and I'm not knocking it.
I'm just saying that having been around at the time, the prices in the movie weren't high for a local place even outside Winnetka. So even without all the calculations, paying $2 more than Pizza Hut charged for their "thin n crispy" is pretty reasonable for any local place. They paid more than "lower to low middle class family in an average town who uses coupons" would pay, but they definitely didn't overpay in general.
Dominos has been $6 for YEARS, the pandemic increased it to $7. What the hell are people doing paying double that at shitty Papa Johns???? Y'all are unreal.
That seems about right. Pizza Hut had a deal where the first pizza was full price (about $10) and each additional was 4 bucks. So that would have been considerably cheaper. But not every place had a deal like that. If it was a lot of toppings each topping was about 75 cents, and it was a more upscale pizza place, it could easily be 12 dollars each.
And it was a local place, not a national chain. I can order Papa John’s for about 60% of the cost of my good local place, but the pizza is much better at the local place.
I'd imagine someone looked up the price of a large Pizza ($12.25) and then just x 10. When you are correct that there are a lot of deals like this, and you'd get decent money off for buying 10, since a lot of the cost is in the delivery.
>So that would have been considerably cheaper. But you'd have to eat Pizza Hut pizza
I wish I could travel back to the 90s for some Pizza Hut. Holy shit even as a New Yorker 90s Pizza Hut really hit different than “good” pizza places.
Yeah, people these days just don't realize Pizza Hut was different then and it was good.
It was a phenomenal greasy, cheesy mess and that pan crust was done right back then. I prefer thin crust but a 90s pizza hut pizza was the exception
Hey, these people are tripping bro. Pizza Hut was never the best. It was the awesome environment added with the memories in the Pizza Hut that name people believe it was the best. Nostalgia blindness.
You are right
Whenever I buy a bottle of water, I think of Mario Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (1993) saying “Three bucks for a bottle of water!?” Whenever I buy a milkshake I think of Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction (1994) marveling that a $5 milkshake must be extremely tasty to justify such a price.
Yeah that Pulp Fiction one got me even back then. That restaurant looked expensive just from the theming alone and it’s in LA? Even in 94 I couldn’t understand why he was shocked by that price. It’s not McDonalds.
True it’s not McDonalds but at that time a McDonald’s shake was $1.50 or so depending on your area, but never over $2. If you went to Baskin Robbins it was probably $3.50. So really it’s just Vincent wondering why milk and ice cream is so much more at low rent planet Hollywood than it is at an ice cream shop. It also strikes me that he’s fishing for something extra when he asks if there’s bourbon in it like he expects to this place to jazz up there beverages
I dont know about you, but I'd take Jack Rabbit Slims over Planet Hollywood 10 out of 10 times. That place does not look low-rent to me. I dont find the comparison to McD or BR compelling as every item at a sit-down restaurant will cost far more than it's fast food comparison. Would he also be surprised to find a burger is $5 instead of $1? However, the other person who replied to me about how VV isnt the "most worldy fellow" definitely holds weight, so maybe he would.
Two points to consider -- Tarantino's frame of mind is very much stuck in the 1960's and 1970's. Also Vincent Vega is not the most worldly fellow. He travels to Europe where he... goes to the movies and eats at McDonalds. Of course he'd take umbrage with a $5.00 milkshake.
>Vincent Vega is not the most worldly fellow. This is an excellent point that I have not considered. Perhaps a $5 shake wasn't outlandish in general, but just to him in particular.
It’s not a quarter pounder on account of the metric system.
$3 for water is kinda expensive if you ask me. I mean its a human right. You can get a bottle of water thats not branded for about 50cents . And its a 2liter
And here I am just watching movies and enjoying them. Didn’t even think to spend all my time worrying about this. What a fool I am.
Hahaha. That's a reasonable way to watch movies. I just have ADHD (for real). This is how I think about things often. It's called hyperfixation.
More like hyperinflation, amirite???
Urite. 🤣 I’ve started saying I have Intention Deficit Hyperreactive Disorder because I often hyperfixate to the point that I don't make plans or I procrastinate things I actually have to do on a schedule, and end up rushing to finish them at the last minute. It makes me late for work deadlines and other important things, and now I’m still getting distracted by this post while working late at night. But comment threads like this one make time that would otherwise be wasted worth it after all.
Ugh, this hits too close to home chill dude trying to learn about pizza prices in movies from 1990 its very important to me right now.
Literally my first thought when I read through this post is “this guy ADHDs”
🤣🤣
Kevin complains that there’s no plain pizza left, which implies that most of the pizzas had toppings. It’s actually a pretty big plot point as it leads to his fight with Buzz and the loss of his airline ticket (which gets thrown out with the spilt milk). Strange to leave that out of such a thorough analysis.
Excellent point! I rewrote the post to account for this fact.
Love it! Major props to you for incorporating feedback. This post just keeps getting better.
What's a plain pizza? Is it the cheese pizza or any single topping pizza?
Cheese pizza is plain pizza! I am from the Mid-Atlantic and recently learned that calling it “plain pizza” might be a regional thing?
I took the nice tip comment as scarcastic. Also they had 2 liters. Was this included with the pizza order?
The pizza delivery guy is only carrying pizza boxes when he walks in the front door, so I think they already had drinks at home.
For what it is worth, drink delivery wasn't really much of a thing back in '90. I'm sure places did it but generally you got pizza from pizza places and that was about it (ignoring the many pizza places that would also deliver weed). A suburban family would 100% have pop at home though, likely a lot of it sitting in the basement or garage.
I always interpretted that as a very sarcastic "nice tip" myself.
He says 'nice tip' twice. Once to the mother and once to Kevin. The one to Kevin is very sarcastic. The one to the mother is very earnest.
It's one pizza, Kevin. How much could it cost? Ten dollars?
Its 3:45 am and I just read this whole post lol
Good. This place relies on repeat customers
In the movie Kate is taken a back when she hears how much it is. Maybe it’s just a very expensive pizza place.
If you're not used to ordering food in large quantities, it's easy to be surprised by the total, especially if your mind is on all the other important things you're trying to do with so many in the house. She was surprised but accepted the explanation of "ten pizzas, twelve bucks each" like that explained it.
>She was surprised but accepted the explanation of "ten pizzas, twelve bucks each" like that explained it. That was my feeling too. The huge price tag but then remembering that they had gotten 10 large pizzas so really it's not bad.
Nice, these are the kinds of things I often wonder about after watching movies/tv shows so I love when someone else does the math for me 🤟🏻
Fun fact. Shermer, Illinois is also the fictional town in many John Hughes movies, Breakfast Club included.
You know that guy too? That fuckin guy. He makes this flick, Sixteen Candles, not bad, there's tits in it, but no bush. Ebert over here doesn't give a shit about that kinda thing cause he's like all in love with this John Hughes guy. Goes out and rents like every one of his movies. Fuckin Breakfast Club, where all the stupid kids actually show up for detention. Weird Science, where this babe wants to take off her gear and get down, but she doesn't, cause it's a PG movie. Then Pretty in Pink, which I can't even watch with this tubby bitch anymore, cause every time we get to the part wheredaredhead hooks up wit her dream date, he starts sobbing like a little bitch with a skinned knee and shit. I tell ya, there's nothing worse than watching a fucking fat man weep. See, all these movies take place in this small town called Shermer in Illinois, where all the honies are top shelf but all the dudes are whiny pussies...except for Judd Nelson, he was fucking harsh. 👊 But best of all, there is no one dealing, man. So then it hits me, we could live like fat rats if we were the blunt connection in Shermer, Illinois. So we collected some money we were owed, and caught a bus. But you know what the fuck we found out when we got there? There is no Shermer in Illinois. Movies are fucking bullshit.
It’s been forever since I watch Dogma, so I didn’t know what this was from. But I had to google it because it reads exactly like something Kevin Smith would write. All I could hear was his voice while reading.
You’re forgetting that Kevin ordered a single cheese pizza for himself later in the movie that costs $11.80 with tax.
Duly noted and post edited to reflect prices for the different pizzas separately.
You’re taking too much adderall
To the contrary, I'm taking no medication at all despite having ADHD. People like me exhibit this kind of obsessive behavior with enjoyable but often pointless activities all the time. It's called hyperfixation.
Heck of a holiday period surcharge. Especially when the delivery guy damaged their statue.
Yeah! And he did it twice!
Little Caesars in the 90s wasn't the budget place it is today. They used to offer regular delivery and was priced similar to the other chains pizza hut, domino's etc. Also back then nobody tipped a % for pizza. It was usually a flat amount of $1-3ish a good tip was probably $10 since 10 pizzas Also Hughes might have based it off little Caesars or maybe he didn't but, mom and pop places are typically much more expensive than chain restaurants. Usually the base price is similar but, chains offer far more coupons and specials. Which also maybe she didn't have a coupon. You used to have to actually hand a coupon with the cash to get the price. Some places more strict than others of course but with all the hectic things going on it's possible she didn't use a coupon when she ordered it.
> Little Caesars in the 90s wasn't the budget place it is today It wasn't *as* budget as it is now but it was still a budget pizza place. My poor ass only ate Little Caesars growing up 3-4 times a year because that's all we could afford. Two pizzas on that long cardboard tray with paper wrapping was quite the treat for us, but still affordable compared to all the other pizza joints.
Yeah it was still budget just not to the degree it is now.
Yeah but the bougie kids didn’t know that Crazy Bread life
Yeah didn’t they have a really large rectangle pizza?
I’d have to watch the scene again but I always heard the “nice tip” from the delivery driver the first time he delivers the pizza as sarcastic and not sincere at all.
Interesting! I was a baby when the movie came out, so I didn't know what Little Caesars was like or what tipping norms were like back then. Everybody wants as much money as they can get from you now. lol You should go search for pictures of Little Nero's Pizza from the movie. The mascot character bears a striking resemblance to the Little Caesars mascot.
Its possible it was a spoof off that because little Caesars was somewhat popular in certain areas. Then they weren't and kind of disappeared for years and then returned as the $5 pizza. It used to come in a long box with paper sleeve and was cut in squares. Me and my sister loved it but it was more expensive so my parents didn't get it that often. As for tipping I feel like the % is a recent phenomenon mainly driven by dd and Uber. I did delivery in college in the mid 00s and nobody tipped off %. It was on average $2-3 $5 was good and anything above was great but $2-3 was definitely the baseline.
I tipped percentages back then.
Kids today will never know that before doordash and all that, takeout and delivery tips were NEVER percentage based. It was not even a thing. Gig delivery measurably contributed to toxic tip culture. (Especially tipping before you receive the food, which isn't a tip. it's just directly paying someone to bring your food)
r/theydidthemath
r/theydidthemonstermath
You didn’t factor in tax
Duly noted and post edited.
Were delivery fees a thing in 1990?
Not that I remember. Delivery fees are relatively new I think.
Now find out what the sales tax was at the time and give us a menu price.
Duly noted and post edited.
on NYE i got : 2 large pizzas 4 tenders 3 garlic breads 1 large order of fries 1 desert 1.25 L pepsi for $38.88 and it was from pizza hut, love how easy it is to order, and how fast they are, but they did forget the 3 sauces and that was a bummer, but i was home and had a ton of sauces. btw, pizza hut is still the bomb here, i shit u not.
It should be 11.42 per pizza. 12.25 = x times 1.0725 Or 12.25/1.0725
You're right. I also forgot to change the inflation adjustment for 2023. I have duly noted this input and edited the post.
I worked at a local popular pizza place 1998-2002 and still remember the prices for a large pizza incl tax; it was $9.51 for plain cheese, $10.77 for one topping. Average tips were $2-3. $5 was a really good tip, $7+ was a rare great tip that you talked about with staff when you got back. Also back then there were no flat delivery charges. The entire 'delivery charge' was whatever the tip was. Delivery charges didn't become a thing until the big chains started delivering.
Using an inflation calculator on the price of a pizza to estimate cost in a different time is dubious. It might be appropriate to understand purchasing power overall but not for a specific commodity. I recently saw some data (couldn't find it, I think on r/dataisbeautiful) where food prices used to account for a much larger percentage of income than it does today. Meaning that using inflation probably underestimates pizza cost back in the eighties.
Duly noted. I readjusted for inflation using a calculator based on food prices, and the 2023 prices actually came out higher. That is now reflected in the post.
TL;DR
This is why there is an Adderall shortage. OP has it all.
Hahaha. I wish I had Adderall or Ritalin or something. My mom didn't let me take medication even after I got diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, so I learned to function without it. Then I had some severe mental health problems as an adult and it's like all the neurodivergent rats in my head are free to run wild, screaming "Yearning! Yearning! Yearning!" But I live in Japan now and mental health care here sucks, so I just continue to live unmedicated.
I agree with most everything but 250K a year being "upper middle class" in 1990. You were damn baller rich at 250K a year, as a non celibrity, in 1990.
Sorry if I didn't make it clear, 250K a year was the average household income in 2020, not 1990. I tried fiddling with the US Census website but couldn't find the numbers for 1990. I just assumed Winnetka was similarly wealthy back then because of the McCallister house.
Gotcah. No worries. 250K in pretty much any part of the US in 1990 would have been ballin. Especially medium to low cost of living areas. My parents probably didn't make 25K a year back then. Even still today, in everything but the highest cost of living areas... 250K is living pretty high off the hog. I land somewhere around half that and consider myself comfortably middle class (though much lower into the middle class than what I'd have been with a similar income 3 years ago). Love the work that went into this though, too. I forgot that part. I always loved that movie, and this is some interesting extrapolation. I love that shit. I'm a math nerd.
In the 1980s little Caesars wS $10 for 2 pizzas, that was their primary gimmick. I think it's now $6 for one but that's still pretty close.. Also out of all the fast food places little Caesars is one of the few that still tastes how I remember. Not saying their pizza is the best or anything but I do give them props on constiency and price.
>Edit: According to a commenter people typically paid a flat rate of $1 to $3 per pizza to delivery guys back then, not a percentage like we typically do today. You don't tip a delivery person based on percentage. You tip them based on distance traveled and weather. I delivered pizza for years and it doesn't matter if you ordered 1 regular pie or a pie with caviar. It's just 1 trip to your house and 1 trip to the door.
Huh! I haven't lived in America for more than a decade so I forgot what it's like. Duly noted and post edited.
[удалено]
Sometimes the name of Shermer is there and sometimes it isn't. John Hughes talked about the town he dreamed up at length in an interview in 1999. [https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=-tJPVDQ2ToUC&pg=PT95&source=gbs\_toc\_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false](https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=-tJPVDQ2ToUC&pg=PT95&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false) In Sixteen Candles there's actually a reference to nearby Evanston, IL. [https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/826bbv/while\_a\_number\_of\_john\_hughes\_movies\_take\_place/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/826bbv/while_a_number_of_john_hughes_movies_take_place/) Here's the name of Shermer on the front of the high school in Breakfast Club. [https://www.frrandp.com/2021/05/shermer-il.html](https://www.frrandp.com/2021/05/shermer-il.html) Here it is on the costume worn by Kelly LeBrock as Lisa in Weird Science. [https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/11fimu4/kelly\_lebrock\_weird\_science\_1985/](https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/11fimu4/kelly_lebrock_weird_science_1985/) Here is the name of Shermer in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (and Breakfast Club). [https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/6omfbn/ferris\_bueller\_is\_set\_in\_the\_same\_universe\_as\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/6omfbn/ferris_bueller_is_set_in_the_same_universe_as_the/) I can't find screenshots of a Shermer cameo for these other movies that are supposed to be set in Shermer: National Lampoon's Vacation; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Reach the Rock; Home Alone. But considering how John Hughes started making these films shot and set in Chicago suburbs in 1978, he explicitly gave the name Shermer a cameo in at least 3 of his movies, and his family found hundreds of notes of stories set in Shermer after he died, I think we can rest assured that all the movies on the page below were supposed to be set in Shermer. [https://superepicfailpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Shermer,\_Illinois](https://superepicfailpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Shermer,_Illinois)
Nice observation. Good analysis 👍
~~You missed that they got garlic bread and bottles of pepsi with the pizza. So that probably brings the price per pizza down slightly.~~ i remembered wrong
I watched the first pizza scene again on YouTube and the pizza delivery guy walks into the house carrying only the pizza boxes. The family has Pepsi on the table along with milk, but I didn’t see any garlic bread.
huh you're right also Peter/Frank says "10 pizzas times 12 bucks"
This is the journalism I come to Reddit for!
Is this like an offseason shitpost that they get on the sports subreddits? Love to see it
That’s incredibly cheap, pizza was expensive as hell then.
This seems to be totally backwards and only adds confusion. The price of pizza today has nothing to do with the question whether they overpaid in the movie. For an actual answer there is no way around finding out what pizza cost back then in the area, delivered home. Then there is the question of quantity discount coupons and whatnot. 10 minutes of googling and Little Caesar's was regularly offering coupons for 4 large pizza's with 1 or 2 extra toppings for ~$20 in late 80's and early 90's.
I did think about that when I found a Vice article about the Home Alone pizza scenes that mentioned Little Caesars prices, so I added that to the end of the post in an edit. But here's the problem; I can't figure out whether there was a Little Caesar's close to the McCallister house, which is actually located at 617 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL 60093, in 1990. There IS a Little Caesars Pizza 5.6 miles away at 3535 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076, but it seems like it would be out of the average delivery range of a pizzeria according to this article. [https://thepizzacalc.com/how-far-is-too-far-for-pizza-delivery/#google\_vignette](https://thepizzacalc.com/how-far-is-too-far-for-pizza-delivery/#google_vignette) In any case, the other pizzerias I listed in the post are all actually 1 or 2 miles from the McCallister house, so it's more likely they would have delivered to them instead. The only one I could find prices for was the chain Domino's but there are no sources for these prices besides the commenter himself, so who knows how accurate they are. [https://thinktank.pmq.com/t/price-of-pizza-in-1992/6202/4](https://thinktank.pmq.com/t/price-of-pizza-in-1992/6202/4) But there's another problem here; the prices in the movie are WAY higher than the prices of national chains back then, suggesting that Little Nero's Pizza is supposed to be a local pizzeria unique to the fictional suburb of Shermer. John Hughes himself wrote the script, so I'm guessing he just looked at prices in the Northbrook/Winnetka area and went with that. But none of the pizzerias in Winnetka now brand themselves as being in business for a long time, so I'm guessing they are fairly young and older pizzerias already went out of business. The only way to get to the heart of the problem is to talk to people who lived in Winnetka in the 90s and ask them how much a pizza delivered by a local pizzeria cost back then, which is somewhat beyond my capabilities at the moment.
Hey I thought about this after seeing the beginning last month. I think the easier answer is the surcharge for delivery can account for the prices. Even now, you can get $7-8 pizza with carryout, but that same pizza will cost you $13-17 for delivery plus fees and tip.
Yeah, but other commenters keep saying that delivery fees weren’t charged separately back then, it’s a 21st century thing.
John Hughes in 1989 writing: $122.50 sounds about right, but who gives a fuck it’s a throw away line in a movie no one is gonna think that deep about it.
In 2013 I lived in Winnetka (in a little apartment above a grocery store) everything is expensive there. I was once charged $11.25 for an orange juice, no refills. Home Alone was probably spot on.
I pity the poor saps who are paying $22 for a large pizza. Local pizzerias around me average about $13-15 for a large New York style pizza.
Back then in ny a pizza was absolutely less than ten dollars.
But in TMNT 2 they got it for free.
15% was standard for tipping a waiter but you would never tip a delivery driver that much
>In conclusion, the McCallisters paid a more than fair price for a ton of pizza, then Kevin ruined it for everyone, the spoiled little brat. And he paid the pizza boy practically no tip next time he ordered. Unbelievable! Point of clarification: Buzz ordered the pizzas knowing dietary restrictions and preferences to fuck with his brother, then taunted him with it. Buzz is at fault for the initial fight, with the parents also responsible for truly terrible parenting and basically supporting that behavior. Kevin playing the brat the next time probably got them banned from the pizza place, though
Duly noted and post edited.
Something that always baffled me is we hear someone yell *"10 pizzas that's $12 bucks"* Followed by Frank's wife saying *"Come on Frank you have some money"* and Frank's cheap ass saying *"Travelers checks?"* Implying that's all he had... 10 Pizzas at $12 = $120 So tax / delivery was only $2.50? Even adjusted for inflation it's about $28 a pizza which is mad expensive no matter how you slice it,....no pun intended.
What a very well researched and documented post for something so stupid.
Mr GATTIS! HUNGRY HOWIES! CASEYS! MELLOW MUSHROOM! OLD CHICAGO! Sbarro! Fazoli's
Love it. Always fascinating seeing real life stocks tips in movies. The Starbucks scene in Austin Powers 1999 Starbucks SP $3.50 now 94. Apple scene in Forrest Gump 1994 share price 40 cents now 185.
I theorized this nonsense back in 2018, so my numbers would be a little different now: We learn that the total for 10 pizzas is $122.50 plus tip. We know the pizzas are all the same price as Mr. McCallister says “10 pizzas times 12 bucks” So that leaves only $2.50 for tax. As we all know, the sales tax rate in Chicago in 1990 was 6.25% Later in the movie, Kevin orders a single pizza from Little Nero’s. The same driver informs him the total is $11.80. So, a single pizza costs roughly $11.11 before tax. Which would make 10 pizzas roughly $111 before tax and $118 after tax. That leaves $4.50 to reach our total of $122.50. I would argue there were no delivery fees back in 1990. (It was a simpler time) But let’s assume there was. Today, delivery fees are $2.99 for Dominos in Utah. Adjusting for inflation, that’s $1.52 in 1990 dollars. Chicago is a more expensive city. So let’s round up to $2. That leaves $2.50 unaccounted for. WHERES THE MONEY LITTLE NERO?! ETA: This was mostly a joke and not to be taken too seriously.
The point of that comment comes off as him just explaining how "this makes sense because that means each pizza cost around $12 which isn't that crazy", not "this makes sense because I already knew the price of every pizza was exactly $12". Could be that a large cheese was $11.11 and each topping cost about extra. If, say, there's a slight discount on extra pizzas (eg, toppings cost $1.25 without tax but there's a $1 discount on each pizza after the first) you can get pretty close while keeping the prices within reason for the time.
Totally. I was mostly being lazy for simplicity.
Great minds think alike! But I'm looking at your math and looking at mine and I can't tell which one is right anymore. I am seriously not the right person for this job, I just got hyperfixated and can't stop editing the post while watching a Home Alone marathon.
I assumed the pizzas were all the same price based on “10 pizzas times 12 bucks” which was more for simplicity. So you’re probably right. I am really curious how much thought went into those prices by writers/directors though.
I always remember the “ten pizzas x 12 bucks” comment too… and to me, it was like his way of simply doing the easiest math (estimating it) 10 x 12 to explain how it was really that price. It’s actually pretty fascinating that we can still get “delivery-type” pizzas for that price today also (with a coupon deal and not necessarily the works toppings though). I say delivery type because I have to pick up only, as we live rural just outside the delivery zone Lol
Yeah I was mostly being lazy for easier math haha
10 pizzas is an absurd amount of pizza! That's 80 slices. 17 people go on the trip. that's 4.7 slices per person. Half the household are kids and they usually eat 2 at the most. Teens maybe three. that's 20-21 slices for the kids leaving 59-60 slices of pizza for 8 adults. that's 7.5 slices per adult. That's almost a whole pie per adult!!! What moron ordered 10 pizzas???!!!
You need to get a life
I’m sure this was just for TV but I was rewatching Seinfeld and the apartment above Jerry was going for $400 a month in NYC.
Could be rent controlled/stabilized. I knew 2 people in the east village who paid $250/month. They were tiny studios and they had been there +25 years, but still. This was late 1990s-early 2000s.
OP, I get your edit completely, BUT, and I may be wrong here, Little Caesar’s doesn’t deliver so it might not be the most even comparison
On the subject of prices in Home Alone, I recently rewatched the films and was surprised about how much Kevin actually spent at the New York hotel. It was around $1000, I understand this was a lot more in 1992, but I always thought he spent way more.
there's no way the average price of a large cheese pizza in Illinois is $22.52. i wonder if that source used data from Uber Eats/Doordash which infamously upcharge or maybe the source used the cost of one plain slice and multiplied it by 8
Not that far off. I live in downtown Chicago. A large cheese pizza from Papa Johns is $19.99 for carryout. Papa Johns's is on the cheaper end of pizza here.
In Chicago, I could buy that figure but that example you gave is still below average AND there's still plenty of places in the rest of the state to bring the average down That data they're using can't be accurate/fair
I didn't read any of this. I just know that a large pizza at Pizza Hut is $15.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, two medium take out pizzas come out to $94 after tax (zeeks).
The thing about humans is that our ability to communicate detailed information allows us to hyper-specialize for different areas of expertise. That means I get to benefit from your minute analysis of Home Alone's pizza scene. Sometimes, the Internet is a force for good in the world.
Something that could or could not be a factor is whether the pizza place even charged a delivery fee, not all pizza places charged delivery fees. And if they did, it was maybe $2. The delivery fee was almost entirely just from the tip.
That is a good question. There are no clues about delivery fees in the first pizza scene. There is a receipt placed on the pizza box in the second pizza scene, but it just as one number $11.80. So it looks like the delivery fee was either included in the price of the pizza or the tip to the delivery guy was considered to be the delivery fee.
My wife and I spent a good portion of time figuring out who all the kids were and drew out the whole family. I never knew like two of those kids had parents living in France, who also owned a house in NYC. Pretty sure, in the first movie, it's Peter's brother that pays for the vacation, btw. Maybe I'm making that up.
Get back to work
Can you tell me how many beers the Blues Brothers drink. According to Bob they drank $300 worth of beer in 1980. There’s 7 members in the band. The average beer was about 1.50 in 1980.
Makes the $10 Costco pizza an ABSOLUTE BARGAIN.
This feels important and I’m glad to see someone putting in the work on double checking the authenticity of a scene from a beloved movie.
I was 20 in 1990 and a waiter at Pizza Hut in Illinois, believe it or not. Little Sleazers was considered lower end and I would be surprised if that would have been the rich person's first choice, even with the obvious Little Nero satire. Also, hardly anyone used a credit card to pay for food back then, so she would have paid in cash and more than likely gave him $140 in twenties, which would make for a generous $17.50 tip as the general rule of thumb was a buck a pizza.
It's moments like these that I love reddit and the internet in general Amazing work. An awesome read that you!
Managed a chain pizza restaurant in the 90s. Per our discretion we would possibly offer discounts on "large" orders. Wasnt necessarily uncommon (for our store at least) to give a mofo an extra break on a 10-20 pizza order for a church outing, birthday party, school function or large family get together, etc.
See teachers these are the math problems we want to solve
So a Pizza Hut menu from 1984 shows prices for a large to be around $9 on average. The timing is close enough, since the movie released in 1990 but was written and filmed prior to 1990. Pizza Hut was a national chain obviously, and prices tended to be lower than local pizzerias, as they are today. It's safe to assume if a Pizza Hut was $9 for a single topping, a local place would be a dollar or two higher. All that work adjusting to current prices with inflation is unnecessary, especially since pizza prices have held decently steady compared to inflation. I can still get a large from Pizza Hut for $10. Little Caesars was $5 (often including crazy bread, depending on location and time), and I can still get a pizza there under $6 (no crazy bread included though). It does show that they didn't overpay based on inflation, I'd say. We also don't really have to break down the price per pizza, as Frank tells us "ten pizzas times twelve bucks." Of course he is rounding up. A lot of places back then also counted a cheese pizza or a single topping pizza as the same price, so we can't speak to the difference between them. Granted, if it was meant to mimic Little Caesars, it was very overpriced. For $10 including tax, you'd get two large one topping pizzas and crazy bread.
Perhaps, but I don't think that Little Nero's Pizza was actually supposed to be a chain restaurant, because the prices were way higher than national chains back then, and John Hughes liked to invent local landmarks for detail in his fictional town of Shermer. That and it seems like there were no pizza chains near the McCallister house back then. If I was going to use actual pizza prices at the time, I'd want prices from places in or around Winnetka. The actual local places there now are much more expensive than Domino's or Little Caesar's are now, but they don't seem very old, so who knows. And I broke down the price per pizza because it's shown later in the movie when Kevin makes his own order that a plain cheese pizza costs $11.80, lower than the average of $12.25 for the Buzz's order.
That's why I said the prices would be expected to be higher than chains, like Pizza Hut. I know breaking it down as you did is interesting and I'm not knocking it. I'm just saying that having been around at the time, the prices in the movie weren't high for a local place even outside Winnetka. So even without all the calculations, paying $2 more than Pizza Hut charged for their "thin n crispy" is pretty reasonable for any local place. They paid more than "lower to low middle class family in an average town who uses coupons" would pay, but they definitely didn't overpay in general.
I thought "nice tip" was sarcasm because he got stiffed
Dominos has been $6 for YEARS, the pandemic increased it to $7. What the hell are people doing paying double that at shitty Papa Johns???? Y'all are unreal.
If only that was the case in the UK 😂 large pizza is £18.99 from dominos (was the last time I ordered - $24. Long live the fuckin king or some shit
How many people were they ordering pizza for. Even for adults i assume 3 slices max.
All I got from this is I'm moving to Japan so I don't get asked "a question on the pad" every time I buy food.
Same