Cunard Line Passage Contract - 4 June 1880

Cunard Line Steerage Passage Contract for Passage from Gothenburg to Boston Dated 4 June 1880. GGA Image ID # 12d47c801c

Passage Contract Summary

• Date of Purchase / Voyage: 4 June 1880
• Steamship Line: Cunard Line
• Steamship: Unknown
• Route: Gothenburg to Boston
• Ticket Type: Passage Contract
• Voyage Class: Steerage
• Name on Contract: Luders Engström
• Etnicity of Passenger(s): Swedish
• Contract Terms: Limited Translation from Swedish
• Cost of Ticket: $ 30.00 / $783.00 in 2020 USD

Contents of Passage Contract

Agent for Sverige: Charles A. Berglund - Hufvudkontor: Göteborg

Agent i Hull : F. H. Laube - Victoria Chambers Posterngate

Agent i Liverpool: B. & C. Mac Iver - 1 Rumford Street

Agent i Boston: P. H. Du Vernet - 99 State Street

Agent i New York : C. G. Fruneklyn - 4 Bowling Green

Charles A. Berglund, Göteborg, ombud för D. & C. Mac Iver, Liverpool, och befullmäktigad utvandrings-agent, samt nedanstående utvandrare.

I the undersigned, Ch. A. Berglund, hereby engage to forward the herein mentioned emigrants from Gothenburg to Boston Mass. for the sum of $ 30, being payment in full, inclusive landing expenses in America.

The departure from here will take place in Royal Mail Steamer on the 4 of June 1880

From Gothenburg the passengers are forwarded on place to Hull, and further, never later than twelve hours after the customhouse examination to Liverpool, in third class carriages on the railroad. With the first Steamer belonging to the Cunard Line (The Cunard Steamship Company Limited) the departure from Liverpool will take place never later than eight days from the arrival there.

In the above payment is included:

place in the Steamers and third class carriages on the railroads Forwarding of luggage viz: 10 cubic- feet, half for children; also good and sufficient food from Gothenburg to the landing place in Amerika free lodgings in Hull and Liverpool.

Should this contract on my part not be fulfilled or any misinterpretation thereof arise on either side, then I bind and declare myself willing to submit to and abide by the stipulations comprised in the 5:th Sections, 6:th Clause of the Government Emigrant Regulation of 5th February 1869.

Göteborg i Poliskammaren den 4 June 1880

Relative Cost of Passage Ticket in Today's Currency Value

In 2020, the relative values of $30.00 from 1880 ranges from $709.00 to $59,900.00.

A simple Purchasing Power Calculator would say the relative value is $783.00. This answer is obtained by multiplying $30 by the percentage increase in the CPI from 1880 to 2020.

This may not be the best answer.

The best measure of the relative value over time depends on if you are interested in comparing the cost or value of a Commodity, Income or Wealth, or a Project.

If you want to compare the value of a $30.00 Commodity in 1880 there are three choices. In 2020 the relative:

• real price of that commodity is $783.00
• labor value of that commodity is $6,080.00 (using the unskilled wage) or $8,790.00 (using production worker compensation)
• income value of that commodity is $9,120.00
• economic share of that commodity is $59,900.00

If you want to compare the value of a $30.00 Income or Wealth, in 1880 there are four choices. In 2020 the relative:

• real wage or real wealth value of that income or wealth is $783.00
• relative labor earnings of that commodity are $6,080.00 (using the unskilled wage) or $8,790.00 (using production worker compensation)
• relative income value of that income or wealth is $9,120.00
• relative output value of that income or wealth is $59,900.00

If you want to compare the value of a $30.00 Project in 1880 there are three choices. In 2020 the relative:

• real cost of that project is $709.00
• labor cost of that project is $6,080.00 (using the unskilled wage) or $8,790.00 (using production worker compensation)
• relative cost of that project is $9,120.00
• economy cost of that project is $59,900.00

Source: www.measuringworth.com Samuel H. Williamson, "Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1790 to present," MeasuringWorth, 2022.