How Much Did Mushrooms Cost in Paris in 1900? A Comparison with Today’s Market

11/06/2025
15 minutes read

In Benjamin Minge Duggar’s 1915 book “Mushroom Growing,” we find unique statistics on the mushroom market in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. We’ve prepared a summary of this data and compared it to the current market.

Mushroom Production in Paris (1898–1901)

Year	Total Production (kg)	Fresh Consumption (kg)	Preserved (kg)	Avg. Wholesale Price (per kg)
1898	1,800,000	1,000,000	800,000	1.35 francs
1899	3,100,000	1,860,000	1,240,000	1.35 francs
1900	3,900,000	1,900,000	2,000,000	1.30 francs
1901	4,400,000	1,700,000	2,800,000	1.25 francs

In 1911, the average wholesale price was 1.50 francs per kilogram, with a retail price of 2.20 francs per kilogram.

To compare: Prices of Other Products and Living Standards in Paris (1898–1902)

To better understand mushroom prices, it’s important to compare them to other basic goods of the same period:

Product or Service	Price in 1900	Modern Equivalent (≈ ×4)
Bread, 1 kg	≈ 0.35 francs	≈ 1.40 €
Beef, 1 kg	≈ 1.00 franc	≈ 4.00 €
Chicken, 1 kg	≈ 1.00 franc	≈ 4.00 €
Oysters, per piece	≈ 0.10 francs	≈ 0.40 €
Eggs, dozen	≈ 0.75 francs	≈ 3.00 €
Apartment rent, yearly	≈ 230 francs	≈ 920 € (≈ 77 €/month)
Worker’s daily wage	3–6 francs per day	≈ 12–24 €/day (≈ 3–6 €/hr)

Thus, mushrooms priced at 1.25–1.35 francs/kg were in the same range as meat and poultry—not a cheap product, but rather a delicacy.

When adjusted for inflation, mushrooms in 1900 cost 2–3 times more than they do today. This highlights the value mushrooms had at the time.

Other Historical Insights from Duggar’s Book

In 1900, the U.S. imported ≈1.36 million kg of canned mushrooms from France.
By 1906, this had risen to ≈2.27 million kg.
In the U.S., mushrooms were sold almost exclusively fresh.
A farm with 5,000 sq. ft. of beds was considered large in 1900; by 1915, operations with 100,000 sq. ft. (≈9,300 m²) were reported.