That 59-Cent Publix Tuna From 1979 Is Worth About $2.65 to Floridians Today
Remember when a can of tuna cost less than a dollar? A Publix ad in the Sarasota Journal on September 27, 1979, priced a can of Star-Kist chunk light tuna at 59 cents.
Good luck finding a price like that now.
But 59 cents then is not 59 cents now.
Here is what that 59 cents is worth in today’s dollars, and what other Publix groceries from that ad would be worth too, for Floridians doing the math at home.
The Newspaper Page
The Publix ad ran on page 12 under the printed line “And You’ll Always Find It at Publix.”
A black shopping cart graphic in the upper left shows the price of a 6½-ounce can of Star-Kist chunk light tuna: 59 cents.
Several items show a “Regularly” price next to the sale price, so you can compare the two.
Chunk Light Tuna
Star-Kist’s chunk light tuna was 10 cents off in the 1979 Publix ad, whether you bought it packed in water or in oil.
Run 59 cents through the federal Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation calculator, from September 1979 to August 2026.
You get about $2.65.
That is about four and a half times as much.
The 10-cent savings works out to about 45 cents in the same dollars.
Tuna wasn’t the only 59-cent price on the ad.
A 29-ounce can of F&P California peaches had the same price.
That’s a much bigger can.
The Math Behind Publix’s 1979 Prices
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks prices with an index. Its number for September 1979 was 74.6. For August 2026, it was 334.980.
Every 1979 price in this article uses one multiplier: 4.49. That is 334.980 divided by 74.6.
The calculator uses the national index for all items. It is not a grocery index and not a state index.
So each result shows what that 1979 money is worth in August 2026. It is not a shelf price.
August 2026 is the latest month BLS had released as of Oct. 11, 2026.
Butter Crust Bread
Publix’s Special Recipe Butter Crust white bread was two 20-ounce loaves for 79 cents in the 1979 ad.
Above that line, the ad prints “Regularly 49¢.”
That appears to be the single-loaf price.
In August 2026 dollars, the 79-cent pair comes to about $3.55. The 49-cent figure comes to about $2.20.
If so, buying the pair on sale saved you 19 cents, or about 85 cents today.
Nilla Wafers and Keebler Cookies
Which cookie got the better price in Publix’s 1979 ad?
It was a tie on price.
Keebler’s vanilla creme or fudge creme cookies and Nabisco Nilla vanilla wafers both sold for 75 cents.
The regular price was 89 cents.
The Keebler package was a 12½-ounce size, and the Nilla package was a 12-ounce size.
In August 2026 dollars, the 75-cent sale price comes to about $3.37. The 89-cent regular price comes to about $4.00.
Your total for both would have been $1.50 in 1979, or about $6.74 today.
Psst! How much do you know about grocery history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Grocery Aisle History
Answer these questions on grocery and price history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
What was the first grocery item ever scanned with a Universal Product Code, at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio, in 1974?
Hawaiian Punch and Apple Juice
A carton of Hawaiian Punch cost $1.67 in the 1979 Publix ad, for six 8-ounce cans of red fruit punch.
That's 28 cents a can.
If you bought the carton, the math puts it at about $7.50 today.
That's about $1.25 a can.
White House natural apple juice, a 64-ounce bottle, was $1.09 on the same ad.
Your $1.09 in 1979 comes to about $4.89 in August 2026 dollars.
Pickles and Salad Dressing
Smucker's kosher dill spears were 77 cents for a 16-ounce jar in Publix's 1979 ad.
Right above them, Kraft French or Thousand Island salad dressing was $1.15 for a 16-ounce bottle.
Together, they came to $1.92.
In 2026 dollars, that comes to about $8.62.
The dressing is about $5.16 of that, and the pickles are about $3.46.
Peanut Butter and Syrup
An 18-ounce jar of Smucker's Natural peanut butter was $1.31 in Publix's 1979 ad.
The jar comes to about $5.88 in August 2026 dollars.
If you buy by the ounce, that's about 7 cents in 1979 and about 33 cents in 2026 dollars.
Log Cabin Buttered Syrup, a 24-ounce bottle, was $1.33 in the same ad.
That's about $5.97 today.
Your 1979 total for the jar and the bottle would have been $2.64, or about $11.85 today.
Canned Meat
Three Armour canned meats appear in Publix's 1979 ad, each in a different can size.
The 12-ounce can of Treet luncheon meat was $1.19.
The 5½-ounce can of potted meat was 45 cents.
The 9¼-ounce can of Vienna sausage was 88 cents.
Compare the cans by the ounce, and the potted meat was cheapest at about 8 cents in 1979.
The Treet and the Vienna sausage were each about 10 cents an ounce.
In August 2026 dollars, that's roughly 37 cents an ounce for the potted meat and 43 to 45 cents for the other two.
Per can, the Treet comes to about $5.34, the potted meat to about $2.02 and the Vienna sausage to about $3.95.
Borden Ice Cream
Borden's Old Fashion Round ice cream, a half gallon in assorted flavors, was 76 cents off in Publix's 1979 ad.
The sale price was $1.59.
That 76-cent saving works out to about $3.41 in 2026 dollars. The $1.59 sale price works out to about $7.14.
Two half gallons at the sale price would have cost you $3.18 in 1979, or about $14.28 today.
Spaghetti Sauce and Pie Filling
A 29-ounce jar of Chef Boy-ar-dee spaghetti sauce, with mushrooms or with ground beef, was $1.19 in Publix's 1979 ad.
That comes to about $5.34 in August 2026 dollars.
If you wanted dessert, you could add a 21-ounce can of Comstock sliced apple pie filling at 67 cents, on the same page.
That's about $3.01 in August 2026 dollars.
Your 1979 total for the sauce and the filling comes to $1.86, or about $8.35 in August 2026 dollars.
7 Publix Deli Tricks Floridians Over 60 Swear By
Floridians over 60 have a list of Publix deli tricks they swear by.
Here's what's on it.
7 Publix Deli Tricks Floridians Over 60 Swear By
8 Florida Small Towns That Change Completely in October
A handful of sleepy Florida towns look completely different in October.
The change happens fast.
