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Alice tries to talk to Phil about the household bills. The decision is to cut down on the meat bill. Not wanting to be at the mercy of Willie’s shopping decisions, Phil has his own plan to beat those high prices of… What? A whopping $1.50 per pound?
Oh, for the days of 1948… Oops, excuse me for daydreaming.
Somehow Franke and Phil decide to buy a live steer, and have it processed for a fraction of the cost. How much does a live steer weigh anyway? A hundred pounds? The first snag sets in, the price is a little higher than planned, combined with a steer that weighs over ten times the planned amount. You know, as funny as some of these episodes are where the lead character comes home with a live turky, Phil has to come home with a live cow. If a 10 pound birt is worth a million laughs, just think of the fun an 1100 pound cow will bring.
Alice sings, Buttons and Bows. Meanwhile, Phil has set out for the butcher and finds his cost saving margin growing slimmer when he calculates in the processing fees. Along the way the two encounter their favorite grocery boy, Julius. After processing, Phil’s profit margin shrinks when the usable meat goes from 1100 down to 600 pounds, then there’s the dressing fees. All Phil wants is steaks and chops, which reduces the meat down to about 100 pounds. Holy cow Phil! Take those other cuts for the wife and kids.
More expenses rack up when Phil needs a meat locker for storing that much meat. Though they did exist, this is in the days before such items as a deep freezer was a common household appliance.
Now Phil’s steaks are up to $7.50 per pound, close to what they are today. Imagine that.
