Driven by the Depression, Santa Fe dropped its one-way fare between Chicago and California to just $40 in the summer of 1932. Fares from St. Louis and New Orleans to California were even lower, just $36.50. These compare with $90.30 for a round trip (which was usually a little less than twice one way) from Chicago and $85.60 from St. Louis in Summer, 1928.

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While those sound like great prices, $40 in 1932 is almost $900 today while $36.50 is around $800. Moreover, working-class people who had jobs in 1932 would have had to work as many hours as it would take people in the same jobs today to earn around $2,700. Thus, the lower fares were still prohibitive for most people, even those who had jobs, in the 1930s.

The $40 fare from Chicago applies to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and — for some reason — Phoenix. My 1928 source doesn’t have a Chicago-Phoenix fare, but the Chicago-Grand Canyon round-trip fare was $77.15. If the fare to Phoenix is comparable, then the $40 fare might actually have been an increase.