Maybe father knew best in 1957, but he probably didn't have a clue about how much mother forked over at the grocery story for his tuna noodle casserole. He made about $4,494 a year, paid about $20,000 for his house, $2,500 for his Ford, and roughly 27 cents a gallon to fill 'er up. Let's see how deep mother had to dig into her pocketbook at the grocery store checkout.

1. Milk

Back in 1957, milk was $1 per gallon. Today, we have a lot more choices when standing in the dairy aisle, but whether whole, 2 percent, 1 percent, skim, or soy, milk sets us back about $3.49 when it's not on sale.

2. TV Dinner

A Swanson TV dinner cost just 75 cents in 1957. With classics like Wagon Train and American Bandstand shown in 39.5 million homes, TV trays were popping up all over the place. Today, a frozen chicken and corn tray will set you back $2.99.

3. Tang

Tang Breakfast Crystals were launched in America in 1957 for around 50 cents a jar. In 1965, the Gemini 4 astronauts got this powdered vitamin C powerhouse for free on their space mission and all of the following Gemini and Apollo missions. Today, anyone can buy Tang for $3.39 for a 12-ounce canister.

4. Ground Beef

To make that delicious meatloaf, mother shelled out 30 cents for a pound of hamburger in 1957. Today, we pay considerably more for our ground beef -- $4.09 per pound!

5. Butter

When they weren't cooking with lard or shortening, American women of 1957 opted for butter at 75 cents a pound. These days, we're more likely to count fat grams and opt for margarine or other butter substitutes. In any case, at about $3.99 a pound, we don't pay with just our arteries to enjoy good old-fashioned butter today.

Butter was significantly cheaper in 1957.

6. Syrup

In 1957, you could douse a stack of flapjacks with pure Vermont maple syrup because it only cost 33 cents for 12 ounces. At $9.36 for 12 ounces of the real stuff today, we have to go a little lighter on the sap. But these days it's much less expensive to grab an imitation. You can get 12 ounces of Aunt Jemima for $1.89.

Our list of prices for grocery store items in 1957 continues on the next page.