The Honeymooners: How Rich Was Ralph Kramden REALLY? (1955 Cost Breakdown)

328 Chauncey Street, Brooklyn. A small apartment with a table, an icebox, a window looking out on the neighbors, and not much else. Ralph Kramden drove a bus for the Gotham Bus Company, Alice kept the place running, and every other week Ralph had a new scheme that was finally going to make them rich. The Honeymooners gave us the poorest-looking home on 1950s television. But was the Kramdens' life really as tight as it looked? In this video we put real 1955 numbers behind it. What did a New York City bus driver actually earn? What did a cold-water flat in Brooklyn cost, and what did Ralph and Alice go without to stay inside that budget? We compare Ralph's paycheck with what the average American family was making, look at what his steady city job was really worth, and stack him up against his upstairs neighbor Ed Norton, the man who worked in the sewer. Ralph spent the whole series chasing the big score. The numbers suggest he may have been sitting on something better than he ever realized. Because when you put real prices behind these families, the shows we grew up on start telling a very different story than the one we remember. Tags: the honeymooners, ralph kramden, jackie gleason, alice kramden, ed norton, classic tv, 1950s america, tv economics, old tv shows explained