The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #102604 Message #2080405
Posted By: Peace
18-Jun-07 - 06:55 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: I'll bet you 23-80. What's it mean?
Subject: RE: Folklore: I'll bet you 23-80. What's it mean?
"The characters often say '23 80', which refers to the $23.80 fixed weekly payment to WPA workers; so if you bet '23 80', you are betting a lot."
"Just a quick note. Love the old slang. Watching the film the term 23 80 (twenty-three eighty) was used a lot by the characters.
Did some reseach and it appears that this was the average check paid by the WPA, Depression Era Federal Program.