It used to be that a can of coffee (in the US) contained a pound. Then some geniuses in the industry decided that the thing to do, instead of raising the price to keep up with inflation, was to put less in each can. Amazingly, however, a few brands continued to give an honest price for an honest pound. One of them was Maxwell House 1892, which however was recently discontinued. I was disconsolately buying 13-oz cans (or whatever), but just last week, in an unfamiliar supermarket, I saw Brown Gold in 1-lb cans. Three cheers for Brown Gold!

A few years ago I read an article pointing out that eggs are packaged in cartons so flimsy that you have to be careful not to bang the shopping bag against your thigh on the way home, whereas cold chisels are potted in plastic so tough that it takes another cold chisel to get them out.