Queens house clean out gives DiMola new life insurance policy — for just 40 cents a week
Prudential life insurance brochure, found in Queens, NY.
This Prudential life insurance brochure from 1930 is no stranger to the inside of a desk.
It’s had a home in my office desk for the past few months. And before that, it was stored for 81 years in one that belonged to its original owner.
I found it on a house clean up job in Queens, New York. The owner had passed away and one of his relatives hired DiMola Bros to remove any loose garbage, excess furniture and leftover junk.
How is it possible, you might ask, that in more than eight decades no one managed to throw away this flimsy life insurance brochure when it was just sitting in this desk among several other stacks of paperwork? Well, I can’t help you, because I have no idea.
But I’m happy no one did throw it away — because now it is mine.
This Prudential life insurance certificate is dated June 16, 1930, and it belonged to a man named Frank Lazzatti, who was 29 years old at the time. The amount of insurance offered was $328 — for a weekly premium of 40 cents!
If this guy Frank died suddenly, his family would receive $328. Now, a $328 insurance policy would be equivalent to about $20,900, according to MeasuringWorth.com, using the nominal GDP per capita method the site provides. And, a weekly premium of 40 cents would equal about $25 today.
It’s crazy to think that, today, 40 cents won’t even get you a cup of coffee. Forty cents won’t even get you a bad cup of coffee. I’m not even sure that 40 cents could get you the plastic cup to hold the coffee. And, in 1930, 40 cents a week could get you a decent life insurance plan.
DiMola Bros Rubbish Removal
1640 Summerfield St.
Ridgewood, NY 11385
Phone: 718-326-6969
Fax: 718-326-7979
NGDimola@aol.com / http://dimolabros.com
Trash Treasures of New York City 
NICE find!!!! Although I’m curious as to how your nails stay so shiney going through all that rubbish!