my grandfather used to say "shave & a haircut, two bits"....who knows how much two bits is?

Question

he was young in the early part of the 1900s, like the 20s or 30s in america. I have heard a lot of older men say this, and know it was from when men went to barbershops for a weekly shave and haircut. but what kind of money is that? always wondered....

Answer 1

The etiology of the term 'bit' in the United States came from colonial times, where one bit was equivalent to one-eighth of the Spanish Peso (people would cut the peso into eight pieces, thereby forming eight bits).

At the time, the US dollar was equivalent to the Spanish peso in value. However, the US did not have a coin that had the same monetary value of one bit.

However, since the US dollar was equal to the Spanish Peso, a quarter of a dollar would also be equal to a quarter of a peso, which equals two bits (since a bit is one-eighth of a peso).

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
my grandfather used to say "shave & a haircut, two bits"....who knows how much two bits is?
he was young in the early part of the 1900s, like the 20s or 30s in america. I have heard a lot of older men say this, and know it was from when men went to barbershops for a weekly shave and haircut. but what kind of money is that? always wondered....

Answer 3

Before America had enough money of its own, Spanish Rials were legal tender in America (1 Rial = 1 Dollar). People used to cut the Rials into eight pieces and use them for change. The pieces were called "bits;" and two "bits" equaled one-quater of the Rial (or 25 cents).

This practice of cutting Spanish money into eight pieces is also where we get the old pirate saying of "Pieces of Eight."

Hope this answer helps.

Answer 4

Two bits is 25 cents.

Answer 5

I think two bits was like 25 cents.

Answer 6

Two bits is a quarter. The phrase is also the name of a well-known musical couplet usually used at the end of musical performances, which first appeared, apparently, in the piece "At a Darktown Cakewalk" in 1899. I can't reproduce the tune here, but the basic structure is "ta tata ta ta--ta ta".

Answer 7

2 bits is a quarter

Answer 8

two bits is twenty five cents.

"two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar," is the same thing as counting by quarters.

Answer 9

25 cents

Answer 10

I always heard: "two bits to a donut" (don't know what that really means)

Two bits is twenty-five cents! (never knew that either!)