Fantasy in Atlanta

Chicken for 28-c- per Ib. Five pounds of flour for 48-c-. Six bottles of soda for 38-c-. A decade ago? A generation ago? No, this month in Atlanta, where the Richway food stores rolled back prices in the hope of attracting some attention.

They got it all right. Housewives jammed by the thousands into the chain's five supermarkets. Check-out lines stretched far back down the aisles. Produce men wheeling out huge dollies of potatoes were clawed at as if they were so many Robert Redfords. Customers jostled for position as giant baskets of chickens were dumped into counter bins. One strong-armed customer managed to walk out with 36.

It was delightful nostalgia, a reminder of times past when a family could afford to eat without thinking about the price. The customers were smiling in Atlanta, something few Americans have done in grocery stores for years. But with the sale over, reality -- and inflation -- returned. Chicken was going for 54-c- per Ib., five pounds of flour for 98-c-, and a six-pack of soda was up to $1.09.

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