Are Thing Really More Expensive???

[tinapbeana]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

Things are more expensive.

• In 1959 a VW Beetle had a list price of $1959.
• Gasoline was 25 cents a gallon
• A quart of PBR was 35 cents
• Tuition for a quarter at state U. was $75
• First-class postage stamp was a nickle
• Cigarettes cost 50 cents from a vending machine.
• Comic books cost 15 cents

USA Today article regarding 1959 being a different era quotes average US salary in 1959 was $4743, minimum wage was $1 per hour (0.021% of the average salary). current average american salary is $39795 and minimum wage is $5.15 (0.013% of the average salary).

salary has increased 839% since '59. stamps have increased 780%. gas has increased 876% (2.19 vs 0.25 per gal). minimum wage has only increased 515%.

ergo, folks living on minimum wage now can buy less with their money than someone living on minimum wage in '59. stuff doesn't cost more now, but some folks make significantly less.

[JanH]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

Cool stats. Neat to see.

[tabbycat31]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I wasnt around until 1980, but just as there are several things that cost more, there are also several (mostly technology) that cost less. I had a computer growing up (my mom's company provided it) that was an Apple II that was worth several thousand dollars. YOu can get a computer for $500 today. Same with cellphones (and they're not the size of a brick either), TVs, VCR, etc.

[Ima saver]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I lived in the 50's! I would certainly go back to the technology of back then. I would not miss the microwave, the vcr, cell phones. Most of the hi tech things, I don't have and don't intend to. I would even give up this computer!

[shelbylovesmelby]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I agree we've fallen into the temptations presented to us by marketers & retailers to accumulated a great deal of tangable goods.

I agree the raise thing stinks as my dh has only seen one or two annual rasies since 9/11, but yet the company can afford to build new failities and buy out other existing competitors facilites. Raises aren't even keeping up with the costs of living.

I really think not only is the consumer manipulated by mass media & marketing but so many of us are trying to "keep up with the jonses" & going into severe debt for it!

[tabbycat31]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I wouldnt want to go back to old technology. I like having a private phone that I have on me all the time. I like being connected. It also could be a generational thing too.

[JanH]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I love having a cell phone. I hardly ever use it, but I love being able to travel and able to call if I need help. With four people going in four different directions, the cell phone has been a wonderful thing.

[BCHGRL]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I'm going to go a different route on this. My husband and I spend about 140 hours a week at work. This doesn't include the time we spend in school or studying either. I have a career that I find fulfilling personally and financially. I don't want to go back to the 50s, but anyone who does is welcome to do so. Thanks to the feminist revolution, women have the choice to pursue any lifestyle that they choose.

I don't have time to use a typewriter , chop wood, or even cook. Thank goodness for the microwave or I would starve. A computer and central heat/air is not something the evil media has convinced me that I need; rather, it is representative of my modern lifestyle.

Yes, most things cost more. Housing is exhorbitant. Many people spend irresponsibly on things that are excessive. That doesn't mean we need to throw out the baby with the bath water. I, for one, would not like to live in a society where my only choices are being a wife, a teacher, a nurse, or a secretary (no offense to anyone in the aforementioned professions).

[disneysteve]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

Same with cellphones (and they're not the size of a brick either)

I saw a show on History or Discovery recently about this. The first mobile phone cost just under $4,000 and calls cost $1-2/minute! Compare that to today when for $30/month, you can talk for hundreds of minutes and they give you the phone for free.

[disneysteve]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I wasn't around in the 50s, but did come to be in the early 60s. This is an area that I've always been interested in and I actually published an article in a national financial magazine several years ago. These numbers are now outdated, but I think they are still relevant to this conversation.

The average home is twice as large as it was in 1950. This is despite the fact that the average family is 13% smaller.

A new car purchase takes fewer month's worth of family income than it did in 1950. The number of cars per US adult is 50% higher than it was then.

In 1960, Americans spent 15% of their income on groceries vs. only 7% today. Our downfall is eating out. In 1990, 42 cents of every food dollar was spent in restaurants, twice as much as a generation earlier.

Each year, over 16 million Americans travel to foreign countries. In 1950, the number was 680,000.

The average American consumes more than twice as many goods and services as he did in 1950 and ten times more than in 1929.

So while many things seem more expensive, the real problem is we use more stuff, buy more stuff, demand/expect bigger better things, travel more, own more cars, etc. If you were living the exact same lifestyle today that someone led in 1950, I think you'd find that costs haven't gone up all that much and might even be lower.

[tabbycat31]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I saw a show on History or Discovery recently about this. The first mobile phone cost just under $4,000 and calls cost $1-2/minute! Compare that to today when for $30/month, you can talk for hundreds of minutes and they give you the phone for free.

Sounds like an interesting show. I remember in the 80s they were huge, and only the real elite had them (think of the movie Wall Street and the brick that he had). Then they started getting more popular.

I first got mine in 2000, and I wound up giving up the landline in 2002. I pay no more than $40 each month for it, and I get peace of mind, security, and I know that anyone can reach me (or text me as my friends do) whenever they want to.

[tinapbeana]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I really think not only is the consumer manipulated by mass media & marketing but so many of us are trying to "keep up with the jonses" & going into severe debt for it!

the joneses can just bite my toe for all i care, i've got enough debt as it is

[lrjohnson]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

I was conceived in the seventies.

I would go back to old technology if it meant overall less consumerism and debt and corporate mayhem. I could do with the microwave easily, don't have a dishwasher or cell phone, i line dry, blah blah blah. I'd miss the 'net and that whole pool of technology, yes. Trade offs, trade offs.

[sweeps]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

You can have my microwave, maybe even my cell phone, but don't take away my dishwasher!

[tinapbeana]

Re: Are Thing Really More Expensive???

i definitely don't mean to step on anyone's toes here, but let's think about this for a moment...

have you seen a restored victorian era house? movies set in the 20s? read history about the french revolution, chinese monarchies, or crusades?

conspicuous consuption is an ever present thread in human history. if technology allows me the knowledge and information to lead what i see is a better way of life and consume less in the process, give me technology, hands down.

hooray for internet!