Re: [ARSCLIST] 78s relatively inexpensive? I disagree (was Victor film)

["Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To 78-L...I think this is a discussion we should join!
...stevenc
----- Original Message -----
From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> Based on housing prices here in NYC, a late 30's early 40's record buyer
of
> top line merchandise paid disproportionately much more than we do now.
Our
> house was built in 1940.  Absurdly,  resale value of houses here in Fresh
> Meadows are now 70 times that of when they were sold new.  Taking that
> factor, a two sided 10" 75 cent disk sold for $52.50 in 2004 US funny
money.
> A Victor Red Seal of Dvorak's "New Work Symphony" was $10: $700 in current
> dollars.  Compare that to CD prices, which are widespreadly,
sophomorically
> regarded as 'expensive'.  That'd pro-rate a 16 song compilation to $420!
>
> A much less  extreme comparitive (and less localized) basis is first class
> domestic mail: 3 cents in 1940, 37 cents now.  That's a factor of 12.3:
> 'only' $9.25 for a two sided 7 minute 10" 75 cent 78 &  $123 for that
Dvorak
> album.   The 16 track compilation cited above would cost 'only' $111!
>
> I acknowledge that a formula for comparing currency values between 1940
and
> now can be highly debatable, but these two examples at least, have
> comparable inherent value.  The house is the same size as it was in 1940.
> It has new windows, siding and central air conditioning but it's
essentially
> the same as it was in 1940.  Similarly, the comparison of 3 & 37 cent
first
> class mail fees are analagous for the services they buy.
>
> So I assume that the REAL inflation factor is somewhere between 12 and 70,
> and that means that even budget 78s at the time the film was made were
> expensive.
>
> A more extreme example of their early cost is the first Red Seal Sextette
> >From Lucia, when was that, 1906?  What was the weekly take home pay of
the
> average working schnook then?
>
> And these examples don't factor the considerations that what's being sold
> has far greater intrincsic value: the media don't deteriorate with each
use,
> and have much better clarity.
For my answer, I'll reply to paragraph 4:
"What was the weekly take home pay..."
Well, the answer would be $1/day...regardless of the length of the day.
When Leeds & Catlin launched the Imperial label, they announced it as
"our new low cost record" since the price (for a single selection) had
dropped to 60 cents. Prior to the 1920 introduction of Regal (and Pathe's
immediate reply of Perfect), 10" popular 78's cost from 75 cents to $1.00.
These labels brought the price down to 50 cents. During the twenties,
Sears sold Silvertone (and its other array of labels) for prices in the
area of twenty cents...but a black-label Victor still cost 75 cents.
Even if we take Henry Ford's munificent wage of $5 a day as our standard,
our peasant "hero" is making about 50 cents an our...or enough to buy
2.5 Challenge records, or 2/3 of a Victor! This was, of course, better
than the previous generation...who had earned $1/day (the standard wage
c. 1900) and had to pay most or all of that for a single-sided disc!

Now, in 1966 an LP, with ten to twelve songs, cost you about $3.98
(less on Camden or Harmony, which were fairly new then)! But...in 1966
I was working in a unionized plant, and making $3.30/hour...which I
thought was incredible! In fact, in 1962 I had left a suit-and-tie
salaried position as "Health Insurance Underwriter" which paid me
$47/week.

Today, the minimum wage in Ontario was bumped up (finally) from
$6.85/hour to $7.00 (I think). Figure on that basis...
...stevenc