You're right, the numbers are not universal. It's hard to find numbers that
are, BUT, in 1952, people didn't have electric dryers, and washing machines
had wringers attached, as well as rollers on the bottom because housewives
would roll them out the walk in back of the house to where the clothes line
was located so they could hang their clothes and linens, the latter having
been wrung before being hung on the line.
In '52, as men were returning from the Korean war, the economy was still
shuddering from the effect of the Korean war so soon in the wake of WWII.
I'm not an economist, and even they probably can't explain exactly what was
going on, but in the early '50's a phone call, a soft drink, a Saturday
movie, and bus fare typically cost a nickel (that's 5-cents for those not
accustomed to our monetary units.) in the midwestern US. In early '52, I
lived in NYC, having just immigrated from Germany, and later (June '52) in
Oklahoma City. In '55, we moved to Denver, where things really didn't seem
too different, at least from what I heard from parents, etc. By then some
people did have electric dryers, though. Electric ranges were more common
as well.
Housing was typically on 1/4-acre lots in the suburbs and the usual 1/6-1/5
acre lots in the city. If you lived where lots were 1/3 acre, you were
probably well-off.
When I lived in Oklahoma City, my nearest playmate was a physician's son.
The guy who lived across the street from him was the chief of the state's
highway patrol. By 1960, the culture had changed so much that people in
those positions wouldn't dream of living in the same neighborhood with
"working folks" like my parents.
What I'm getting at here, is that things were VERY different by 1960, than
they had been seven or eight years before.
If you were raised after '60, the world would have looked quite different
than it did in the early '50's.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: allisonp_at_world.std.com <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, April 23, 1999 6:51 AM
Subject: Re: The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were
the80s
>> of the "average" American. First of all, it was over a month's pay for
the
>> average American, it was equivalent to six months' groceries for a family
of
>> four, and you could get a refrigerator or a washer, neither of which were
>> routine discretionary expenditures for the "average" American of that
time.
>> That was during and immediately after the Korean war, when a 4-bedroom
house
>> on a 1/4-acre lot cost $4600. That same house, now, in California would
>> cost you $4600 a month to rent. People's attitudes about what's
important
>> enough to spend your money on have changed considerably.
>
>The nubers you quote are not universal or reflected everywhere in the
>US.
>
>On LI NY, 1960:
>
> My father made roughly 100$ take home.
> My mother made 54$ as nurses aid.
> My parent house cost $18,000 in 1957 (1/3 acre)
> Neither car was never than three years old.
> A washer was 110$
> A dryer (electric) was 122$
> Bazooka gum was 1 cent a piece
> Weeks food from the A&P for 5 was ~33$
> The PDP-1 was considered groundbreaking for it's low
> price of $120,000.
>
>By 1964
>
> a 19 inch portable black and white TV was 120$ and still used
> tubes.
>
>In 1971
>
> A new chevy pickup was 2700$
> A used 8i system could be had for 2-3000 with peripherals(disks)
> A new Cincinatti Milichron CM2000 basic machine was $2000.
>
>in short use real numbers.
>
>Allison
>
Received on Fri Apr 23 1999 - 13:21:24 BST