Don't forget that between 1952 and 1960, the price of a phone call, a
coin-machine-vended soft drink, and lots of other common consumables
doubled. The price of cars did more than that, and the country, having
endured, and survived, the post-war(s) recession(s), was about to embark on
what now is viewed as the biggest and fastest moving era of economic growth
the world has ever seen. That took less than the 8 years between the end of
the Korean war and the election of JFK.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Christian Fandt <cfandt_at_netsync.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, April 23, 1999 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were
the80s
>Upon the date 12:21 PM 4/23/99 -0600, Richard Erlacher said something like:
>>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.
>
>I was born in '53. I had the opportunity to see and perhaps experience the
>social, economic and ethnic changes which happened though the 60's decade
>and at least half of the 70's. What a change it was.
>
>I see where you are coming from Dick and lean more towards your view of the
>matter. However, when I put the same feelings into the perspective of some
>young whippersnapper like Sellam, then I see where he's coming from.
>
>Back in the early 60's, Dad had a job which paid about $4000 per year, Mom
>did not work. With a mortgage, trying to pay for a ten-year-old car,
>feeding me and my mother and him plus all the other incidental bills, we
>had little spare money. Fried chicken or something simple like macaroni and
>cheese were very common meals at supper because they were cheap. It was
>Kentucky Fried Chicken only because my mother is from the Eastern hills of
>KY, not from the Colonel's famous restaurant chain;)
>
>A $100 expenditure would be serious business if it was something which was
>really needed.
>
>Allison's list of costs is accurate for me too except for the salaries and
>our house cost $4300 on a half-acre in 1957 and there were only three in
>our family. Sellam and others his generation in CA probably lived in a
>region in which costs *and* corresponding salaries
>were higher than what folks of my generation (Allison, Dick) grew up with.
>
>Things are weird even now. A decent three bedroom house with two car garage
>on a decent lot in the city of Jamestown can be had for $45k to $60k.
>However, groceries are avg. 10% higher than big city costs likely because
>of lower competition and transportation costs to get them here. Other
>cities like the NYC area, Boston area, Chicago area, LA area, Bay Area,
>etc., etc., etc. have housing costs which are higher. Our European and
>Australian colleagues may have the same experiences.
>
>It's all relative as can be seen by my one example above. Sellam, Dick,
>myself and everybody else have different points of view as a result of our
>"home" areas and our ages therefore our opinions will be formed
accordingly.
>
>Let's wander back to an appropriate topic for this list:) What was it?
>First PC?
>
>
>>
>>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
>>>
>
>Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
>Jamestown, NY USA cfandt_at_netsync.net
>Member of Antique Wireless Association
> URL: http://www.ggw.org/awa
Received on Fri Apr 23 1999 - 14:58:44 BST