Quote:
Originally Posted by michael
Forgot I had this! RCA dealer binder containing most(?) of their consumer line for '58-'59. Features table & portable radios, recorders, thirty-four b/w sets, a table of cabinet finishes available and of course, 6 late model CTC-7's with prices: the Meredith ($495); the Southbridge ($725); the Pensbury ($825); the Whitmore, w/remote ($775); the Grenoble, w/remote ($925) and the Worthington, w/remote ($1200).
Adjusted for inflation, those same sets would cost: $2915, $5447; $4859; $4564; $5448 and $7068 [2001 dollars from S. Milton Friedman's inflation calculator]. Even the cheapest b/w set, the Envoy, was $159. Imagine paying $936 for a 14" b/w set now! Makes paying a few hundred (now) for a CTC-7 quite a bargain!
I hope I can get these scanned in short order and will post a link to each as time permits!
Michael
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The one thing about using an inflation calculator is that it doesn't take into account the changes in the average person's disposable or discretionary income levels. While the inflation rate does mean that something that cost $159 in 1959 would cost $936 today, it doesn't mean that people have the same amout to spend on things like tv's today. Taxes, insurance, and other mandatory living expenses have gone up more than the inflation rate. People's discretionary income is much less than in 1959. For a while in the 2000's it was even negative, meaning the average person had to borrow against a credit card or other ways to make ends meet.
In other words, people had more money to spend on tv's in 1959 than they do today, so it wasn't as much of a budget buster.