Prices, Old & New

Dan,  In 1940, my father bought Lionel engine 225 with the red baggage car, red passenger car and red observation car for $19.95(I think).  The R transformer, a 4x8 oval of track, one track switch and possibly the bumper for another five dollars.  Lot of money in those days.  John in Lansing, Ill

Dan Padova posted:

I was reading through my copy of the March issue of CTT.  In particular the piece on Lionel's lead up to their fiftieth anniversary.  This is nothing new to me, but once more I read, with interest, the pricing of trains in the late forties.  Prices ranged from about $20.00 to $70.00 for a set of trains.  

I think my parents mortgage, on their new row home in Northeast Philly was about $60.00 per month.  So it took about a weeks pay to buy your kids an outfit.  In the fifties, my brother and I wanted a Lionel train set in the worst way.  We were the last among our friends to have one.  

But thinking of the prices of trains, in those days, it is a wonder that many average income earners were able to afford them.

A bit of a digression now;

It wasn't until about 1957, I was nine, my brother six, that our parents were able to make our dream come true.  A friend of the family knew someone who's boys had outgrown their trains.  We were gifted with a very large two piece platform full of "O" gauge track and some pre-war passenger and freight trains.  Al for $50.00.

My parents set it all up on Christmas Eve, while we slept.  Imagine our excitement when we were allowed to go down to the basement and see them completely set up.  My mother, being artistic, placed the buildings, people, trees, etc. on the 4 x 12 foot platform, a larger one than anyone else in the neighborhood had.   

The items your parents bought you in 1957 would be about $442 today: https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/c...712&year2=201812

Trains have always been expensive, but they still cost about the same as they did in the 1950's. CPI calculator shows you how much they were in todays money.

My parents bought me a 2207W diesel freight set in 1953. Santa Fe F-3 A-B-A engines and four cars. List price $70. Wish I still had it.

MELGAR

Lou1985 posted:

Dan Padova posted:

I was reading through my copy of the March issue of CTT.  In particular the piece on Lionel's lead up to their fiftieth anniversary.  This is nothing new to me, but once more I read, with interest, the pricing of trains in the late forties.  Prices ranged from about $20.00 to $70.00 for a set of trains.  

I think my parents mortgage, on their new row home in Northeast Philly was about $60.00 per month.  So it took about a weeks pay to buy your kids an outfit.  In the fifties, my brother and I wanted a Lionel train set in the worst way.  We were the last among our friends to have one.  

But thinking of the prices of trains, in those days, it is a wonder that many average income earners were able to afford them.

A bit of a digression now;

It wasn't until about 1957, I was nine, my brother six, that our parents were able to make our dream come true.  A friend of the family knew someone who's boys had outgrown their trains.  We were gifted with a very large two piece platform full of "O" gauge track and some pre-war passenger and freight trains.  Al for $50.00.

My parents set it all up on Christmas Eve, while we slept.  Imagine our excitement when we were allowed to go down to the basement and see them completely set up.  My mother, being artistic, placed the buildings, people, trees, etc. on the 4 x 12 foot platform, a larger one than anyone else in the neighborhood had.   

The items your parents bought you in 1957 would be about $442 today: https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/c...712&year2=201812

Trains have always been expensive, but they still cost about the same as they did in the 1950's. CPI calculator shows you how much they were in todays money.

So if $50 becomes $442 (call it a multiple of 9 just to keep things simple) that $70 for a top of the line train set would be $630. Any thoughts or comments on that?

Gerry 

gmorlitz posted:

Lou1985 posted:

Dan Padova posted:

I was reading through my copy of the March issue of CTT.  In particular the piece on Lionel's lead up to their fiftieth anniversary.  This is nothing new to me, but once more I read, with interest, the pricing of trains in the late forties.  Prices ranged from about $20.00 to $70.00 for a set of trains.  

I think my parents mortgage, on their new row home in Northeast Philly was about $60.00 per month.  So it took about a weeks pay to buy your kids an outfit.  In the fifties, my brother and I wanted a Lionel train set in the worst way.  We were the last among our friends to have one.  

But thinking of the prices of trains, in those days, it is a wonder that many average income earners were able to afford them.

A bit of a digression now;

It wasn't until about 1957, I was nine, my brother six, that our parents were able to make our dream come true.  A friend of the family knew someone who's boys had outgrown their trains.  We were gifted with a very large two piece platform full of "O" gauge track and some pre-war passenger and freight trains.  Al for $50.00.

My parents set it all up on Christmas Eve, while we slept.  Imagine our excitement when we were allowed to go down to the basement and see them completely set up.  My mother, being artistic, placed the buildings, people, trees, etc. on the 4 x 12 foot platform, a larger one than anyone else in the neighborhood had.   

The items your parents bought you in 1957 would be about $442 today: https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/c...712&year2=201812

Trains have always been expensive, but they still cost about the same as they did in the 1950's. CPI calculator shows you how much they were in todays money.

So if $50 becomes $442 (call it a multiple of 9 just to keep things simple) that $70 for a top of the line train set would be $630. Any thoughts or comments on that?

Gerry 

It may be all relative, price wise.  But for those of us who grew up in the late forties and fifties, and whose parents had average incomes, that $70.00 was a huge outlay.  You have to remember the mindset back then.  So many things were thought of a luxuries.  whereas today, goods are much easier to obtain.  One major reason is credit cards.  A substantial outlay of money, when put on a credit card does not affect one nearly as that same outlay in cash.  Yes, the bill must be paid, eventually, but the mindset has changed enormously.  

My mother loved the aluminum passenger cars that Lionel was making in the fifties.  She wanted to get my brother and I a set to add to the trains they bought for us in '57.  One day while in the Wanamaker toy department, she saw them in a showcase. Sticker shock, which wasn't a phrase used back then, must have sealed the fate of those cars for her and us.  Granted, shopping in Wanamakers was considered high end shopping, but my parents never skimped when it came to buying us the necessities.  

Recently, I brought up the lay-away subject over dinner with my kids.  They had no clue what lay-away was.  To them and almost everyone else who is younger, you just put it on the CC.

 Why wait when you can use it up before it's paid for? I wasn't even sure stores did layaway anymore; I first did it at JC Penney to catch my size Levi's before they vanished; I last did it at Sears in the 80s for some Yamaha equipment that ran the good components; and last heard of it at Walmart recently. I didn't actually check to see if that's true, it might have been a joke.

  I remember having a twenty dollar bill at Woolworths and eyeballing a Marx E plastic shell hauling freight and having some trouble, and a steel-plate steamer with the detail of a melted ice sculpture pulling stumps with a heavier load of scale cars.

  I passed in the end, maybe they didn't have the E in stock. Right now I just recall watching them for a few sessions and  thinking it was a hard choice between looks, performance, and saving up even more for the Lionel and I had ran those plenty, but this would be mine 😏 . (vs $60 alone for an A I think?)