The good old days--

[cdbeaver]

The goold old days--

Are you ready for some nostalgia? While sorting through a rather musty old foot locker I ran across some interesting stuff that may or may not interest other THR members, to wit:

A receipt from Ray's Gun Shop of Casper, Syo., dated September 21, 1954, for a Winchester Model 62 .22 pump action rifle. Cost: $48.35. Still have that rifle today, in pristine condition.

A receipt from Sears (I think) for a Winchester .30-30 (no model number given) for $62.45. Rifle is now long gone.

A four-page instruction sheet (circa 1950) for the then new "Ruger Pistol," no model number given, but it was the first pistol produced by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. Alas, the pistol is now gone. But only recently I gave away the box it came in.

A 16-page brochure printed by Hollywood Gun Shop, Lyle S. Corcoran, owner.

The brochure featured the Hollywood Reloading tool, priced at $42.50, including one set of Hollywood dies. Additional dies could be had for $12.50 to $13.50 a set.

Also featured was the Universal Model "A" tool, with a three-position indexing turret head, for $52.50. The Universal Model "B" with a 12-position die turret, a four-position shell-holder turret and a four-position priming ram turret sold for $73.50.

The Hollywood micrometer powder measure, newly introduced, sold for $19.50.

Phil Sharpe's "Complete Guide to Handloading" (third edition) was available for 10 bucks. Elmer Keith's "Sixgun Cartridges and Loads" went for $1.50 and Townsend Whelen's "Why Not Load Your Own" sold for $3.00. Other really great books now long out of print cost from $2.50-10.00.

DuPont's 3031 powder cost $2.75 a can. Bullseye was $2.55 for an 11-oz. can. Unique was $2.50 for a 13-ounce can. Most rifle powders sold for $2.75 a pound. A three-pound keg of Hercules Red Dot was $9.85.

Ideal single-cavity bullet molds were $7.50, doubles $10.00, with handles extra.

Harris "Sierra" .22 cal. bullets were $2.25 a hundred; .270 130-grain were $4.50; .30 caliber bullets ranged from $4.25-4.75.

A Wilson cartridge case trimmer, complete for one caliber, was 12 bucks.

Are you crying yet?

 

[Schuey2002]

Yeah, there's nothing quite like the good 'ole days... :banghead:

 

[P95Carry]

cdbeaver .... seems you pre-date me ... well a bit! Oh yeah . the good ole days ..... makes modern ''shopping'' seem more than excessive ...... all relative tho I guess. Just wish there was more of the old gear around .... and affordable too.

 

[jsalcedo]

I was seeing a man about a horse the other day and I happened to have July 1949 American Rifleman magazine next to the throne.

One of the back page ads read "wood barrel filled with 13 handguns captured from the germans $39.99 shipped to your door."

Yeah I was crying.

 

[Dave T]

Don't forget how hard a dollar was to come by in 1950. Those prices look great at today's income levels but think about them in terms of what you earned in 1950. Suddenly those prices aren't so great any more.

Heard a guy on the radio talking about a web site that gives relative dollar values and something he bought in the early 60s for $19.95 would cost $109 today. It's all relative.

 

[Tamara]

I love remembering the days when I could walk into gun stores and find FN-49's and Ljungmanns for $79-$99.

Of course, I didn't buy one because they were just junky old guns, and besides, I was making $3.25/hr.

 

[JohnBT]

1966 for instance...the McDonalds in Rockville Maryland started you off at $1.15 an hour. So takehome pay was...the heck with the math, a decent gun was still a week's pay or even two - say a Single-Six for 40 or 50 bucks or whatever.

Top pay was $1.65 for the fastest of the fast on the registers. If you could run a $100 hour on the register by yourself(drawing your own drinks, too) you got the raise. With burgers at 18 cents they only made you hit the $100 level once. The only good thing they ever did for the workers.

Then I took a tree service job for $2.35 and 20 to 30 hours a week of time-and-a-half overtime. Free doughnuts and coffee in the morning, too.

John

 

[BigG]

I bought a pristine Rem Rand 1911A1 c. 1968 for $59. All foregoing comments about the value of the dollar apply.

 

[critter]

Bought a NEW Ruger blackhawk in .357 for under $100 retail. I still have the gun, the box AND the receipt! Have to check the receipt for the date but it was late 60's.

 

[J Miller]

Don't forget how hard a dollar was to come by in 1950. Those prices look great at today's income levels but think about them in terms of what you earned in 1950. Suddenly those prices aren't so great any more.

I once had a discussion with my Mom about wages. She told me that in the late 50's when we were living in the then tiny hamlet of Farmington, NM she was making somewhere around $6.00 to 8.00 and hour as a cashier at Pigly Wigly grocery store.
At the time of this conversation, (mid 90's) she was working at Bashas in Phoenix making around $17.00 per hour. She was a very long time empolyee and making top wages at that time.
The kick in the head was that she was bringing home less money from Bashas, than from 40 years ago at Pigly Wigly. Yes, making twice + the amount per hour and bringing home less.
We sat down and figured out that because of the increase in the various taxes (income taxes mostly) over the years most of the hours she worked was for the various govts rather than herself. The actual cost of living was a wash in the equasion.

I remember that in the late 50's we had a NEW house with all the bells and whistles. Fairly new cars and trucks, and a good life.

Compared to when the conversation took place, we had three incomes (Mom's mine and my wifes) and still couldn't match the quality of life that Mom, Dad and I had in the late 50's.

So I totally DIS-agree. Money was easier to come by then compared to now. There were less people fighting for each job. Jobs were simple and straight forward, the electronic infestation of our lives had not happened then. A normal person could make a living without needing a degree just to turn on the equipment he/she was supposed to use. You worked hard, but with less interference from government agencies, and glorified do-gooder organizations. There were taxes, and expensives to take out of your income, but in the long run, you could keep more of it to use for what you wanted.

Yes, cdbeaver, those were the good 'ole days.

 

[cdbeaver]

Heck, when I bought that brand new Ruger .22 pistol in 1949 I was earning the princely sum of $6 a day by working from 5 a.m.-10 p.m. or whenever it got too dark to work on the farm.

In those days I wasn't too far removed from carrying water to the house in a bucket and cobs in a tin basket. The outhouse was 50 yards from the house. But at least we had electricity.

 

[JohnBT]

J Miller - I don't disagree with you, but I think a large part of it was that the houses were smaller with no AC, the cars were much simpler with no AC, the TVs were B&W(that's black & white for you youngsters out there) and so on and so forth. Families didn't accumulate so much stuff back then and it was possible to run a small household on one income. For reference, I was born in 1950.

John

 

[4v50 Gary]

HK 91s for $335.
Ar-15 for $350 (1976)
Remington 700 for $250 (also 1976)
M-1 Carbines $100 apiece (not foreign import).

Oh, that I had the money I have today. Being a starving student really limits what you can buy. When I got laid off from the college, my last check barely paid for the M-1 Carbine (Saginaw).

 

[Elkslayer]

CDBeaver -

FYI - I think Ray is still in business only today it is Ray's Taxidermy.