Inflation !!!

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TonyB
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Inflation !!!

Post by TonyB » Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:07 am

On the Nodel T of Facebook site someone has shown a page from a twenties Sears Catalog. Wow those prices were a real shock compared to today. Just for comparison a reverse drum in the twenties Sears catalog is $1.95. The same item in the current Lang’s web site lists 3301 with a new drum and refurbished gear at $269. That’s a 151 times increase.
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The lowly spindle bolt in the Sears catalog is $0.11 and $172 in Lang’s, admittedly with four new bushings.
5350C203-B0A6-4B33-9092-1BE4566704FF.png
The differential drive gear in Sears is $1.98 and I’m hoping Dave at Chaffins has one on hold for me and I expect to pay $350.
B0CB57FA-C117-4916-83C7-11A4DC6EFE6F.png
If the same inflation factor is applied to a complete car that I see on parts, a ModelT at $350 would today would be priced at $52,000.
I guess either Ford had a much higher profit margin than auto makers today or today’s cars are a great deal.
I suspect it’s a little of both.
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Tony Bowker
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TonyB
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by TonyB » Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:08 am

Sorry the pictures are out of order and one duplicated, I tried to fixit and failed☹️
Tony Bowker
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Duey_C
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Duey_C » Thu Nov 21, 2019 1:30 am

Looked good to me Tony!
Nice finds! Wow! Those prices! Shoot, now I have to study those Sears pages again. :)
Since I lost my mind mind, I feel more liberated

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Henry K. Lee
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Henry K. Lee » Thu Nov 21, 2019 7:10 am

Tony,

Always living in the past and good ole days! LOL!

Hank

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by DLodge » Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:40 am

Using an inflation calculator on my phone, $1.95 in 1925 (middle of "the twenties") would be $28.25 in 2019 dollars. "Inflation!!!" indeed. :D


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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by R.V.Anderson » Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:40 am

I doubt those parts were genuine Ford. Ford, which cranked out reverse drums by the bazillion, had to get a whopping $3.00 for theirs. Likely these parts were part of the many "spurious" ones that Ford waged unrelenting campaigns against. Comparisons of individual "spurious" against genuine Ford parts frequently appeared in the Service Bulletins.

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by DLodge » Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:43 am

R.V.Anderson wrote:
Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:40 am
I doubt those parts were genuine Ford. Ford, which cranked out reverse drums by the bazillion, had to get a whopping $3.00 for theirs....
Okay, $43.48 in 2019 dollars. Still inflation.... :D


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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Norman Kling » Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:56 am

Those were the days when people would pick up pennies on the street! Now I don't even keep coins in my pocket. My first car was a '29A which cost $95 and it ran fine. I bought other A's which ran for $50 and a Franklin for $25.
Norm

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Steve Jelf » Thu Nov 21, 2019 10:57 am

That's huge inflation, but you get more for your money now. Dave Nolting's new drums are better than Henry's.
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Steve Jelf » Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:03 am

Those were the days when people would pick up pennies on the street! Now I don't even keep coins in my pocket.

I still pick up pennies, and I prefer coins over paper dollars.
sacagawea-dollar.jpg
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Mark Gregush » Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:16 am

Maybe more important then inflation, taking into consideration of the income level of the people that owned Model T's back then, how many hours did the person have to work to pay for the part? Chances are, the person buying the newly made parts today is going to be in a higher income bracket and maybe work less hours to buy same part.
I know the voices aren't real but damn they have some good ideas! :shock:

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by TRDxB2 » Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:47 am

Inflation vs Supply & Demand. Who can make #3301's, reverse drums, for a $28.25 selling price? Cheaper by the hundred thousands.
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by DLodge » Thu Nov 21, 2019 12:49 pm

Steve Jelf wrote:
Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:03 am
...I still pick up pennies, and I prefer coins over paper dollars.
I'm not sure about all the countries in the world, but of the ones I am familiar with, the U.S. is the only country with a paper bill for such a small value. Smallest in Canada is five dollars, in the eurozone 5 euros, in the UK five pounds, etc. Anything smaller is a coin.

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by RustyFords » Thu Nov 21, 2019 1:03 pm

Steve Jelf wrote:
Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:03 am
Those were the days when people would pick up pennies on the street! Now I don't even keep coins in my pocket.

I still pick up pennies, and I prefer coins over paper dollars.

sacagawea-dollar.jpg
My wife (and kids) are direct decendents of the lady on the coin. Sacagawea is my wife's Great (x7) Grandmother.
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by otrcman » Thu Nov 21, 2019 2:14 pm

Another thing to consider when comparing 1920's Model T parts prices vs present day is economy of scale. Back in the 1920's, there were a couple of million reverse drums produced per year just to equip the new cars. So a drum could be manufactured for barely more than cost of the metal.

Drums (and other T parts) are produced in very small quantity today, so naturally the manufacturing cost per unit is much higher.


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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by CraneJon » Thu Nov 21, 2019 4:26 pm

A new T cost less than $400 and a nice driver Ford today is $45000 plus. average wage was $2.50 per day unless you were lucky and had one of those high paying Ford jobs at $5 per day. Don't know what the daily pay rate is today, but it is certainly higher.

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by George Mills » Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:20 pm

I would think that George Pepperdine might object to the spurious part comment 😃

I’ve heard that he kept a scratch pad with his high sellers and when his quantities exceeded the latest issue serial number Ford he’d drop his price again for those items. Maybe a wives tale...maybe true...I don’t know. Find a part without script or the F? Chances are better than average it’s one of his.


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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by otrcman » Thu Nov 21, 2019 7:32 pm

I apologize if this comment is thread drift, but George Mills said in part:

"......... when his quantities exceeded the latest issue serial number Ford......"

George, this raises an intriguing point. If Western Auto sold as many drums as Ford sold cars, that means that drum changing was a very common occurrence. I.E., on average, most Fords had a drum change during their service years.

I've always had the impression that drum failure was a pretty recent phenomenon due to high accumulated miles, age, wrong band lining and abusive use by inexperienced drivers. If aftermarket suppliers sold that many replacement parts, then the drum problems we have today are simply a continuation of what was happening "back then".

That's interesting.


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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by DHort » Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:30 pm

I can't look those prices up. I already used all the pages in my Sears catalog. Does anyone have an extra?

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Steve Jelf » Fri Nov 22, 2019 12:02 am

I would think that George Pepperdine might object to the spurious part comment.

I went to Pepperdine when it was a small College at 79th & Vermont, before it moved out to Malibu and became a big fancy university. Students were required to attend chapel one day a week, and sometimes he would be there too. The school colors were blue and orange, just like WA.
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Hippie » Sat Nov 23, 2019 1:00 am

Inflation really took of when Nixon took the USA off of the gold standard. I won’t get into the crooks that run the federal reserve


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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Autie » Sat Nov 23, 2019 8:05 am

Being this is a forum about Model T's I will refrain from what FDR did in 1933 with the gold standard. Or comment on the OT page. There are many other websites on the internet to discuss politics and start arguments.

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Mark Gregush » Sat Nov 23, 2019 12:36 pm

That what I do when all my Model T tires need air! :lol:
I know the voices aren't real but damn they have some good ideas! :shock:

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Graybeard77 » Sat Nov 23, 2019 12:43 pm

My father worked in the oil fields in 1923 for dollar a day. He bought his first Model T at the Ford dealer in Emporia, Kansas for 250.00. The dealer told him he would put a starter on for another 100.00. Dad told him that was all the money he had, so he cranked it. It is not how much you make, it is what you can buy. Have a good day. Clyde

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by Steve Jelf » Sat Nov 23, 2019 2:06 pm

Screen shot 2019-11-23 at 12.46.17 PM.png
The highest inflation rates have been in 1918 (20.44%), 1946 (18.13%), 1974 (12.34%), and 1979 (13.29%). Since 1991 it has been mostly about 4% or less. Interestingly, the worst deflation was in 1920, not 1930-1932. I guess it was three years of steadily worsening deflation that made the Great Depression great.

https://www.macrotrends.net/2497/histor ... te-by-year
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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by John Codman » Sat Nov 23, 2019 5:54 pm

What you need to remember is that (in the OP) they were making parts for millions of cars and sold them in huge quantity. There are economies of scale. Today these parts are made in tiny quantities by what are essentially cottage industries that cannot operate on the profit margin of a large corporation. Ask yourself "Could I make this part for that price?"

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Re: Inflation !!!

Post by TRDxB2 » Sat Nov 23, 2019 8:02 pm

Darn inflation - if it wasn't for it I'd still be making $1.96/hr
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger

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