The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

alang wrote:Thank you very much!
Andreas

No problem!

I'd like one of those $2.00 hand-decorated flower horns, please..................

Lucius1958 wrote:I'd like one of those $2.00 hand-decorated flower horns, please..................

I know what you mean! If it were only possible to order from this catalog at these
prices today. Among the many items includes solid oak and ornately carved furniture
for ridiculously low prices. The quality of the merchandise in general is over the top.

antique1973 wrote:

Lucius1958 wrote:I'd like one of those $2.00 hand-decorated flower horns, please..................

I know what you mean! If it were only possible to order from this catalog at these
prices today. Among the many items includes solid oak and ornately carved furniture
for ridiculously low prices. The quality of the merchandise in general is over the top.

Prices are not as low as they seem when adjusted for inflation. There are a number of ways to calculate this, but here's just one to give you some idea of the actual cost of things. A Concert cylinder, example, cost $5.00 when they first came out in 1899 -- that would be $127.23 in 2009 dollars! The Concert Phonograph cost $125 -- $3180.85!

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

JohnM wrote:

antique1973 wrote:

Lucius1958 wrote:I'd like one of those $2.00 hand-decorated flower horns, please..................

I know what you mean! If it were only possible to order from this catalog at these
prices today. Among the many items includes solid oak and ornately carved furniture
for ridiculously low prices. The quality of the merchandise in general is over the top.

Prices are not as low as they seem when adjusted for inflation. There are a number of ways to calculate this, but here's just one to give you some idea of the actual cost of things. A Concert cylinder, example, cost $5.00 when they first came out in 1899 -- that would be $127.23 in 2009 dollars! The Concert Phonograph cost $125 -- $3180.85!

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

So true, I was only "dreaming" of what it would be like to order from the catalog
as if the listed prices and merchandise were still available. Of course the odds of
that being reality are nearly the same as finding a VV-XX at a garage sale for $100.

Sears WAS selling brown wax cylinders in 1908- Columbia was using them to dump obsolete stock. Same with disc records- Sears "Harvard" and "Oxford" discs are from Columbia masters, often old ones.

JohnM wrote: Prices are not as low as they seem when adjusted for inflation.

On top of all disposable income after deduction of living costs was much lower in 1900 than today. The savings rate of the greater part of the population was near zero.

Inflation and disposable income aside, it does make one wistful when thinking about being able to purchase one of these items brand spanking new... I guess I'm just a dreamer.

I believe one of the things I enjoy most about looking at old magazines (aside from the actual content), is browsing the old advertisements... all the more so for old catalogs.