[ARC5] Cost of sets - 1950 and 2010

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 6:02 PM, gordon white <gewhite at crosslink.net> wrote:
> According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator, a
> Command Set that brought $8 in 1960 (when I got interested in them )
> would, purely through inflation, bring $59.00 in 2010

When I got interested in them in '79-'80 timeframe, they were still
plentiful new in box for $5-$10, which caused me to take a "I'll get
some later" attitude. Somewhere along the late 80s to early 90s they
started to become desirable and by the end of the 90s with the advent
of ebay, newsgroups, and the internet in general, prices had climbed
to ten times that.

Though the equivalent of $59 back then would be a lot for a kid, my
guess is the majority of hams were adults with jobs to whom $59 for a
'new' transmitter project was a deal. As the SSB fad took hold, there
must've been a flurry of activity with the surplus houses.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4