Yes, at the end of WWII surplus flooded the market. New tech radios also

became available. What was “cool” pre-war now looked clunky ( not all of it,

but a lot of it). Folks traded up and traded in. Both the military surplus and

the older gear sold cheap. Welcome to the consumer economy. Yes, we’re

talking about the US. The process was a bit slower elsewhere.

Did this get in full swing by 1945 or by 1948? That’s very debatable and

somewhat dependent on just what part of the country you lived in.

In most cases the prices went to pennies on the dollar while inflation

changed the value of those pennies. In a few cases inflation would have

to come into the math. That became more true as we moved into the

1950’s and 60’s.

Bob

On Jun 7, 2022, at 10:29 PM, Hubert Miller <[email protected]> wrote:

And I wasn’t even referring to WWII gear. I recently helped test and pack up a bunch of 2 meter multimode rigs for a hamfest seller.
It occurred to me there was a plentiful supply. Each ham radio or radio enthusiast has multiple radios. Then when they pass away,
their gear hits the market. But due to gradual attrition, plus the continuous of new and attractive technology modes and equipment,
the demand for gear, say 10, 15, or more years old, what happens with that ? Want to buy some 2 meter equipment, or maybe some
vacuum tube SSB radios ? I don’t mean to be gloom and doom, that’s just what I see, maybe wrongly.
-Hue Miller

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