1970's Newspaper Ads

[rescueme]

I just came across this old article, showing Philadelphia newspaper ads from the 70's.

You may laugh at the items for sale, but wonder how things were so cheap "back then".

As a comparision, my first job (after leaving the military in 1971) paid $120/week. Yes, that's $6240/year, and I was the sole support for myself, my DW and young son. No wonder I only held the job for a few months and left for another, paying $125/week ...

Here's the link:

1970s Ads

Be sure to click on the "open caption" button to see details on the ad.

Something to be said for inflation over the last four decades...

 

[Mulligan]

I scanned and saw the 1975-76 network tv series ad. I recognized and remembered every single show from the 3 networks. I bet I wouldnt recognize the names of 10 total in this years line-up.

 

[ratto]

There was already weight watchers trend in 1970s? Wow! The Honda coupe and sedan could already hit 40 mpg at that time, just unbelievable. Also the touch me encounter therapy, it had to be air-conditioned.

It's absolutely fun to browse through these old newspaper ads. Thanks for sharing!

 

[samclem]

The ads for products seemed to contain more information about the products than ads do today. Yes, there was still an appeal to emotion, but there was also an attempt to at least point out specific innovations, features, and advantages of the advertised products. That's less true today.

 

[justplainbll]

Some good examples of why $5 million may become a mere bag of shells 40 years from now.

 

[donheff]

As a comparision, my first job (after leaving the military in 1971) paid $120/week. Yes, that's $6240/year, and I was the sole support for myself, my DW and young son. No wonder I only held the job for a few months and left for another, paying $125/week ...

1973, sub teacher, $40/day (would be approximately $10K/yr if it was a full year job).

 

[REWahoo]

Some good examples of why $5 million may become a mere bag of shells 40 years from now.

And why conservative, cash/CD investors are fooling themselves thinking they're 'playing it safe'.

 

[arky]

Cool link. Brings back a lot of memories. Only I'm pretty sure The Exorcist came out in 1973. That was my first year of working after college (graduated Dec 1972)
and I started at just under $11000. I remember thinking... "How will I ever spend all that !".

 

[W2R]

As a comparision, my first job (after leaving the military in 1971) paid $120/week. Yes, that's $6240/year, and I was the sole support for myself, my DW and young son. No wonder I only held the job for a few months and left for another, paying $125/week

1967, full time rent-a-car girl in Waikiki: $1.40/hour, = $2,921/year.
1968, full time lead clerk in California: $1.75/hour, = $3,652/year. Big move up.

 

[landover]

Looked at townhouses ads, approximately up by 8 times, 25k to 200k.. in 40 years. Doubling in 12 years, gaining appx. 6%. It is more than inflation, 25000 in 1972 is equal to 134532 as per department of labor.

 

[REattempt]

New Inflation Hedge Strategy

Saw the comment about inflation rates and others have commented on the jobs and housing, so I thought I'd look at "durables."

So I went through 119 pages and pulled out some things I could compare. Went online and looked up prices for in store purchase and ran the numbers. I used the lowest reasonable price as a proxy. I used the actual years listed in the ads. (What did YOU do today?)

Implications for retirement? New inflation Hedge Strategies!
1) Stock up on oil
2) Buy your future health care products now (those that will last)
3) Buy all the undies/bras/sneaker you will need in advance
4) Keep your car a long time (or switch from car to bike!)
5) Take your vacations early in retirement

Very interesting:

 

[rescueme]

1967, full time rent-a-car girl in Waikiki: $1.40/hour, = $2,921/year.
1968, full time lead clerk in California: $1.75/hour, = $3,652/year. Big move up.

When I was inducted into the military in 1967, my initial pay (E-1, less than 2 months TIG) was 95.70/month.

Of course, I also received "3 hots and a cot" as a benefit ...

Here's the miitary pay charts, going back to 1949:

Historical Military Pay Rates | Military.com

 

[Free To Canoe]

Moody Blues concert (with Van Morrison), tickets $4 $5 and $6.
I saw a few good concerts at the Spectrum. Brings back old memories.

 

[W2R]

When I was inducted into the military in 1967, my initial pay (E-1, less than 2 months TIG) was 95.70/month.

Of course, I also received "3 hots and a cot" as a benefit ...

Here's the miitary pay charts, going back to 1949:

Historical Military Pay Rates | Military.com

I was a Navy wife for many years, and in 1976 as a beginning temporary teacher (with no credential) I made twice what he made! Unbelievable how badly enlisted were paid back then. We lived off base so we paid for everything while he was on shore duty. We used to fish after work, for dinner.

P.S.: Along these lines I'm sure the Young Dreamers would probably want to know that, like my father before me, I walked ten miles barefoot in the snow to school uphill both ways when I was a kid, after doing the morning chores, of course. But the pay info was actually true....

 

[hpnutty]

Where did you find an electric typewriter in 2012?

 

[W2R]

Hi hpnutty, and welcome to the ER Forum. Please post an introduction in the "Hi, I Am..." section of the forum if you'd like to. Thanks!

 

[REattempt]

Where did you find an electric typewriter in 2012?

[-]Google [/-]Amazon is your friend:

New electric typewriter...

Amazon.com: Used and New: Brother GX-6750 Daisy Wheel Electronic Typewriter

You may argue that it is electronic not electric, but I say electronic is electric...no?

Either way, the point was not to find the exact model, only to basically get similar functionality.

 

[Walt34]

That was my first year of working after college (graduated Dec 1972) and I started at just under $11000. I remember thinking... "How will I ever spend all that !".

I had exactly the same feeling when the police department hired me at just over $11k, which was almost half again more than my father ever made.

So I did the wise and intelligent thing, and bought an airplane.

 

[scrabbler1]

What amazed me were the prices for primitive hand-held calculators and how they cost next to nothing these days. The first one I bought was in 1974 for $30, a Melcor one.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, these ads bring back some memories.

The movie ad for "Williard" reminded me of the song "Ben" back then... It was written for the movie of the same name, which was the sequel to "Williard". I did not realize that it was originally sung by Michael Jackson.

...Wow! The Honda coupe and sedan could already hit 40 mpg at that time, just unbelievable...

I still remember that little Honda. It was the N360, which had an engine of 360cc, or 22 cubic inches! Arghh... that's smaller than many motorcycle engines. Wikipedia says this car had a curb weight of less than 1200 lbs. See this. Even by today's standard, this car is small. How could anyone drive this car back then, mingling with the huge Chevys and Ford sedans and station wagons weighting 5,000 lbs?

 

[daystar]

Did anyone else notice the old phone numbers like WA2-7200 or NE2-5500? I assume that by the 70's you could dial the letters on your rotary phone instead of having to ask for the operator.

And Barnaby Jones comes to CBS's lineup for January 1973.

 

[rescueme]

Did anyone else notice the old phone numbers like WA2-7200 or NE2-5500? I assume that by the 70's you could dial the letters on your rotary phone instead of having to ask for the operator.

We still had an alpha prefix local phone number with only seven alpha/numeric characters back in the '60's.

In our area it was "HE" (stood for "Hemlock") followed by numeric; example HE4-7300. And yes, that was before touch tone (which was an additional charge at the time, requiring the replacement of the standard rotary phone).

Full ten positions (including area code) did not come about till later as the usage of phones and data circuits (in their early days) went beyond the limits of the old numbering order.

 

[nphx]

Well Don Rickels cashed in with using the same promotional iconography since the 70's.... love that guy.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

How about that $80 calculator (page 97), that you can almost free these days?