Milsurp Collecting 1960 style

Yes, those prices were all relative to your income. I remember buying my as new No5 for $18 in 1962. A used No4 was $9-$10. Also, an as new M1 Carbine out of Sidney I. Robinson's downtown Winnipeg store for $70 in 1965. That was a pee-pot of money for a young troopie at the time. A couple of the nicest ones I didn't buy were in 1968 - a complete No4 T for $80 and an as new 03A4 Springfield for $100 flat. I was making $400 a month as an LT at the time, but had other priorities like my mess bill, a car, and chasing quim.

Fast forward to 1972 at the old Ribtor Sales in Calgary where I got a minty(love that flavor) M1917 Enfield, a M98 Mauser in 7x57, and a M1903 Springfield- all for $40 each. I still have all of these rifles.

Then there was the case of new-in-grease Savage No4s that I bought with a buddy for $35 a pop. We soon sold them all at a handsome $15 profit on each one.:eek:
 
Assuming you get your time machine working, the next problem is getting currency that matches the date. How may 1960 $20 bills do you have? The cost of filling your pockets with the correct age money might throw a hump into things....

Sorry to burst the bubble of all you time travelers out there!
 
May I suggest this link?

This is an inflation calculator from the Bank of Canada, very handy :D

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/
 
so what 98 mauser straight grip, 7mm, long rifle did the SS use?

what "valiant ally" captured the SVT 40?
 
Relative values

granite said:
I think if you look at the time value of money in relation to the Carcano's for $9.95, they have decreased in value :D.
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One dollar in 1960 would be worth $7.79 today. If anyone has some good Italian Carcanos for sale at $77.90, I will take a a half-dozen or so.:)

And don't forget, our Dollar was worth about $1.20 American at that time.

If you figure a m/94 Swedish Carbine at $30 with today's equivalent of $240, then see the $800 to $2000 range to buy one today, depending upon condition, then they have definitely increased. And those Johnsons I bought for $60 and made 25% profit at selling them for $75 back then, well, who would have thought about the astronomical $2000 + dollars today?

Advertising was a lot looser when describing things too. Our "Glorious Allies", the Italians of WW1 became the Enemy 20 years later in WW2 much as the Russians of WW2 were the Enemy 20 years later in the 1960s.

And, believe it or not, the Government actually trusted the honest law abiding citizens of Canada. If you had the money, you could buy workable Cannons, Machine Guns, and other stuff. You could even buy it in the United States and have it shipped by mail. About this time I bought five Lee Enfield cased Sniper rifles for less than $50 each and a French 25 mm anti-tank gun in the States. Coming back through Fort Erie early in the morning, the Customs Officer asked what was under the tarp, asked to see it, said "Boy, is that ever neat," and charged me Duty and Taxes on it as a firearm. Then he wished us a "Have a nice day," and away we went.

Ah, the good old days, such as we shall never see again in this Country.
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tootall said:
The SVT was $50 back then, and about $250 to $300 now. MUCH cheaper when wages are factored in.
Other items have gone the other way. I've seen ads from the mid '50's for PIAT anti tank weapons for $8 each! Now they are about $3000.
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Yah, many people now could almost buy an SVT on a good days wage.
 
tootall said:
The SVT was $50 back then, and about $250 to $300 now. MUCH cheaper when wages are factored in.
Other items have gone the other way. I've seen ads from the mid '50's for PIAT anti tank weapons for $8 each! Now they are about $3000.
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Exactly, according to an inflation calculator I found, $49.99 SVT is about $308.49 now, but the garand @ $79.95 is $493.76 now. A real sweet deal seeing the sell for over a grand...
 
You have to remember that the 7.79-to-1 ratio is a GOVERNMENT figure.

That means that:
GOLD is (32 x 7.79=) $249.28 for a Troy ounce
SILVER is (1.10 x 7.79=) $8.57 a Troy ounce
SMOKES are (.41 x 7.79=) $3.19 for a 25-pack, major brand
and so forth and so on.

Actual WAGES have gone up from 50 cents an hour in this part of the world to about $8.50, which is SEVENTEEN times.

Government figures ALWAYS lie..... and the Bank of Canada is 100% owned by the GOVERNMENT.

Therefore it lies.

Quod erat demonstrandum.
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I think some of you guys are off a bit re: the 1960 wages. I got my 1st full time job after high school at Dominion Stores head office in Toronto in 1960. I made $54/week. $1.35/hr.

More senior guys were making quite a bit more - up to $75/week for one guy I knew.

The better off guys bought the Swede carbines. Poor kids like me bought Krag carbines for $19.95.
 
Toronto has ALWAYS had its own mini-inflation.

Wages in the REST of the country were MUCH lower.

I worked for those 55 cents an hour and then for that 70 cents an hour in the bakery..... from 1959 through to 1963. I moved to BC in 1964 and the minimum there was $1.25. In 1967 I worked for Commonwealth for that astronomical $2.75 so that we could provide gasoline and heating oil to Toronto for 30% less than we paid for it here.

I DO know what I write about.
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