Thread: Jeans Made in America

Originally Posted by Moonshae

How long ago was that? $5 jeans?

Five dollar Levi's ......... about 1966 or so. Not that long ago ......

Levis were 4 bux back in the day,I never get rid of them,have at least 20 pair in my closet.

According to National Average Wage Index the average salary in 1966 was 4,938.36, in 2013 44,888.16

So $5 jeans in 1966 should be $45 now if everything has kept the same. Of course it isn't - nowadays most people carry (or could) in their pocket a $20-$500 phone which is really a computer more powerful than the multimillion dollar supercomputers of 1966.

Many things have kept up somewhat proportionally - house prices are up 10x (but nowadays the sizes are bigger), first class stamp is 49c instead of 5c, gasoline is $2.50 instead of $0.32, etc. Many things are cheaper, e.g food - a dozen eggs was 60c and now is $3 not $6, gallon of milk used to be $1 now is $2-$3 not $10

I'm very curious what are the things, if any, that have become more expensive - in real terms, not the meaningless numbers. I'd think child-rearing and divorces probably are.

I'd say overall people have higher standard of living, more disposable income, and typically more clothes than they used to, which is what really matters.

Remember the red seamed Levis? And old rancher near me went into an attic and found a box full of new and used ones, he sold them for hundreds of dollars each pair.

Originally Posted by gugi

I'd say overall people have higher standard of living, more disposable income, and typically more clothes than they used to, which is what really matters.

I would say that is probably correct. For most people anyway. Referring to clothes, I was helping a friend in his 60s move into an apartment in Orange, NJ back when I was in my 30s. He had grown up in Newark, lived through the great depression, and was in the ski troops in the European theatre during WWII. Tough old guy.

Anyway, he asked me if I knew why closets were so small in the old apt buildings. I had no idea. He said it was because when they were built people didn't have a lot of clothes and didn't need that much closet space. A man might have a couple of suits, a couple of pairs of shoes. Women likewise. A far cry from today.

In '64 I worked on the receiving dock for D.H. Holmes department store in downtown New Orleans. Forty hour week and I took home $42.72 per week. I paid $8.00 a week for a room on N. Rampart St with a bathroom in the hall on the second floor. I saved money.

Cheapest I remember buying gas was about 1970, $0.18 per gallon for regular. I didn't have a car until I was 19 so gas was probably even cheaper before then. A brand new, in the box, full retail model 1911 Colt Government model was $135.00. In 1972 I bought a Rolex Submariner, full retail, brand new from a jewellery store ....... $350.00. I was doing union ironwork by then and clearing near $200.00 per week.

No I didn't walk 4 miles to school through the snow. ...........

Originally Posted by Jimbo

You can't get more American than Chuck Norris. And you can't get more Chuck Norris than action jeans! And you can't get more action jeans than a hidden gusset!!!

Attachment 208086

James.

I used to have three pair of those jeans. They were freakin' awesome. I used to wear them when I used to work as a bouncer--Roadhouse style.

They were very comfortable and with that gusset, I could do full splits in them--back when I could do splits.

I still would buy those jeans in a heartbeat if they ever became available again.

Continuing to OT slide. I think the higher standard of living today is mostly smoke and mirrors Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco | U.S. Household Deleveraging and Future Consumption Growth .

Bob

Originally Posted by gugi

I'm very curious what are the things, if any, that have become more expensive - in real terms, not the meaningless numbers. I'd think child-rearing and divorces probably are.

In my experience, yes, divorces are very expensive, especially when child-rearing is involved.

Levi's in 1979 were $9.00 & change a pair. It was a spoken rule that no one could go into downtown Naha or off Gate 2 of Kadena Air Base alone, wearing them into the bars. They would serve you until you were wasted, regardless of how much cash you had, then drag you out the back door into the alley. You would wake up with a knot on your head & no britches on,,,,

They would get $45.00 a pair for them in the street.

Levi 501 and 502 were my favourites. Wore them till my knees were hanging out, turned them into shorts and wore them till my butt poked through. Stopped buying them when they were no longer made in the USA. A good vintage pair fetches a pretty penny on e-bay.