Thread: Those Were the Days Indeed.

From a 1915 J Wiss and Sons catalog. Ivory scaled straight razors $36 A DOZEN. I know in comparison to the average Joe's paycheck back then, $3 was a good bit of money but WOW!
J. Wiss And Sons Co - 1915 Catalog: Page 61

The company must still be going in some form or other. I use Wiss tin snips at work, made in USA. The best you can get.

They sold them by the dozen?! Wow, how times have changed! I'll take 2 dozen.

Lets see here, two dozen, $36 in 1915, adjust for inflation, and that will be a smooth $1650 in todays money. That sounds about right. Now where did my granddaddy store all those cases of razors that im sure he had when he was younger?

IN those days you would be lucky to make $2 a day, and you had to take your subsistence out of that. From 1913 - 1915 there was a heavy depression, and most labour was unskilled, so the median rates you see quoted on most websites are wildly inaccurate. In fact, around this time Henry Ford doubled wages for his workers from $2.50 to $5 a day, but you could still find clerks and other workers earning around $1.50.

At least president Woodrow Wilson stood up for workers, and the blooming war in europe saw the US making money of its back by 1915, ready to enter a time of prosperity again. Part of the reason Wilson was re-elected in 1916 was because he kept the US out of the war.

That makes a $3 dollar razor worth a fair bit by todays prices - if the average joe could have bought a dozen, which he couldn't. The dozen rates were heavily discounted trade-to-trade rates, and the end re-seller would typically add 100% on to the price he paid after buying in bulk to sell the razors singly.

Those were the days, indeed, and 1915 America saw some days indeed:

Jan: US House of Representatives voted against women getting the right to vote
Feb: first stone of Lincoln memorial laid,
Mar: predecessor of NASA founded,
Apr: 'Great White Hope' Jess Willard wins in the 26th round with a knock-out fighting Jack Johnson in Cuba,
May: the Lusitania is sunk en route from New York,
Jun: Secretary of State resigns over the handling of the Lusitania case,
Jul: US occupies Haiti,
Aug, Galveston struck by hurricane, Leo Frank lynched in Alabama, Jimmy Lavender, Chicago Cubs, pitches no-hitter against NY Giants,
Sep: Pennsylvania railroad electrified,
Oct: native american Lynda Conley admitted to US Supreme Court as a lawyer,
Nov: release of silent movie 'Inspiration' featuring Audrey Munson in the nude,
Dec: 1 millionth Ford rolls off the production line.

They don't make many days like that now - thank goodness!

Regards,
Neil

I dont see any real ivory scales razors from that link? Must be me.....

Originally Posted by Martin103

I dont see any real ivory scales razors from that link? Must be me.....

You are quite right - seems like 'antique knotted ivory' scales are really celluloid bamboo effect scales!

I thought it was a bit cheap for ivory scaled razors in the light of Tom's recent post on the subject and the catalogue listing from 1902...

Regards,
Neil

$36.00 in 1915 had the buying power of $830.17 . A 2014 dollar would have had the buying power of about 4 cents. According to the Dollar times.com inflation calculator.

According to Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2014, $3 in 1915 would be $70.19 today.

The problem with all these calculators is that they can only take so much into account, so they differ wildly from each others results and also in the real world.

One of the key things regarding salary back then and now is how much was deducted from it. Back in 1913 it was a small amount, today it is a huge amount, leaving you with less money in your pocket. This does not affect the real spending power, though - just because state pension, national insurance, income tax, health schemes, etc, etc are deducted does not depress the true value of monetary unit.

The economic climate is another factor - one that can change too quickly to allow any meaningful input into this type of online calculator. For instance, in the USA two years of depression prior to 1915 suddenly changed as foreign powers borrowed from america and sought america's goods for the war effort.

Regards,
Neil