My Dad liked to talk about the story of back in 52' when his father and brother got new vehicles. They used to store potatoes in the basement in those days and they had each a wagon load of seed for sale left over. Guessing the wagon in those days was maybe 16' long you might get 100 bags on the wagon at 100 lbs./bag so that's only 10 000 lbs. potatoes pre wagon. They hauled the 2 wagons to town O'Leary PEI and sold them. Came back home and the next day drove my Grandfather's car to his sister's in O'Leary and told her she could have it. They boarded the train for Summerside with only the money from selling the 2 loads of seed and went to the Chevy dealership. Granddad bought a new 52' Chevy 4dr sedan and my uncle bought a new 52' Chevy truck. I'm guessing my uncle had cash left over because I think in those days cars were more expensive than trucks. Anyways whatever was the actual real dollar happenings 2 wagons of potatoes wouldn't buy more than a couple parts today let alone 2 new vehicles.
- Thread starter Philip d
- Start date
Andy Martin
Well-known Member
In 1954 my uncle got back from the Navy and had no car. He had a small herd from being given heifers for helping as he was growing up. He and my grandfather loaded up five of his steers in my grandfather's pickup and drove to Osceola, MO to sell them. He used the money to buy a new pickup and had enough left over to buy them each a steak dinner.
It is not that far off if you compare apples to apples. A 1950s Chevy pickup is more comparable to a Chevy Colorado. A 2wd, base model, standard cab Colorado can be had for low $20,000s. I have a 1952 Chevy half ton pickup truck I am restoring. It is small and generally light weight in construction compared to a new 2500HD. It is also 2wd. The 1952 3/4 tons are a little heavier but still don't compare to a modern 3/4 ton. I love my old trucks but I know they don't compare to the new stuff.
OK in 1952 minimum wage was .75 cents an hour. Or about 1560 dollars a year. Farm subsidies were in full swing back then too. Plus back then a 1/2 ton truck was 1/2 ton. So minus the weight of the driver, passengers and yes even gas and you had the capacity you could load in the bed. The heavy half's didn't come out till the late 60s early 70s. Back then 80,000-100,000 mile engine rebuilds were the norm, not the exceptions. Gotta compare apples to apples even though some may be rotten. In 1952 a new Chevy pickup was 1407 bucks. Heater was an option. Today a 2 wheel drive, cheap as you can get it, regular cab long bed truck is just short of 30K before tax. Got something like 8900 pounds towing capacity. 100K tune ups instead of 12K. Run longer on oil changes too. Plus will get way better mileage. And you can get in there with your uncle and carry a full 1000 pounds plus legally. Nope, if I were bent on getting an old Chevy to fix up and use as a daily driver I'd pull the body off the original frame and find a decent modern frame and running gear to put under it.
Rick
Rick
Bruce from Can.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Woodville, Ontario, Canada
In 1978 , my dad sold 10 stocker calves at around 500 lb each . The sale of the stockers bought and paid the tax on a brand new GMC pick up. $ 5,400.00 Go try that now.
In 2015 , I bought my new Dodge reg cab, 2wd long box for $24,500.00 Only 5 times as many dollars purchase price for the truck now, but you sure won't get 5 times the price for the stocker calves.
In 2015 , I bought my new Dodge reg cab, 2wd long box for $24,500.00 Only 5 times as many dollars purchase price for the truck now, but you sure won't get 5 times the price for the stocker calves.
fixerupper
Well-known Member
Two or three years ago when I was shopping for a bare bones Colorado regular cab, crank windows two wheel drive rubber floor mat it was $15,500 at one dealer and somewhere around $19,000 at another dealer in a more affluent area. A half ton was in the $23,000 range at the cheaper dealer.
I knew a farmer who picked up his father and drove him to look at the new Deere 8640 he had bought. The father ask him what it cost. When the son told him, he said the son was crazy! The father pointed to a Ford 600 sitting in the shed. Told the son that he borrowed the full price at the bank when he bought it, farmed with it all year, and paid the note in full with two 12' truck loads of corn. When the son said he didn't understand the story, the father said "Son, how big of a truck will you need to pay for that thing with two loads of corn?"
Well...today it might not work with seed potatoes, but you could probably still buy two, three or more brand cars or trucks with the money you would get from two 10,000 pound loads of some varieties of seed corn.
Think back to the 1920's, what would those 20,000 pounds of seed potatoes have bought...if you distilled them?
Think back to the 1920's, what would those 20,000 pounds of seed potatoes have bought...if you distilled them?
rustyfarmall
Well-known Member
My father bought a brand new Ford F 100 in 1971. 2 wheel drive, 240 cubic inch in-line 6 with 4 speed transmission. The only option on it was a radio, and a dealer installed rear bumper. If I remember right, the price was right around $3,000.
The government bought up any surplus farmers produced to keep prices stable. They did that for years starting in the 1930s. When political action groups started attacking subsidies that was one of the first things they went after. Really started making the news in the 70's. The Russian grain embargo and the government, the Carter/Reagan recession and the stop of buying excess commodities were all responsible for the 1980's farm crisis.
Buying excess produce is by definition a subsidy just as is the government paying for empty plane seats.
Rick
BarnyardEngineering
Well-known Member
- Location
- Rochester, NY
All that goes to show is how much more value people placed on FOOD in those days over material goods as opposed to now where we have no qualms about spending $1000 on the latest smartphone but whine whine whine when our grocery bill goes up $2.
:lol: you bet they valued food in 1952! We started coming out of the depression in 39. Anyone who was an adult in 52 had survived the depression! According to the government about 35% of America was unemployed for part if not most of the depression. But the government census wasn't very good in those days and a lot of people and families were transients so were hard to keep track of. Historians studying the depression say as many as 80% were unemployed. So yea, food was extremely important.
Rick
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