Leica 1953 - Price List

[WDPictures]

Picked up this price list booklet at a camera store junk sale thinking it might be interesting to browse what was available and the associated prices.

The previous owner penciled a list of 25+ items on one of the pages with a grand total of $925.18. His Leica order, at this price, included two Leica cameras, maybe three lenses, a handful of filters, and many accessories.

Hard to believe the prices were that low...

This price list was effective June 1, 1953... 56 years ago tomorrow.

 

[Jason Sprenger]

Hard to believe that fiat money inflates? No. That is its purpose.

Multiply the cost by about 7 or 8 to get the cost in today's money.

When I was a kid in '73, a candy-bar was 15¢ and gum was 10¢. In my Dad's day, candy was 5¢ and gum was 3¢. Now-a-days, there isn't even a key for ¢.

Dimes are now what pennies used to be.

 

[35mmdelux]

In the mid-1960's cigarettes were .16 cents a pack and gasoline was .25 cents a gallon in the US. In 1952 my parents rented a flat in San Francisco for $50 a month. A few years ago that same flat sold for $800,000.

 

[Nando]

According to measuringworth.com, $925.18 in 1953 is the equivalent of $7,446.51 today.

 

[kknox]

My parents made about $3000.00 a year. You could buy a new car then for about $1800.00. Bet you there are more 1953 Leicas still being used than there are the cars bulit in 1953.

 

[Ronald M]

My new 1959 Ford cheapo model was $1995. Still steep for a high school senior. 6 cyl engine, three speed manual I had to double clutch first gear ( unauthorized ), heater that never worked, rusted like crazy, noisy, and I had to add a drivers door mirror and back up lights myself. Gas was 25 cents. Oh well it got me thru college.

New M3 + 50 2.0 were going for < $500. Of course I still could not afford one.

The reason we went off the gold standard is so government could just print as much money as they want. They went nuts with the power this year. The alturnative is to tax you more or borrow more.

Back in the 30~s citizens had to turn in all their gold money and were given paper money. I can remember green money used to say silver certificate on it meaning it could be exchanged for silver. It has been replaced with Federal Reserve Note - read what is on the bill. It is basically worthless.

Really big money runs the country and the political BS is just that, BS. Current admin included.

 

[DougFord]

RTFM before you purchase.

"Into this teeming world of change there was introduced a small insignificant camera. It looked like a toy, no photographer gave it much of a second thought, true it bore all the stream-lining and modern earmarks of the new age, yet how could such a thing which used only motion picture film be used for serious photographic work – it was called the Leica!"

http://www.archive.org/stream/leicamanualamanu028253mbp

 

[George S.]

It's all realtive. A $925 camera order in 1953 is certainly not small change nor cheap. An average yearly salary in the US was probably around $2500- $3000. Would you spend a full 1/3 of your 2009 salary on a camera?