A New Pipe for 25 Cents?

[jpmcwjr]

Here's the ad that caught my eye, from 1915 apparently.

Really? One quarter? I know it's over a hundred years ago, but it still seems far out.

Alamy Images will be happy to see you a high-res version of this ad, in case you have some DeMuth pipes or other interest in the period.

 

[mso489]

Anyone have the tables on the value of the dollar in 1915? It might have been about eight or ten bucks in today's currency.

 

[mso489]

In 1920, 25 Cents was worth about $3.50. That's still a mighty cheap pipe.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Except a straight conversion based on average prices is often misleading. A new pipe of the quality of those old DeMuth's would be substantially more than ten bucks!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Er, not to mention $3.50!!

What's the source of those numbers?

 

[dctune]

I use my time machine all the time to go back and buy pipes for around that price.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ehhh, those Wellingtons are still not worth much more than that.

 

[mikethompson]

Still a pretty good bargain in 2021 dollars! From a random site:

 

[condorlover1]

Strikes me as tad expensive!

 

[kcghost]

So a 25 cent pipe would be about $6.50 today.

 

[mso489]

My conversion was grabbed off the web, probably not too exact or accurate. They're likely done with averages of select prices, but not at all specific to a particular product. Old menus can be startling -- complete meals for under $2, granting we're not talking about The Ritz. That'd be in the 1930's. Working in southwest Missouri one summer, 1967, I often ate meals for less than $5, tasty complete meals with beverages. It was rural and small town, and breakfasts and lunches cost little.

 

[warren]

The design is interestingly intricate, which indicates to me why the company isn't still in the "bidness." How the hell would one pass a cleaner. How would one clean the air way?

 

[Searock Fan]

I can believe it. The very first pipe I bought was in 1963 and cost $1.25 plus it came with 2 pouches of Raleigh. p.s. I got it at Fedmart. Anyone else remember them? And, by the way, my second pipe with a Castello for $25.

 

[jpmcwjr]

None of the numbers above are "on". There are too many variables and tons of stuff added to the CPI and other measurements since then. E.g., cars, phones, mobile phones, computers, smart phones, televisions, radios, electric lights, flush toilets, paved streets,

 

[anotherbob]

The design is interestingly intricate, which indicates to me why the company isn't still in the "bidness." How the hell would one pass a cleaner. How would one clean the air way?

well when did the pipe cleaner even become a thing or a commonly used thing?

 

[romaso]

well when did the pipe cleaner even become a thing or a commonly used thing?

That would be a good way to calculate: find the price of a similar product, like pipe cleaners, in 1915 and compare to today, then apply that factor to the pipe.

 

[jpmcwjr]

You really need a basket of things that reflect comparable purchases. Hard to do over 100 years with so much innovation during that time.

 

[condorlover1]

How much would that have been in Confederate dollars? I think the exchange rate 1865 before surrender was 1 1/4 cents = $1 CS$

 

[Casual]

That looks like a system pipe with a p-lip. Was it produced by Peterson or was it a ripoff? I thought the patents were still valid near that time.

 

[didimauw]

Plus you gotta figure the average of minimum wage back then too.