Those were the days...

[jimmy the lid]

This Whippet ad from 1954 tells a story all its own. Imagine walking into a hat shop and having a choice of Whippets in 24 colors...24 colors!!! Not to mention a choice of "face-flattering" brim widths and a variety of ovals. Oh, man...those were the days!!! :eusa_clap

Cheers,
JtL

 

[AlanC]

And according to the Westegg inflation calculator:

What cost $10 in 1954 would cost $76.71 in 2007.

Of course, that $100 Steston the ad mentions would cost $760 today!

Edit: Hey, I just noticed I have an overcoat just like the fellow in the picture. Maybe I need a Whippet, too!

 

[Colby Jack]

What kind of hat would cost $100 dollars in 1954? Can you imagine?:eusa_doh: [huh]

 

[Dinerman]

What kind of hat would cost $100 dollars in 1954? Can you imagine?:eusa_doh: [huh]

 

[Tango Yankee]

I'd like to see more of those 24 colors for sale on eBay! Either your average guy didn't take advantage of the wide range of colors and stuck with the basics, or they were worn until they were worn out.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Colby Jack]

Beeeeee-U-tee-ful!!!!:eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[barrowjh]

price of gold in 1954 was $35 per ounce, closed at over 900 today (2/14/08), or a multiplier of about 25 times, so a $10 hat would be worth $250, a $100 hat worth $2,500. that's steep for a hat, though there are some top-end Resistols that list for more than $1,000 today.

 

[Spellflower]

John and Alan there's a difference of over $170 between your estimates of what ten 1954 dollars would buy these days. What's the story?

 

[J.B.]

John and Alan there's a difference of over $170 between your estimates of what ten 1954 dollars would buy these days. What's the story?

According to MeasuringWorth.com...

In 2006, $10.00 from 1954 is worth:
$75.00 using the Consumer Price Index
$63.29 using the GDP deflator
$110.15 using the value of consumer bundle
$105.05 using the unskilled wage
$187.86 using the nominal GDP per capita
$346.86 using the relative share of GDP

[huh]

 

[Spellflower]

:eusa_clap Nice work, J.B.

So basically what you're saying is that the Whippet I own would be worth almost $350 even aside from its collectibility, but that the Whippet that I want to buy on ebay was only a $75 hat, and shouldn't cost me much more than that.

 

[AlanC]

John and Alan there's a difference of over $170 between your estimates of what ten 1954 dollars would buy these days. What's the story?

I used this.

Gold can be an instructive but not definitive guide to inflation. Here's a five year chart on the price of gold:

The price of gold has more than doubled in the past three years (tripled in the past five), but the price of hats has not. A lot of that has to do with the current horrible value of the American dollar worldwide, but this is getting a bit far afield of the thread. However, try buying a hat from Lock & Co. or, say, Marc Kitter and see how much more it costs than it would have three or five years ago.

Wouldn't it be great to buy a Whippet for $10?!

 

[RBH]

Wouldn't it be great to buy a Whippet for $10?!

If you wore a size 3 you could get one on the Bay for less than that.
Of course hats in our size go for a little more .

 

[jimmy the lid]

I'd like to see more of those 24 colors for sale on eBay! Either your average guy didn't take advantage of the wide range of colors and stuck with the basics, or they were worn until they were worn out.

I would love to discover some old Stetson color chart showing the various colors that Stetson offered in any given year. The thought of having a choice of 24 colors for a new Whippet is just mind boggling. [Of course, this is down from the "over 30 attractive shades" touted by Stetson in a 1940 ******* ad ].

I imagine that certain basic colors were produced in much more quantity than the more exotic colors. I've also wondered whether hats in these more exotic hues might have cost a bit more, so that, for example, certain colors might only be available in the Royal Deluxe line versus the Royal line. Ah, where's a time machine when you need one?!

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Feraud]

I'd like to see more of those 24 colors for sale on eBay! Either your average guy didn't take advantage of the wide range of colors and stuck with the basics, or they were worn until they were worn out.

Cheers,
Tom

I think most people then and now stick with the basics.

 

[Spellflower]

True, the basics are probably the most popular, but there's a lot of range within them. Just in my small collection there are several very different shades of brown. If they had 4 browns, 4 blues, 2 black, 2 charcoal, 2 tan, and 2 white, then that would leave only 8 colors for non-traditional colors like green, red, etc.

I seem to recall seeing a color Whippet ad showing several, if not 24 colors, but maybe it was a dream. Anyone have a similar recollection?

 

[duggap]

Gold

I don't feel gold is a good indicator of a price index. Gold is market driven plus for many years the Feds regulated the price of gold holding it at $32 an ounce.