hopkins & harrington what they were worth - The Firearms Forum

H&Rfanatic · 03-07-2010, 06:08 PM

In 1906, they were worth $2.50....????

Can't even buy a part for that anymore...

Jim K · 03-07-2010, 06:43 PM

It's called inflation, or a government that keeps spending more than it takes in.

Consider that c. 1900, the average manual laborer got about $1 per day. My grandfather and great uncle were stone masons, a skilled occupation, and were paid about $2-2.50 a day. A cowboy or soldier was paid $.50 a day and his keep.

A Colt SAA was around $13 mail order, a Winchester Model 1892 was $18. No matter what the movies show, few cowboys carried Colt SAA's or Winchesters that cost a month's pay.

I often have used a figure of 1::40 for comparison of 1900 to modern dollars, but that may be a bit low today. But even at my $40 conversion figure, those guns were the equivalent of $100, the Colt the equivalent of over $500, the Winchester of $720.

Jim

03-07-2010, 06:08 PM	#1
H&Rfanatic Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 29	hopkins & harrington what they were worth In 1906, they were worth $2.50....???? Can't even buy a part for that anymore... -->

03-07-2010, 06:43 PM	#2
Jim K Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 6,408	Re: hopkins & harrington what they were worth It's called inflation, or a government that keeps spending more than it takes in. Consider that c. 1900, the average manual laborer got about $1 per day. My grandfather and great uncle were stone masons, a skilled occupation, and were paid about $2-2.50 a day. A cowboy or soldier was paid $.50 a day and his keep. A Colt SAA was around $13 mail order, a Winchester Model 1892 was $18. No matter what the movies show, few cowboys carried Colt SAA's or Winchesters that cost a month's pay. I often have used a figure of 1::40 for comparison of 1900 to modern dollars, but that may be a bit low today. But even at my $40 conversion figure, those guns were the equivalent of $100, the Colt the equivalent of over $500, the Winchester of $720. Jim