What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

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daisygordoninc
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What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by daisygordoninc »

Anyone know of a source that lists the actual cost of Winchester 94's during the 50"s ?
Just curious, I know my dad bought one just after coming home from the war maybe
in the late 40's. It seems like I saw one on the wall at Sears when I was a kid, maybe
listed in the $60 range?
Pete44ru
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Pete44ru »

.


Ask this guy.... ;)

(from 1952)

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This is a 1948 ad - $56.50


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This is a 1953 ad - $69.00


Image

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daisygordoninc
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by daisygordoninc »

Thanks Pete, those are pretty great posters, and certainly gives an
answer to my question.
wecsoger
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by wecsoger »

1948, $56.50 turns into 2017 dollars as $494.41

inflation calculator, here:

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
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Old Savage
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Old Savage »

Bought mine for $214.00 in 1990.
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jdad
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by jdad »

Here's a 94 from 1952.......start bidding.

https://www.gunauction.com/buy/14464831
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vancelw
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by vancelw »

wecsoger wrote: Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:25 pm 1948, $56.50 turns into 2017 dollars as $494.41

inflation calculator, here:

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
IMHO, those inflation calculators don't equate..

Back then, you could buy a used car (teenagers 1st) for $50 to $75. Now it would be $2K to $4k .
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Old Savage »

Well now, that is correct. Bought a primo 51 Ford in 65 for $75, then a 56 Plymouth for $150.
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M. M. Wright
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by M. M. Wright »

Off the top of my head I remembered $60, about. And, as I recall, a new chevy was $950. My first new vehicle, '65 Chevy PU was $2250 so what's with $60K for a new truck?
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Pete44ru »

.

In 1971, I bought a new .30-30 Model 94 carbine from Woolco (F.W.Woolworth & Co) during their annual Fall Hunting Sale for $69.95.(the ammo was about $5 box/20)

Gone are the days when I used to buy used cars for $200-$300, and ran them until they died, before seeking out another beater.

Gasoline was under $0.20/gal then, too. :o

Those were the days (sigh)........... :cry:


.
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Malamute
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Malamute »

I think theres more to "what did a 94 cost in X year" and "what did a car cost". The 94 is basically identical then and now, the vehicles have much more changes and technologies that have changed since then. If the same level of change happened in guns, they would be more like a sci fi future space gun. Theyd also be looked down upon by many. :)

In the early 50s, a car with 75k or 100K would be pretty worn out. $50-$75 may not be bad. Not sure what todays comparison price would be, but theres lots of basic cheap (when new) vehicles for fairly cheap well used, if you don't mind worn out vehicles, dented, rusted vehicles. Low end basic transportation can be had for $500-ish. Its probably still more vehicle than the worn out car in the early 50s if comparing how much life is left and the level of comfort and utility.
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Pisgah
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Pisgah »

Malamute wrote: Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:12 am I think theres more to "what did a 94 cost in X year" and "what did a car cost". The 94 is basically identical then and now, the vehicles have much more changes and technologies that have changed since then. If the same level of change happened in guns, they would be more like a sci fi future space gun. Theyd also be looked down upon by many. :)
Excellent point. I am 64 years old and can well recall that when I was in highschool a car with 100k miles on it was regarded as just about worn out. Nowadays, that's seen as the break-in period...
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Ben_Rumson »

I did a comparison of the 50s & 60s vintage mod 94 & the Savage 99 from my old catalogs. The 99s always cost more by about 10% - 11%. YMMV
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Ben_Rumson »

On return from RVN I bought a 49 Plymouth in 1969 for $50.00 which I drove near 500 miles w/ no failures( except for a Battery which was replaced with a $5.00 used Batt) in 30 days before I left for my next duty station.
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by mohavesam »

Remember the average MONTHLY wage in 1952 for a professional (i.e., a journeyman) was $247 gross. Half the nation made more, half made less.
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by vancelw »

Malamute wrote: Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:12 am I think theres more to "what did a 94 cost in X year" and "what did a car cost". The 94 is basically identical then and now, the vehicles have much more changes and technologies that have changed since then. If the same level of change happened in guns, they would be more like a sci fi future space gun. Theyd also be looked down upon by many. :)

In the early 50s, a car with 75k or 100K would be pretty worn out. $50-$75 may not be bad. Not sure what todays comparison price would be, but theres lots of basic cheap (when new) vehicles for fairly cheap well used, if you don't mind worn out vehicles, dented, rusted vehicles. Low end basic transportation can be had for $500-ish. Its probably still more vehicle than the worn out car in the early 50s if comparing how much life is left and the level of comfort and utility.

You are correct, but it's still perfectly valid. Guns in the 50s were essentially custom hand fitted, with receivers milled from solid stock. Not now.
Card have changed,too. But can you buy a no-frills car now? No. So you have to compare with what's available.
You could compare to the price of a 40 or 160 acre farm, but we all know how subjective real estate prices are.

If you bought a Winchester rifle today, made exactly like it was in 1950, you would probably pay from $1400 (current Miroku price range) to $4000 (Big Horn Armory price range.

Those inflation calculator flawed. Location and need is everything.
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Chuck 100 yd
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Chuck 100 yd »

I bought one at K-Mart in the late sixtys on sale for $69.95 . Granted they are not anything like the pre 64 guns but it killed quite a few deer before I raded it off.
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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by jdad »

vancelw wrote: Fri Jun 30, 2017 2:29 pm
If you bought a Winchester rifle today, made exactly like it was in 1950, you would probably pay from $1400 (current Miroku price range) to $4000 (Big Horn Armory price range.

Those inflation calculator flawed. Location and need is everything.
You're probably going to be close, but this is an original, not Miroku.

https://www.gunauction.com/buy/14464831


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Re: What did a Winchester 94 cost in 1952 ?

Post by Carlsen Highway »

I remember trying to work this out - WDM Bell the famous elephant hunter wrote that on a particular day he had done well with shooting pachyderms, and that later the ivory from that single day had been auctined and sold for 869 pounds sterling. This was in about 1908.
I wondered what that was actually worth in those days.

I looked around and figured out that because modern life has changed so much, the value of things is hardly comparible. Things that we take for granted as being naturally cheap and affordable today - writing pens, cars, rifles, clothing even, were very expensive a hundred years ago, whereas things that they considered cheap and common, we have a hard time affording it. Labour, for example. Tobacco. Absinthe. Gold compared to today.
I recall one way of doing it was to pick something that hadn't changed much over the years - a box of matches. The difference in the price of a box of matches was used as an inflation measurement.

I finally decided the average annual income of a standard working family would do. (This will not do precisely either - a 'normal' working class family today is not the same thing as it was in 1910 - for a start we dont really even have a working class that they would recogise as such, we would consider them dirt poor. In those days 25% of the English population lived in poverty, 15% of them at a subsistance level, this entirely due to meager wages. This was changed by the Unions in the early 20th century. What we call the 'middle'classes have taken over simply because new technology has made the cost of things cheaper for the average family, combined with higher wages and legal barriers to exploiting workers. But 'middle class' prior to WW1 meant that you had at least one servant. Technology has changed our culture and its values. The ''average'' family lives at a level undreamt of by Edwardian man; to the stage that there is no longer a servant class at all because nobody wants the job.)

But it would have to do as a basis of comparison and at least would give some idea. I figured out that 52 pounds would keep a working class family alive for a year. When put into this kind of context it explains why everyone was elephant hunting for ivory in dangerous places, and it wasn't just because they liked being on safari. In 1908, 869 pounds was a years wages for 16 families.
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