Popular Post DerekMPBS Posted November 1, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 I was having dinner at my wife's parent's house a couple of nights ago, and on their counter was a copy of the Sears and Roebuck catalog from 1902. I glanced through it for awhile, marveling at the prices listed. When I got to the tools, I had to take a picture of the hand planes page and post it for all to see. I wish I could get Stanley planes at these prices! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 What is the price on the Compass plane ? 4 th one down on the right side of the page. I've got one and have even used it a few times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 Yeah those prices look way different then the Lie Nielsen catalog from 2018 That's pretty cool that they have that and in such wonderful condition too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 What was the weekly bring home pay back then? Like $5 a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekMPBS Posted November 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 Steve, I looked at my original photo and it's hard to read, but I think the price is $1.26. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 Thanks ! I think I paid around $25-30 in the early 90's for mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 21 hours ago, Tmize said: What was the weekly bring home pay back then? Like $5 a week? I did a bit of Google searching to find out, but didn't have a lot of luck, except for things like an Expo in 1901, which paid carpenters $55 to $65 for a week, but that was unusually high for the short term job. Otherwise, in 1901, .50 an hour was a high paying job in the financial world. It cost $1.19 to feed a family of four, and women didn't work, so most people worked a half day to be able to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmize Posted November 3, 2018 Report Share Posted November 3, 2018 So .30 cent an hour would probably be average journeyman pay back then. So that not has changed comparing journeyman pay now to price of handtool now ( excluding battery/power tools) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted November 4, 2018 Report Share Posted November 4, 2018 First thing that comes to my mind is why was there a 1902 Sears catalogue on their counter? I’m surprised that thing survived the privy days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted November 4, 2018 Report Share Posted November 4, 2018 My wife has some ladies magazines from the early 1900s. Dresses at $3-4, hats 25-75 cents. Ah, the good ol' days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekMPBS Posted November 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 Coop, the catalog belonged to my wife's grandfather and was passed down to his son, who kept it. My wife will get it once her dad passes. It makes a great conversation starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bankstick Posted November 8, 2018 Report Share Posted November 8, 2018 Passing on magazines seems to be a trend? Amazing at the prices of things over a hundred years ago. Plus look at the income of people. People though Henry Ford was crazy paying his workers five dollars a DAY! Reminds me of a sign in an antique shop- Grandma bought it. Mom threw it away. I bought it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted November 8, 2018 Report Share Posted November 8, 2018 My Grandfather kept a General Store that his Father had built right after the Civil War. We have one of his suppliers catalogs from about that time. It has a hard back, and has everything a general store would need to stock, including steel beds, coffins, and several hundred pages of stuff. There is a lot of hardware in it, but not many tools. I guess Sears covered everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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