[78-L] The Relative Price of a Record

[Steven C. Barr]

From: "agp" <agp2176 at verizon.net>
> Picked up some goodies at Whistlin' Willie's today and in looking at
> them, it made me wonder about the relative price of a record to the
> other items of the day like a meal, a loaf of bread, a gallon of gas, etc.
> For example, I got a copy of Victor 17213 which is The Funny Little
> Melody by Walter J Van Brunt and Maurice Burkhardt b/w You May be
> Irish Murphy, But I Think That You're in Dutch by Bily Murray. The
> label say 75 cents in USA.
> It occured to me that 75 cents in 1910 was a lot of money compared to
> other things. It also seems that through most of teh era of the
> 'single' (including 45s) that the price of a record stayed the same
> and didn't change with inflation.
> Any thoughts
>
Actually, I have posted on this subject before.

When phonograph records were first introduced, single-sided records
sold for $1 or so each. In 1903-04, the smaller labels (all would be
forced out of business on "patent infringement" grounds by the end
of 1909!) started a "price war" concerning (78 rpm) records, and the
price fell to 60 cents.

Columbia and then Victor introduced two-sided records in 1908; in
most cases these sold for around $1 each. Note that at that point in
time, $1 a DAY was considered good pay for a working man! Thus,
a record would cost this hapless worker a day's pay! There were of
course cheaper records...both Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery
Ward sold records for 30 cents each or less! In 1916, the Emerson
(radio/record) Company introduced the Regal label, which sold for
50 cents each (half-a-day's pay!). By 1922, Emerson was effectively
defunct; Regal wound up under the auspices of Plaza (who maintained
the low price). Meanwhile, Columbia had pressed the Lakeside label
for Wards, and the Silvertone (and Oxford and others) for Sears; these
records were sold very inexpensively (25 cents each or less!). Thus,
an ordinary working man could afford records for his machine
(record companies were selling players VERY cheaply, in hopes of
selling quantities of higher-profit records...?!).

Both Victor and Columbia maintained unrealistically high prices
for their classical records (which were heavily advertised!) until
the mid-depression years. However, expiration of vital patents
allowed MANY companies to sell lateral-cut records; stores like
Sears and Wards were selling their "house labels" for as low as
5/$1! However, 25% of the public was out of work; as well, radio
could provide music essentially cost-free! Record sales fell
drastically...in 1932 a TOTAL of just over 2 million records
were sold...!

In the thirties and forties, 78rpm records became obsolete;
however, their then-standard price of $1 each became usual
for "single records" (usually 45rpm by 1960!) Meanwhile, wages
had risen...working people (no longer all men...?!) made well
over "a buck a day!"

The next big change came in the nineties...analog "albums" were
replaced by "CD's!" Since the new technology was (supposedly"
superior, the "albums" sold for $20 each or more. Of course, $20
was 2 or 3 hours of minimum-wage labour (back in 1955, an LP
cost $4 or $5...I* haven't looked up the relevant minimum wage...
but I would guess that was a couple of hours worth?!)

Currently, CD "albums" sell for $10 or less (MUCH less at stores
like Dollarama!)...I'm not sure, but I would guess vinyl LP's
(coming back into fashion!) probably sell for similar prices...?!
That represents an hour's worth of minimum-wage labour!

IOW, in 1905 a labourer had to work much of a day to buy a
one-sided, one-song popular music record (and up to two
weeks' worth of labour should he want a Caruso SF disc...?!).
Currently, his descendant has to work about an hour to buy
a CD or LP containing 10-12-up tunes...?!

And I just bought, at to-day's CAPS meeting, around 50 78's
(100 songs) for $26...well more than what they were rationally
"worth?!" These kinds of large boxes of VERY miscellaneous
78's usually cost me less than $5 each (remember that my
goal is "EF78REM (except classical!)" or data thereon...?!

I'm currently receiving around $30,000.00/year from my
various pensions (or just over $82/day?!). Thus, a $10 12-
tune CD "album" "costs" me around an hour's pay...or
about 5 minutes of existence per song...?!

Steven C. Barr