New vintage catalog scans - 1936 National Bellas Hess Menswear Catalog

[Mario]

Look at the prices! Just look at those prices! :eeek:

I know that this was quite some money way back when, but still... Hmmm...come to think of it, that 'nub' suit would cost around $65 these days!!

I also found it very interesting to see that many if not most of the pants were supposed to be worn with belts rather than braces. And I couldn't help but take note of all those slanted pant pockets.

 

[RM Bantista]

Look at the prices! Just look at those prices! :eeek:

I know that this was quite some money way back when, but still... Hmmm...come to think of it, that 'nub' suit would cost around $65 these days!!

It was some money, as you say.

From
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar03p1.htm#57a

"Compensation from before World War I through the Great Depression

by Robert VanGiezen and Albert E. Schwenk
Bureau of Labor Statistics
This article was originally printed in the Fall 2001 issue of Compensation and Working Conditions.

Originally Posted: January 30, 2003

Robert VanGiezen
Economist, Division of Data Analysis and Planning, Office of Compensation Levels and Trends.
Telephone: 202-691-5186 E-mail: VanGiezen_R@bls.gov

Albert E. Schwenk
Senior Economist, Division of Compensation Data Estimation, Office of Compensation Levels and Trends.
Telephone: 202-691-6203 E-mail: Schwenk_A@bls.gov

"Another example is a survey conducted with the WPA of the building construction industry in the fall of 1936 for information on prevailing wage rates. Information was gathered from over 6,000 contractors involved in more than 13,000 projects in 105 cities across the country.57 Average earnings for the 186,145 workers were $.918 per hour. Earnings for electricians, bricklayers, and structural ironworkers averaged more than $1.30 per hour. Laborers earned $.516 per hour. Earnings for union workers were significantly higher in comparable trades than for their nonunion counterparts. For example, union electricians earned nearly 60 percent more per hour than their nonunion counterparts.58

Paid vacations were one of the rapidly growing employee benefits during the 1930s. In 1937, a BLS survey of 90,000 firms found that approximately 95 percent of the 700,000 salaried workers received annual vacations with pay, compared with 36.7 percent of the 9.5 million wage earners.59"

"End Notes
"57 Edward P. Sanford, "Wage rates and hours of labor in the building trades," Monthly Labor Review, August 1937, pp. 281-93.

58 Ibid., p. 284.

59 Frances Jones and Dorothy Smith, "Extent of vacations with pay in industry, 1937," Monthly Labor Review, August 1938, pp. 269-74."

What would an electrician earn today for a half-day's pay?
June 2006 Electricians 20.19--22.94 per hour wage with benefits, after taxes, rent, food, to get to real 'disposable income'... = That cotton suit looks pretty pricey to me.

Just saying.

There is more recent information available with a bit of digging, but you get my point, these things weren't cheap then and they wouldn't be now.

Regards,
rudy

 

[Gray Ghost]

I just love the prices. I wish we could get it for these prices now.

=GG=

 

[Mario]

There is more recent information available with a bit of digging, but you get my point, these things weren't cheap then and they wouldn't be now.

Ah, but I never said that. As I stated, it was quite a lot of money back then. I only find it amazing every time I look through one of those old catalogs to see the listed prices - the mere sum - from todays perpective.

 

[RM Bantista]

Ah, but I never said that. As I stated, it was quite a lot of money back then. I only find it amazing every time I look through one of those old catalogs to see the listed prices - the mere sum - from todays perpective.

Point taken, Mario.

What gets me, is that some of these things cannot be had at any price anymore as the manufacturers no longer produce items of similar quality. Sometimes, this is because the processes were very toxic and would not be safe, but not always. Often, there is a change in the expectations people have about things. Many of the things people spent time and labor to take care of are now not able to be done in the time available or at all.

Reweaving was widely done. Ladies made silk braces for their fiancees. And so forth.

Most of these changes are for the better, perhaps. I think it is an open question.

Regards,
rudy

 

[HodgePodge]

I couldn't really believe anyone would wear those ones with the cut-outs, they reminded me too much of a pair of little girls' shoes, but then, one day perusing shorpy...

http://www.shorpy.com/node/6803?size=_original

now I kinda want a pair....

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Remix vintage shoes sells the white buck town and country in every variation: plain white, black and brown captoe/heel cover. I own a pair of the all-white buck and they're incredible. I do dance with them also and they're fantastic dance shoes for those who are dancers.

http://www.remixvintageshoes.com/captoe.html

 

[sartana]

Great, great pictures...

 

[MikeBravo]

I really like the shoe ones, very informative