Bullsinflation

First topic message reminder :

Perusing the great Gil Hebard book the catalog portion is as interesting as the shooting articles.  This particular edition (16) is dated January 1964, and I was interested in how prices changed since then.

22LR ammo was 80 cents / 50.  That seems like a bargain but factoring inflation today's prices are actually (amazingly) better.  Dusting off the CPI calculator:

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

$0.80 in 1964 bought what $7.81 does today.  Note recently you can buy CCI or Aguila 22LR for $4.00 or less - so in real (inflation adjusted) terms, ammo is half as expensive now.

What about guns?  SW 41 was made then and now.  In 1964 it was $100 - which in 2023 dollars is $976.82.  These guns new are about $1200 now, so they were a better deal then (and one can argue better made, though that is another topic).

These are just two items and there were many for sale in the catalog.  I suspect real price changes over time (ie inflation effects) are greater in products produced by labor and less when produced with automation.  This could explain the ammo/gun difference, and other items (my 2017 Tahoe cost less in inflation-adjusted dollars than my 1997 Ford Explorer, and the Tahoe is way better IMO).  Straying further off-topic, delving into this you will find that common grocery food items are much cheaper now in real terms - again likely to automation in farming, food processing, etc.  So not everything is worse now!

Using the calculator $1 in 1964 is now worth $9.77.  I was a kid then and recall that a dollar was a good slug of money, but I was surprised it was worth about $10 today.

JHHolliday wrote:At the risk of defilement here is a savory (and salient) tidbit from that era

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8rCy173y7Y

Assuming you linked to the utube regarding the Colt Competition .45?
If so, the guy repeats himself a bunch, tells the world it is a Series 70, then shows the slide that has the Series 80 firing pin safety plunger. Goofy.
Much more interesting was the D-Day landing video, on that page of utube videos.
Considering that several video cameramen were sent to the landing, I always wondered if we never saw videos of the actual landing because the cameramen were killed before they could record, or if the slaughter was kept from the public on purpose. I skipped through the dialog, but seems the cameraman was wounded, continued to video until evacuated. If so, where is the rest of the footage?
Unfortunately, from the perspective of this time, I assume government intervention prevents seeing footage from 1940s wartime video. Considering that the parents of the greatest generation have long ago passed, censorship of such stuff is rather silly.

There was a story that much of the film footage of the D-Day landings was lost in a ship sinking prior to getting processed… 

It is my supposition however, that much of the footage was just too grisly.  It was likely destroyed by direction.  The analog for this is that the film of the Tarawa landings were upsetting to the American public.   If you want a taste of what happened on Omaha Beach, the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” shows what the US Forces faced.  The reason Omaha beach was as much of a success as it was was because the Germans ran low on ammunition.

The line “You can’t handle the truth” was never more appropriate, unfortunately. 
I hadn’t heard the whopper about the film being scuttled with a ship. Images like that would have been priority mailed via COD air flights. 
Probably hidden with Jimmy Hoffa

Wobbley wrote:There was a story that much of the film footage of the D-Day landings was lost in a ship sinking prior to getting processed… 

It is my supposition however, that much of the footage was just too grisly.  It was likely destroyed by direction.  The analog for this is that the film of the Tarawa landings were upsetting to the American public.   If you want a taste of what happened on Omaha Beach, the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” shows what the US Forces faced.  The reason Omaha beach was as much of a success as it was was because the Germans ran low on ammunition.

I’m no expert, I don’t post this with means to stir the pot either. But your mention of the Germans running low on ammunition got me thinking. Is that something that might’ve been bound to happen due to the amount of people that was planned to throw at the beach? The amount of force directed on that beach was so much that I think the idea was to keep hammering that position with enough force until it broke. I don’t know the cut off point - meaning when would Ike decide it’s not working and pull back but I thought the idea was hammer it until it gave way. I’m just thinking out loud. Conversation is all

Tim:H11 wrote:

Wobbley wrote:There was a story that much of the film footage of the D-Day landings was lost in a ship sinking prior to getting processed… 

It is my supposition however, that much of the footage was just too grisly.  It was likely destroyed by direction.  The analog for this is that the film of the Tarawa landings were upsetting to the American public.   If you want a taste of what happened on Omaha Beach, the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” shows what the US Forces faced.  The reason Omaha beach was as much of a success as it was was because the Germans ran low on ammunition.

I’m no expert, I don’t post this with means to stir the pot either. But your mention of the Germans running low on ammunition got me thinking. Is that something that might’ve been bound to happen due to the amount of people that was planned to throw at the beach? The amount of force directed on that beach was so much that I think the idea was to keep hammering that position with enough force until it broke. I don’t know the cut off point - meaning when would Ike decide it’s not working and pull back but I thought the idea was hammer it until it gave way. I’m just thinking out loud. Conversation is all

I'm a bit reluctant to continue as we get off the original topic, but if you haven't read Stephen Ambrose's book on D-Day I recommend you do so.