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Gary Blanchard - Posted - 11/21/2012: 12:00:36
From the 1964 Sears Catalog
Tom Paglia - Posted - 11/21/2012: 13:49:48
I believe in 1964 the banjo was still around a week's pay and then some for many folks.
Gary Blanchard - Posted - 11/21/2012: 13:51:15
yeah, but you could get it for $5.00 monthly.
It even came with a capo and a case. I wonder how many of those are still around?
Fathand - Posted - 11/22/2012: 07:00:32
I remember 1964 very well, it was the year we moved into the city from the cemetery where my father dug graves & cleaned the church for $60.00 a week. So, yes about a poor man's week's pay for a beginner quality banjo.
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Paglia
I believe in 1964 the banjo was still around a week's pay and then some for many folks.
mike gregory - Posted - 11/22/2012: 09:39:32
I recall seeing the reprinted SEARS 1910 catalog, where their finest banjo was about $20.
Again, in THOSE days, how many 8 or 10 or 12 hour days did a poor man have to work, to scrape together $20?
(Local Milwaukee history: 1886 - Seven strikers were shot dead by the State Militia, demonstrating for an eight -hour day.)
MrNatch3L - Posted - 11/22/2012: 11:24:20
Egad... I remember that! My folks were never without the Sears catalog. I dreamed about that folk guitar. I have since matured, learned wisdom, and gone in for banjos. :-)
opotable - Posted - 11/22/2012: 14:51:42
please post if ya find that banjo listed anywhere.
here's the "flat top folk geetar" current price.
ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1965-Silv...979505622
and just to get into perspective, a few years later than that i was working in a shipping office in glasgow ( i mean SHIPS to east africa) and i remember that a US dollar ( freight rates pro tonne quoted in that currency) was 2.40 to the £ and i was earning mabye £30 a MONTH.................... 
SWCooper - Posted - 11/22/2012: 15:23:07
Hey! My father got a gold record thanks to those guitars. 1964 would be about right...he did instructional albums, and Sears gave the guitar one away with every instrument. They sold a million guitars -- voilà -- gold record. He did a banjo one, too, but I don't think they managed to sell a million banjos.
opotable - Posted - 11/22/2012: 15:39:10
selling a million banjos is not what i dream of either.
do ye have any documentation or pics of that? the harmony guitar databank would appreciate it i'm sure.
Edited by - opotable on 11/22/2012 15:41:27
tdennis - Posted - 11/22/2012: 17:47:53
There are several "Inflation Calculators" online that can give one an estimate of money value translated through the years. $70 in 1964 is about $522 in 2012. (I would say , this is not a much of a deal for this banjo).
SWCooper - Posted - 11/22/2012: 18:05:40
Do you mean me, Opotable? My dad's still very much with us, and he still has the gold record, but I'm thousands of miles away from him. A quick Google turned up this copy of the very record, just sold on eBay. At least, I'm pretty sure that's the one: it has "Sears presents" on the label.
There were eight records total in the series (including Mother Maybelle Carter teaching autoharp). They were very basic (read: useless) but I'd love to have copies to digitize and put online for posterity.
opotable - Posted - 11/23/2012: 04:14:12
fascinating, thanks for that!
Dave Douglass - Posted - 11/23/2012: 10:10:53
My cousin bought one of those Sears longnecks in '64 and was all hot to learn it for about a month till it ended up in his closet. I had just bought my Gibson longneck for $150 when he got his. I recall it was not a good playing, or sounding banjo. This brings back memories of those days.
