Now and Then

There is no doubt that consumer prices have changed over the years. At first glance, it often seems things have gotten more expensive. But that is misleading as the value of the dollar has declined. So is the increase in price for an item entirely due to inflation? Or if we take inflation into account, have prices actually gone down?

A number of years ago, while exploring the abandoned farmhouse where my wife grew up, we discovered several old Eaton’s catalogues from 1962. I saved them and thought they would make an interesting basis for a website – this one! This website will compare prices in the 1962 Eaton’s Spring and Summer, Summer Sale and Christmas Sale catalogues to determine prices then. Since Eaton’s went out of business in 1999, we will use prices for similar goods at competing stores now to make our comparisons.

Each post will feature several different products from one of the catalogues.

I also plan to have the entire contents of all three catalogues online eventually.

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