{"id":5431,"date":"2020-06-29T21:05:43","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T21:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/?p=5431"},"modified":"2020-06-29T21:05:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T21:05:43","slug":"1950-vs-2020-the-price-of-guns-and-ammo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wideners.com\/blog\/1950-vs-2020-the-price-of-guns-and-ammo\/","title":{"rendered":"1950 VS 2020: The Price of Guns and Ammo\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many Americans old enough to remember the postwar 1950s think of those years with great fondness. After all, these were peaceful times when conformity and uniformity were common, and every family portrayed on television–families in which men worked and women tended the house and children–had smaller problems and plenty of support to get through them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jobs were plentiful, and many goods were made in the USA and affordable. Think about this: you could buy a brand-new Ford automobile for around $2,000, and the gasoline that fueled it was $.20 per gallon. The median home value was about $8,000, and you could enjoy a Philco TV in the living room for under $200!<\/span><\/p>\n

Although much of the culture of the 1950s has been popularized via film and television, many still consider them to be the \u201cHappy Days,\u201d as shown in the popular 1970s sitcom. And many Americans continue to insist that it was also cheaper to live in those good old days. But was it really a more affordable time?<\/span><\/p>\n

As gun owners, let\u2019s travel through time through the decades to answer the question that has relevance for us:\u00a0 <\/span>Is it more or less expensive to own guns and buy ammo in 2020 than it was in 1950? The answers might surprise you:<\/span><\/p>\n

All About The 1970s<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"a

The median income of a family in the United States in 1970 was $9,870 after taxes.<\/p><\/div>\n

Most \u201cBaby Boomers\u201d\u2014those born soon after the end of World War II and into the early 60s\u2014remember 1970 as a year of turbulence. The Vietnam War was raging, and some of those Boomers were fighting while others were at home protesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the college campus protests were garnering much of the attention, many twenty-somethings were living their lives in relative obscurity: working hard during the week and hunting or target-shooting on weekends.<\/span><\/p>\n

The average family income in 1970 was $9,870. You could buy a house for around $27,000 and a car for $3,900. Gas was $.36 per gallon, but would soon increase dramatically during the 1973 middle-east oil crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 1970 inflation rate was\u00a05.72% compared to 2.05% today (inflation would peak at a whopping 13.5% in 1980). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, today’s prices are\u00a0562.91% higher\u00a0than averages in 1970, and the dollar has undergone an average inflation rate of\u00a03.86% per year\u00a0during this period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about it: $100 in 1970 is equal to about\u00a0$662.91\u00a0in 2020, in terms of purchasing power. That\u2019s a difference of $562.91 over 50 years!<\/span><\/p>\n

Popular gun and ammo prices* in 1970:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n