UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post

G6Tanuki · 18th Apr 2020, 7:02 pm

Looking at the prices - remember that these are wholesale prices.

The retailer who bought their stock-in-trade from Brown Brothers would then add on their own markup - and then on top of that would go the Government-mandated Purchase-Tax-of-the-day [which could be around 40% for 'luxury' items like radiograms].

Appliances we now consider cheap consumables were - back then - horribly expensive when compared to the average wage. For a 'white-collar' bank-clerk buying a new vacuum-cleaner or washing-machine could consume a couple of weeks wages; for a working-class person it was out of the question.

18th Apr 2020, 7:02 pm	#30
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 14,007	Re: 1938 Electrical catalogue Looking at the prices - remember that these are wholesale prices. The retailer who bought their stock-in-trade from Brown Brothers would then add on their own markup - and then on top of that would go the Government-mandated Purchase-Tax-of-the-day [which could be around 40% for 'luxury' items like radiograms]. Appliances we now consider cheap consumables were - back then - horribly expensive when compared to the average wage. For a 'white-collar' bank-clerk buying a new vacuum-cleaner or washing-machine could consume a couple of weeks wages; for a working-class person it was out of the question.