NavList:

   

Reply

To complete your message,
do you know how much one is payed for a similar job now?
It is hard to estimate the inflation over a long period,
but I suspect that at that time, new sextants were much more EXPENSIVE
than they are now. Look, from your numbers, it follows that an average
price of a sextant is more than the monthly salary for a hard 24
hours 7 days a week job.
I am sure that on a modern salary from such job you can buy several
most expensive new sextants. Even the minimal legal salary now
is more than $5 per hour, which makes $3600 per month for 24 hour
per day job:-)
So it seems that a new sextant was a questionable investment
in 1940, at least from the point of view of the heirs:-)

Alex.


On Tue, 11 Oct 2005, Henry C. Halboth wrote:

> Some might find the following, taken from the 1943 edition of Mixter, of
> passing interest ...
>
> "Prices of new micrometer sextants available in New York in 1940 are from
> $150 to $250."
>
> "New vernier sextants cost from $90 to $125 ..............."
>
> "........... good second hand instruments are available for about $60."
>
> But then again, in those days I had a good and resposible job paying $100
> per month for 24 hours per day x 7 days per week x 30/1 days per month -
> no overtime, but they did feed and bunk me. Just think, after a few
> months at sea I could buy the best sextant on the market, with a couple
> of bucks left over for a beer or two. Someday my heirs are going to get
> fat selling off the sextants I did buy.
>
> Henry
>

   

Reply