The TIV48 Injector/Tracer

[Yorkie]

I winced at ten bob for transistors as I'd regard that as pricey even today. Just for comparison's sake, what did valves cost back then?

Cheers
-Joe

At first sight, vales look ridiculously cheap, but not when historical inflation is taken into account. One pound today equates to 5p back in 1958, believe it or not.

You can check prices back and forth from 1751 - 2013 here:

http://safalra.com/other/historical-uk-i...onversion/

I've listed some valve prices from Sept 1958 PW below out of interest.

UCH42 & UL41, ten shillings each = £10.00 each today.
UBC41, UF41 8/6d (45p) each = £9.00 each.

Matched pair of 6V6: 17 shillings (85p) = £17.00

Battery valves such as DK96, DK92, 3S4, 3V4 1T4 etc, as used on valved portables of that era were typically 7/6d, which equates to £7.00 each today.

A 40W soldering iron was on offer at 17 shillings (£17.00).

Surplus (reject) red spot transistors were 7/6 and white spot (RF) 13/6d. Genuine Mullard and Mazda transistors were 21 shillings!

A kit radio - the 'Transistor 8' was £11.10s. I'll leave you to do the sums. late 1950s prices need multiplying by twenty as a rough guide to the equivalent price today.

It's not just the effect of inflation on just how much £1.00 was back then and how little it is now, but the way that the price of consumer electronics has fallen off a cliff. You can new get a decent tablet computer for less than the cost of a kit radio back in the late 1950s. I recall how we 'saddling ourselves' with a 20-year mortgage of £1,500 back in 1961 for our first house - a 'millstone around our necks' for a 3-bed semi. That was the maximum I could then borrow - which we had to match with £700 deposit, so we could only get a 66% mortgage. I recall how we anguished over borrowing such a large amount - 1.5 times my wages, a fairly standard ceiling which then applied.

Our parents wondered why we didn't do what many other young people did back then - put our name on the council house waiting list.

How times change!