What Good Old Days?

It is customary, particularly among unions seeking wage hikes, to talk nostalgically of the good old days when earnings were low but so were prices, and a working man could live more comfortably on less money. There is only one trouble with the reasoning: it isn't so--and the authority is none other than the Machinist, publication of the International Association of Machinists, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Since 1938, says the Machinist, living costs have doubled, but factory wages have nearly quadrupled. And, comparing the number of factory working hours required in 1948 and 1961 to purchase 27 different items, only two showed change for the worse. The list:

Item 1948 1961

New car 892 1/2 hr. 975 hr.

Five-room house 6,486 hr. 6,296 hr.

Plane (N.Y.-Chicago) 32 2/3 hr. 23 1/2 hr.

Loaf of bread 5 3/4 min. 5 1/2 min.

Quart of milk 8 1/2 min. 7 min.

Ten lbs. potatoes 23 min. 17 min.

One lb. bacon 34 min. 18 1/2 min.

One lb. chuck roast 28 1/2 min. 16 min.

Man's haircut 55 1/2 min. 45 min.

Two packs cigarettes 17 3/4 min. 14 min.

Blue Cross, one person 49 min. 2 1/2 hr.

Electric refrigerator 178 1/2 hr. 71 hr.

Washing machine 80 hr. 34 1/2 hr.

Man's wool suit 26 hr. 17 hr.

Man's work shoes 4 1/4 hr. 3 1/2 hr.

Lady's cotton dress 2 1/4 hr. 1 3/4 hr.

100 kw-h electricity 2 1/2 hr. 1 3/4 hr.

Vacuum cleaner 37 hr. 26 hr.

Lady's shirt, rayon 2 1/2 hr. 1 1/4 hr.

Auto tire 9 3/4 hr. 6 1/2 hr.

Sewing machine 92 1/2 hr. 51 hr.

Man's dungarees 1 1/2 hr. 1hr.

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