# What crazy cheap items today used to be worth a fortune? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685 "2008-06-12T13:48:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/41 "2008-06-12T18:41:30Z")
[Tulips](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania) sprang to mind when I read this thread title. People went crazy for them! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/42 "2008-06-12T18:54:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] VCRs. Our first one - bought in 1984 - was 400 dollars and had a wired remote that could stop and fast-forward the tape and nothing else. We researched VCRs for a month or more before plunking down our tax refund to buy that. I could get one for 30 dollars now that does more than that. [/QUOTE] Are you sure it was 1984? We got our first VCR in 1984 - big clunky silver thing, must’ve weighed about 300 pounds - it had a wireless remote with every button except eject. We had it up until the early/mid-'90s. I _seriously_ doubt my parents had $400 at the time or would’ve spent it on a VCR if they did. My parents taped all the movies we had off of tv because, like someone else said, to actually buy one in the store was absurdly expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/43 "2008-06-12T18:57:29Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] An Aluminum can. Aluminum was a precious metal when it was first purified. That rapidly changed, of course. [/QUOTE] The Washington Monument is topped in aluminum… to show the world how rich and powerful America was. Look! We have aluminum. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/44 "2008-06-12T18:58:40Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] I paid $295 for a basic handheld scientific calculator back in the early 1970s. Something with similar functions would cost about $10 today. [/QUOTE] I’ve bought full scientific (non-graphing) calculators at the 99 cent store. They were very flimsy and broke easily, but I was impressed they were sold there at all. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/45 "2008-06-12T18:59:31Z")
Supposed to be topped with Aluminum? It was! [http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html](http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html) ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/46 "2008-06-12T19:05:29Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Supposed to be topped with Aluminum? It was! [http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html](http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html) [/QUOTE] Yup - I corrected my post - for some reason I thought it was replaced at some point later on. Obviously not. I guess it is too late to replace it with gold. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/47 "2008-06-12T19:13:34Z")
Interesting about the aluminum cap on the monumemnt – despite all I’ve heard about it being chosen as an expensive itemn, this doesn’t seem to be the case at all. By the time the capstone was cast, aluminum was relatively inexpensive, in fact: > [@](#): > > A book published in the 1990s depicting the evolution of the aluminum can contains a chapter that espouses the attributes of aluminum and states "Americans wanting only the best to commemorate our founding father George Washington, fashioned the Washington Monument apex out of the uncommon metal."5 Fortunately, the National Archives contain more accurate records of the facts associated with construction of the monument. > Aluminum was not the first choice for the pyramid, nor did the choice involve any material design evaluation, extensive tests, or lengthy comparative competition among available materials. Instead, aluminum was selected as an alternative material during discussions between the engineer in charge of the project and William Frishmuth, the only U.S. aluminum producer at that time. > > The engineer in charge of completing the Washington Monument was Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey, Corps of Engineers, United States Army. He was familiar with William Frishmuth since Frishmuth’s foundry in Philadelphia had previously done some plating work for the monument. As the completion of the construction was nearing, Casey sent a request to Frishmuth asking if he could make a metal pyramid that was to serve as the lightning rod. Copper, bronze, or brass, plated with platinum, were the preferred materials > … > Frishmuth proposed that the pyramid be made of aluminum at a quoted price of $75, and if he was unsuccessful in casting it in aluminum he would cast it in aluminum bronze and plate it with gold for a total cost of $50, or, if platinum-plated, for $75. Aluminum bronze was an alloy of 90 parts copper and 10 parts aluminum and was quite abundant on the commercial market in 1884. > … > > When Frishmuth submitted his bill for the aluminum pyramid it was for $256.10. Keeping in mind that Frishmuth originally quoted $75 for the aluminum pyramid, it is understandable that Casey was quite upset. The very day the invoice arrived, Casey cut a military order dispatching his assistant, Captain Davis, to go to Philadelphia to investigate the matter. After Davis concluded his audit, a final price of $225 was agreed upon between Casey and Frishmuth.8,9 > > … > > Aluminum was chosen for the application because of its conductivity, color, and non-staining qualities. In essence, the aluminum point became a victim of the design application and the lack of data and experience concerning lightning strikes on tall structures. [http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html](http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/48 "2008-06-12T19:17:48Z")
From precolonial times to the beginning of the 20th Century–Pineapples! From tropical islands far away the few pineapples that could get to mainland on the old slow ships without rotting were coveted. > **[Social History of the Pineapple](https://www.levins.com/pineapple.html)** > > A brief and colorful history of a truly American fruit. \*Thus, into the 1600s, the pineapple remained so uncommon and coveted a commodity that King Charles II of England posed for an official portrait in an act then symbolic of royal privilege – receiving a pineapple as a gift. \* ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/49 "2008-06-12T19:21:29Z")
[QUOTE=Cardinal] I’ve bought full scientific (non-graphing) calculators at the 99 cent store. They were very flimsy and broke easily, but I was impressed they were sold there at all. [/QUOTE] When we opened our new office, we ordered 250 calculators with our name and new address on them as giveaways. They were fifty cents apiece. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/50 "2008-06-12T19:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > From tropical islands far away the few pineapples that could get to mainland on the old slow ships without rotting were coveted. My understanding is that folks ion 19th century New England grew their own in greenhouses, right here in the northeast. Pineapples became a symbol of hospitality, and you can still see them carved into antiques and into old architectural elements. They were undoubtedly still expensive (how many pineapples can you grow in a greenhouse?), but not as expensive as they’d be if you had to rely on a precious few to not spoil on the long trip back from the tropics. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/51 "2008-06-12T19:22:39Z")
Ball point pens. They cost $20 when they first came out. That would be somewhere over $100 today. A laser beam. They were truly exotic and unobtainable. Now you can get a laser pointer for a couple of dollars and all kinds of cheap electronic goods have lasers in them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/52 "2008-06-12T19:38:40Z")
“Pineries”: > [@](#): > > Greenhouses have come a long way since the wealthy Europeans and Americans used them to grow oranges and pineapples in glass structures known as orangeries and pineries. > > … > In America the first greenhouse on record was built around 1737 by Andrew Faneuil, a wealthy Boston merchant. Like his European predecessors, Faneuil used it primarily to grow fruit. The concept spread slowly, since almost all greenhouses were built for the wealthy. George Washington, perhaps the richest man in America, craved pineapples and ordered a pinery built at Mt. Vernon so he could serve pineapples to his guests. By 1825, greenhouses were becoming increasingly common. > **[DropCatch.com](https://www.DropCatch.com/domain/hobby-greenhouse.com)** > > DropCatch.com helps you secure expiring domain names. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/53 "2008-06-12T19:43:13Z")
Restaurant food. Sister Carrie made $7.50 a week and a restaurant meal was about $1.50. Now people who bring home $500 a week can get a meal for $5.00. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/54 "2008-06-12T21:57:37Z")
Since someone mentioned eyeglasses, weren’t contacts once expensive? I don’t have glasses or contacts but I seem to recall my sister getting a pair of contacts for around $200 about 20 years ago. My last girlfriend got a whole case of them for about $100 recently. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/55 "2008-06-12T22:13:09Z")
Remember when you had a manually-tuned FM radio that drifted? The first PLL radios cost a bundle-more if they had a digital frequecy disply-now even cheap radios have this stuff. What amazes me-they still make oodles of cheap AM-onlr radios-yet I NEVER see people using them-where do they all go to? ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/56 "2008-06-12T22:13:11Z")
[QUOTE=drachillix] Opal .. still precious and beautiful. [/QUOTE] And she still is! (Or were you talking about the stone?) So, was placing Opal third in your list by brilliant intent, or a wonderful coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/57 "2008-06-12T22:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] …Penicillin used to be far more valuable than gold. Now they put antibiotics in the feed of farm animals… [/QUOTE] During WWII the _urine_ of patients given Penicillin was saved so that traces of the drug could be extracted and reused. [QUOTE=] …Clothing…You read stories even into the 30s and 40s where poor people sell their overcoat to pay for rent and food. How much do you think you could get for a secondhand coat today, and how many minutes of rent would that be? [/QUOTE] Until about 40 years ago many schools, YMCAs, and Boys’ Clubs required men & boys to swim in the _nude_. One (of several) reasons for the practice was so that boys who couldn’t afford swimsuits wouldn’t be singled out. These weren’t coed either. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/58 "2008-06-12T23:19:45Z")
Modern clocks. I recall listening to an podcast of the [Thomas Jefferson Hour](http://www.jeffersonhour.org/) where an in-character Jefferson was discussing that Lewis and Clark carried the finest Swiss chronograph possible, which back then cost a tidy $250 (which back then cost damn near a fortune) and drifted with accuracy on the order of a minute or so, plus or minus (IIRC). Nowadays, you can get a digital wristwatch for $10, which keeps the time orders of magnitude better’n the old mechanical clocks. Tripler Hell, you can get a calculator on 'em too! ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/59 "2008-06-12T23:24:40Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] If only Walmart had a “Coffins and funeral arrangements” section! [/QUOTE] [Costco does!](http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?cat=20595&eCat=BC%7C20595&lang=en-US&whse=BC&topnav=) Along with radios as someone previously mentioned I would also add stereos. You can get a nice little system these days with great sound, multiple options like CD, MP3 and even turntables, and they can fit on a bookshelf. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685/60 "2008-06-12T23:43:19Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] If only Walmart had a “Coffins and funeral arrangements” section! [/QUOTE] Would [Costco](http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?cat=20595&eCat=BC%7C20595&whse=BC&lang=en-US) work for you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-crazy-cheap-items-today-used-to-be-worth-a-fortune/452685.md?page=4)