Originally Posted by
Charlee
I'm at the Oregon coast (Newport), and just took possession of "Katherine", the 301! She stitches beautifully!! Fairly clean machine too.
The inside of the manual has a handwritten note:
July 30, 1953 $227.50, $4.55 ST, $232.05
So, according to the inflation calculator, in today's dollar, this machine would cost $1869.72!! No wonder the lady that sold it to me said her grandmother was very excited to have a "fancy machine" when she bought it new!
That is why I think the old machines are undervalued. They are undervalued in more than one way. They don't value how well they work and what they are capable of doing. They don't value the craftsmanship that went into those machines when they were built. People don't realize that probably 95% of the time people just straight stitch. They don't realize how much they cost new compared to today just like Charlee said. I hate it when they are trashed or when I find one that is in such horrid shape that it has to be parted out or trashed. Then again all old machines are not created equal.... We seem to be in a throwaway mentality or they put ssssooooooo much value on it cash wise for some junker machine... crazy mixed up world. BTW where did you find an inflation calculator?