Magazine provides inflated idea of Christmases past
Gordon Clark
Iaccidentally cyber-sauntered into an online copy of the Dec. 1, 1961 edition of Life Magazine the other day while seeking information about a shocking historical murder case I had recently read about that I was surprised I’d never heard of before. Isn’t that one of the best things about being alive? You can always learn new stuff.
Remarkably, while cyber-flipping through the Google Books version of Life, I got so distracted by the pre-Christmas ads of 1961 I barely made it to the article on the slaughter in November 1961 of five people aboard the Bluebelle sailing yacht by its skipper, Julian Harvey, on a trip from Florida to the Bahamas. The only survivor was Terry Jo Duperrault, 11, who was miraculously rescued after escaping from the sinking Bluebelle and bobbing in the Atlantic for three days and nights on a cork float, having lost her mom, dad and two siblings in the attack. Google “Bluebelle (ship)” if you’re interested in reading more.
I’m old enough to remember Life when it was still a weekly magazine, published in that form from 1883 to 1972. Stumbling upon that 1961 edition felt like running into an old friend. While 1961 was just before I was born, the words and images in the magazine evoked memories of my 1960s childhood. Looking at the products on display in the pre-Christmas ads brought back warm feelings of a more pleasant time, at least in some ways. My main thought from looking through the potential Christmas gifts was how people were more easily satisfied five decades ago.
In my job, beginning in November every year, I receive many emails offering “Christmas Gift Guides.” I’m always amazed at what marketers try to pitch us.
I got one earlier this month that implied Christmas for my loved ones wouldn’t be complete unless I bought them an Oculus Rift VR Headset, whatever that is. All I know is that for $849.99 it promised one could embrace a “staycation this holiday season by exploring a whole new world right at home.” At that price, I sure wouldn’t be vacationing anywhere else.
For $129.99, the same email suggested I buy someone a “Nanoleaf Aurora Smart LED Light Pane,” whose nine panels can be creatively applied to a wall “in a design of your choosing,” allowing you to use an app “to choose from millions of colours and create custom scenes to brighten up your living space in imaginative ways.” Is it just me, or are they trying to sell a tab of acid?
The same company also pitched a $200 fitness tracker (my Labrador does that for free), a $250 camera-equipped quadcopter drone (guaranteed to give you the reputation of a Peeping Tom with the neighbours), and — and I’m not making this up — a $250 Wi-Fi connected box that lets you watch and talk to your pet and torment it with a laser beam through your smartphone when you’ve abandoned the animal at home.
Oh, and let’s not forget the $220 earbud headphones “inspired by basketball player LeBron James” that allow you to sweat on them — a lot. James is making $30,963,450 this year, so I suppose he won’t mind the astronomical price, but count me out, no matter how much I sweat. The people in my family are notorious for losing earphones, so the $10 ones will have to do.
Do we need any of this? Will it make us happier? Nah. It all sounds like stuff that will quickly break or become obsolete.
Compare those items to what were considered nice gifts in 1961. There was an American Flyer toy train set for $14.98, which I would have loved as a kid. How about a Timex watch for $9.95 or, if you felt like splurging, a Saxony watch with Swiss Movement on sale for $10.88? The “Deluxe Waterproof Electrex Heating Pad” for $8.95 sounds perfect for the achy neck I’ve had since being blindsided in hockey a few weeks ago. Of course, when I considered inflation, those prices suddenly seemed less attractive, especially since Canadians earn four times what we made in 1961.
According to the Bank of Canada inflation calculator, $100 in 1961 is the same at $820.38 today. That means that the top-of-the-line RCA colour TV costing $825 in 1961 would cost $6,768.14 in 2016, enough for an 80-inch home theatre. Or the $29.95 RCA pocket transistor radio would now cost $245.70. A similar but superior Sony portable radio today only costs $27.99.
You know, maybe some things are better now. Happy Christmas. Only 34 shopping days left — lots of time to pick up those sweat-proof ear buds.