...in the May 1908 issue of Frisco-Man railroad employee magazine:

"For Sale: A 17j 16 size Webb C. Ball, used 1 week for $20, cost me $32.00 in silverine case. Write: J. A. Klause, St. Louis, MO"

I wonder if it's still available?

Regards! Mark

Mark, that was the same RR that my Dad worked on in the mid to late 40's....to bad that Mr. Klause wasn't a little later, my Dad wouldn't have had to buy that 540 he used, he might have had this Webb Ball watch and I would have now, not the 540....

Oh well....

Regards,

Jerry

Before you start thinking "oh wow what a cheap price," remember that $32 was a considerable sum of money back in 1908.

The CPI calculators I could find on the web only go back to 1913, but they show that in 1913 $32 would have had equivalent purchasing power to what you could buy with $706 today. Even the discounted $20 price (in 1913) would be equivalent to $441 today.

Check it out:

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Agreed, Ed. I think what caught MY eye was the fact he only had it one week, but was willing to take a $12 loss on the watch. As you say, that was a HEAP of money in the day. It would be a $265 loss in today's funds.

What I was saying was, I wonder if it was still available at the 1908 advertised price, but paid for in 2010 dollars?

Jerry for the life of me, I can't recall who posted this link, but am VERY grateful to whoever did the deed. It's provided hours of reading enjoyment, even if I AM an 'N&W' man myself. If you haven't seen these, I KNOW YOU'RE going to enjoy them!

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/

Regards! Mark