$2.85 in 1949, is about $40 today. So 91 weeks of that, plus the unspecified down payment, would exceed $3600 in today’s terms, possibly over $4000.

1949 saw the first episode of the Lone Ranger, which ran 52 episodes that season. The first broadcast of the Emmy awards. The first televised charity telethon, for a cancer foundation.

There were 4 television networks in the USA. ABC, CBS, NBC, and the much lesser known DuMont network, which operated from 1940 to 1956.

  • ChicoSuave
    10·
    5 days ago

    $3500 dollars for a TV? If Zenith gathered user data and sold it they could sell them cheaper.

    But seriously this shows TVs have been roughly the same price and the glut of cheap sets in the 70s was probably a bubble.

    • OwOarchist@pawb.socialEnglish
      3·
      5 days ago

      TVs have been roughly the same price and the glut of cheap sets in the 70s was probably a bubble

      ???

      What are you on about? TVs are one of the few products that has demonstrably, objectively become significantly cheaper over the years. Even (especially) when adjusted for inflation.

      Especially if you compare like-for-like for things like screen size and picture quality. But even if you don’t do that, if you only look at the cost of the average TV, costs have still come way down from where they once were.

      The price in this ad (91 weeks of $2.85 per week) comes out to $259.35 total. Even without factoring in inflation, this is already easily enough to buy you two budget model TVs in 2026 – a TV that’s far far better in pretty much every way than this 1949 model – far bigger, much better resolution, more energy efficient, lighter and more compact, more input choices, more reliable, in color, etc. But it gets much crazier when you adjust for inflation. Adjusted for inflation, $259.35 in 1949 dollars is worth about $8,779 in 2026 dollars. For $8k in 2026, you can buy just about any TV on the market, including very top-of-the-line models – 98 inch TVs with all the latest stuff. Or, if you stick to budget models, you could easily afford to buy about 50 TVs at that price. For the 2026 equivalent of $2.85 (1949 dollars) per week, you could buy a brand new TV every two weeks and still have money left over.