How much would Indy's jacket have cost in 1936?

ron521 · Post by **ron521** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 7:01 am

How much would a university professor in 1936 have paid for a leather jacket similar to what Indy wears? And how much did most university professors earn in 1936?
( i.e. how long did Indy have to work to pay for his jacket?)

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 8:05 am

Well, considering his was close to the A2, this is a good starting point.

Post by **Michaelson** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:00 am

Yep, depending on style, material and company ordered from (so, what's new?

) anywhere from $4 to $10 would have bought his jacket. Still a goodly sum during the Depression, especially when folks counted themselves lucky to make a dollar or less a day, so it represented a couple weeks wages.

Regards! Michaelson

CM · Post by CM » Mon Jan 02, 2012 7:54 pm

ron521 wrote:How much would a university professor in 1936 have paid for a leather jacket similar to what Indy wears? And how much did most university professors earn in 1936?
( i.e. how long did Indy have to work to pay for his jacket?)

How old is Indy's jacket meant to be in 1936? Ten years? Fifteen? Maybe the question should be: How much would it have cost when new in 1921? or whenever...

Heyjude7 · Post by **Heyjude7** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:24 pm

Indy probably had his favorite jacket spot to shop at with credit line of multiple jackets

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:34 pm

For a leather jacket in 1936, Michaelson is right on the money.

Literally!

1933 Spiegel catalog:

1936 Sears catalog:

1938 Sears catalog;

CM · Post by CM » Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:58 pm

Cool photos. In that last ad - a short HH jacket weighs 4 pounds. Interesting how the Aero repos weigh in at around 6 pounds.

I wonder if the older jackets used 2.5oz horse instead of the 3 to 3.5oz you tend to see these days? I prefer the lighter, older ones. Intereting too how short most of them look.

Funny about the distressing too. We do that to them these days to age them, but just liek G&B they don't wear easily. Anyone tried freezing an Indy?

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:04 am

Admittedly it's an n=1, but according to the Lone Star College Kingwood Library website, the average salary in the 1930s was $1,368. Divided by 52, that's $26 a week.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:34 am

And as a teacher myself, I would guess that he would be towards the bottom of that average curve...

Adirondack Jones · Post by **Adirondack Jones** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 8:01 am

CM, if Indy bought his jacket in the early twenties, it probably wouldn't have had a zipper

Post by **Michaelson** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 8:14 am

Excellent point, AJ.

These ads also help dispell the myth that jackets sold in 1936 only had buttons too.

Regards! Michaelson

Ravenswood · Post by **Ravenswood** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:18 am

I often imagined a scene in which Indy would have to replace his entire out-fit on the fly (or at least his jacket

). It might not make too much sense for the movie, but at least you could observe some of the thought processes he would go through in his shopping exploits. "No! Side vents! I gotta have the side vents...."
Later, if and when the intrepid adventurer inevitably gets complimented on his new purchase of jacket, I can hear him explain, "I picked this one up in Italy. They had 'em for a buck ninety-eight. They were practically giving them away!"

ron521 · Post by **ron521** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:54 am

So I gather that if Indy made something near $26/week, any jacket he could have bought would have represented at most, a couple of days wages. Compare that to the most expensive jacket you own. How many days did it take you to earn that jacket? At my current wage, my most expensive jacket was less than two days wages.

This is something that people forget when they read old advertisements which show clothing, cars, etc from "the golden age" with what looks like low prices. People EARNED money very slowly then. Things were not any cheaper in terms of the time it took to pay for them.

Post by **Michaelson** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:34 am

Yeah, it's all relative to the era that is being 'compared to'.

Regards! Michaelson

backstagejack · Post by **backstagejack** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:48 pm

CM wrote: Intereting too how short most of them look.

Keep in the mind the higher waistlines back then though.....

Indiana Jeff wrote:Admittedly it's an n=1, but according to the Lone Star College Kingwood Library website, the average salary in the 1930s was $1,368. Divided by 52, that's $26 a week.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Is that the Lone Star College Kingwood Library thats in Kingwood, Texas? lol, thats just down the road from me......

ron521 wrote:So I gather that if Indy made something near $26/week, any jacket he could have bought would have represented at most, a couple of days wages. Compare that to the most expensive jacket you own. How many days did it take you to earn that jacket? At my current wage, my most expensive jacket was less than two days wages.

This is something that people forget when they read old advertisements which show clothing, cars, etc from "the golden age" with what looks like low prices. People EARNED money very slowly then. Things were not any cheaper in terms of the time it took to pay for them.

Why I love it when people complain. I Point this fact out to them and then they go....."oh...I guess so"

Inflation, inflation, inflation.

ron521 · Post by **ron521** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 3:34 pm

backstagejack wrote:
CM wrote: Intereting too how short most of them look.

Keep in the mind the higher waistlines back then though.....

Not long ago, I watched "Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein" from 1948....Bud and Lou looked as if their belts were up around their armpits!

CM · Post by CM » Tue Jan 03, 2012 7:35 pm

Adirondack Jones wrote:CM, if Indy bought his jacket in the early twenties, it probably wouldn't have had a zipper

Well aware of that, my friend.

CM · Post by CM » Tue Jan 03, 2012 7:38 pm

I find it fascinating that a jacket can manage to look short even when the wasteline is up near the nipples.

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 7:46 pm

Michaelson wrote:Excellent point, AJ.

These ads also help dispell the myth that jackets sold in 1936 only had buttons too.

Regards! Michaelson

Yeah, I just caught this thread and the "zipper" style really caught my eye too.

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:45 am

backstagejack wrote:Is that the Lone Star College Kingwood Library thats in Kingwood, Texas? lol, thats just down the road from me......

I guess so. I Googled "1930s salary" and that was the first site to pop up.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Adirondack Jones · Post by **Adirondack Jones** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:12 am

...This from an educational site called "bookrags" on "Teachers salaries in the 1930's" http://www.bookrags.com/history/america ... sub12.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The biggest financial cuts for school budgets came in teacher salaries. School districts expected teachers to accept lowered salaries and increased workloads, and for the most part teachers did, rationalizing that any job was better than no job at all. From 1929-1930 to 1933-1934 teachers' salaries dropped 13.6 percent on average, from $1,420 to $1,227 annually. In Philadelphia the school board "volunteered" a 10 percent wage cut on the part of teachers; Denver teachers were forced to take a 20 percent cut in the same fashion.

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:38 am

Keep in mind, Indy was a college professor and not a public school teacher. I would think his salary would have been at the upper end of the averages. Plus his honoraria he would get.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Post by **Michaelson** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:23 pm

...along with the fact that he could have included the cost of clothing replacement as part of the department equipment budget when he was out in the field.

Regards! Michaelson

Post by **Dr. Nebraska S.** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:46 pm

Michaelson wrote:...along with the fact that he could have included the cost of clothing replacement as part of the department equipment budget when he was out in the field.

Regards! Michaelson

Hmm...I'll have to remember that...

Actually, I had something similar happen on my second season of excavating. The laundry service lost half of my laundry, and so the excavation eventually reimbursed me for the lost clothes. In the meantime, my few remaining dig clothes got a bit ripe...

Anywho, we now return you to the thread topic already in progress...

Best wishes,
Nebraska Schulte

Post by **Dalexs** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:57 pm

And if you think the jackets were cheap, check out Indys House!

Courtesy Sears Modern Homes Catalog 1933-1940
http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1933-1940.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

backstagejack · Post by **backstagejack** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:38 pm

Michaelson wrote:...along with the fact that he could have included the cost of clothing replacement as part of the department equipment budget when he was out in the field.

Regards! Michaelson

Agreed. I work for a university and just started three months ago, I'm not even a faculty, just a staff member and it amazes me about how much money they just throw at anything. And this is today when people can keep track of everything you do and spend it on. Indy could've just said, I need x amount of money and they woulod give it to him, especially once he was tenured.

Post by **Michaelson** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:40 pm

I work at a university too (have for 20 years). We definitely need to have our accounting folks take notes from yours. They're tighter than bark on a tree here!

Regards! Michaelson

jedichase · Post by **jedichase** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 5:43 pm

You can still find jackets for that price range at flea markets, and thrift shops. You just need to know where to look and how to negotiate.

whipwarrior · Post by **whipwarrior** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:25 pm

LOL at the picture of the horse in the ad! "Selected hides"

Post by **Michaelson** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:48 pm

jedichase wrote:You can still find jackets for that price range at flea markets, and thrift shops. You just need to know where to look and how to negotiate.

Indy probably could too, and more than likely got them for a quarter.

Regards! Michaelson

backstagejack · Post by **backstagejack** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 9:07 pm

Michaelson wrote:I work at a university too (have for 20 years). We definitely need to have our accounting folks take notes from yours. They're tighter than bark on a tree here!

Regards! Michaelson

LOL!! Yeah, I'm amazed. Our admin assistant 3 girl spent 800 dollars on a chair!!! We weren't too happy hearing that but our director didn't say anything
But i've noticed that when I go out with my boss to buy things we need. We grab the stuff we need and then other things that might come in handy at a later date, or never! at first I was reluctant to order things that I thought would be helpful but I was basically told to not worry about it.

Wonder if Aldens would count as needed for work......LOL!

191145 · Post by **191145** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 10:53 am

The thing that strikes me is how well the screen jacket captured the essence of the real '30s leather jackets (thanks to Mac's pictures). Also, the combination of leather jacket, necktie and fedora was very prevalent. We have seen that in many films in the '30s, '40s and '50s. Another thing you will notice in films from those eras is that men wore hats almost without exception when not indoors. Even into the '60s, men continued to wear hats and tended to dress in coat and tie. For example, look at film/pictures from the early Super Bowls. The men sit there looking like clones, all in dark suits and hats with white shirts. I miss this, and I will tend to dress at every opportunity. We went to dinner at a nice restaurant Christmas Eve, and it was disappointing to see so many casually-dressed - but encouraging to see others with class. For example, how many adult men today own a trench coat? This was a necessity in the past for any man living in an area that got cold. There's nothing like a fedora and a trench coat!
Back to reality; very few places today have hat/coat-check areas, and it's not practical to take your hat and coat to a restaurant table or theater seat, so you just have to dress like the masses to get along.

backstagejack · Post by **backstagejack** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:34 pm

191145 wrote:The thing that strikes me is how well the screen jacket captured the essence of the real '30s leather jackets (thanks to Mac's pictures). Also, the combination of leather jacket, necktie and fedora was very prevalent. We have seen that in many films in the '30s, '40s and '50s. Another thing you will notice in films from those eras is that men wore hats almost without exception when not indoors. Even into the '60s, men continued to wear hats and tended to dress in coat and tie. For example, look at film/pictures from the early Super Bowls. The men sit there looking like clones, all in dark suits and hats with white shirts. I miss this, and I will tend to dress at every opportunity. We went to dinner at a nice restaurant Christmas Eve, and it was disappointing to see so many casually-dressed - but encouraging to see others with class. For example, how many adult men today own a trench coat? This was a necessity in the past for any man living in an area that got cold. There's nothing like a fedora and a trench coat!
Back to reality; very few places today have hat/coat-check areas, and it's not practical to take your hat and coat to a restaurant table or theater seat, so you just have to dress like the masses to get along.

So true. I have the darndest time when I go some where, take my fedora off, say to eat, etc or movie theatre. If there's not another chair to place it on I try and hold it on my lap or knee. I refuse to place it on the floor.

I have two trench coats but very rarely get the chance to wear them, case in point I live in Texas and right now in a tshirt in January as its not cold at all.

Indy in the 60s though, woudl still stick out. His hat is so different from the 60's style hats that he would seem like a cowboy but here he's coming into the world of retail stores (Target was founded in1962) .

Heck, can you see Indiana Jones in the world of Madmen?

Post by **Indiana Jeff** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:38 pm

Marion drinking Don Draper under the table???

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

backstagejack · Post by **backstagejack** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:57 pm

Indiana Jeff wrote:Marion drinking Don Draper under the table???

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

LOL, that'd be a tough one. How about Indy hanging out in Mexico with Jack Kerouac!

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:44 am

backstagejack wrote:
191145 wrote:Indy in the 60s though, woudl still stick out. His hat is so different from the 60's style hats that he would seem like a cowboy but here he's coming into the world of retail stores (Target was founded in1962) .

Heck, can you see Indiana Jones in the world of Madmen?

Having grown up during that time period, it was an interesting mix of hats at the time.

Older men did indeed hang onto their wider brimmed hats of that were more in line with the hats worn from the 1940's forward, my Dad included, so Indy's hat wouldn't have been paid much attention to. Those in their late 30's/early 40's were buying the 'Madmen' stingy brimmed versions that have gained popularity of late. That lasted until JFK was seen riding to his innaugration hatless, and men stopped wearing hats all together, as they wanted to be seen as being 'Kennedy-like'.

One of the oft-told stories WHY he did that was one credited to JFK himself, as he and brother RFK were getting ready to climb into the limo to take them to the capital building, they both had very nice Hombergs on their heads. JFK stated Robert looked at him and commented they both looked like a couple of Irish mobsters, and both hats were left on the table at the front door. The rest, as they say, is history......

At that time, even us 'kids' had our own formal stingy brimmed versions we wore to church and was a part of our 'Sunday-go-to-meeting' outfits. Many of us then wore straw versions during summer (me included), that were in fashion nod to the South Florida look. (think 1960's Miami Beach and James Bond 'Goldfinger')

Regards! Michaelson

WConly · Post by **WConly** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:10 pm

You have really got my mind going here regarding the early to mid 60's. I remember that one of the hats I had inherited was my grandfathers silver belly open road stetson -- which I did my (then) version of a re-bash to make it look like the cavalry hat that John Wayne wore in so many pictures of that time period and before -- like "Stagecoach," "Hondo," "Rio Bravo," etc. Front and back brim turned up most of the time...sometimes turned down. I remember that I wore a hole in the pinch of that grand 'ol hat! Loved it way to much! It was one of those old truly fine Stetsons that just don't exist any more! I also had a Marine Drill Sargent's (Mountie-type) hat insignia and all, that one of my Dad's clients gave me for Christmas of '61. Wore the daylights out of it too -- switching off between it and my 'Duke' hat. Of coarse -- then came along The Beatles and I had other ideas by then -- kind of discovered that girls weren't as 'creepy' as I had thought before! Out with the hats. But, that didn't last too long (the hair did for some time), but not the lack of hats! W>

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:11 pm

I wore the same kind of hole in the crown of my Dad's JCPenny 'Mallory' 'back in the day'.

That said, I suppose it's time to drag this topic 'kicking and screaming' back to topic.

Regards! Michaelson

WConly · Post by **WConly** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:15 pm

Sorry I was editing the post while you were posting yours ....wanted to add in the Drill Sgt's. hat. I had almost forgotten about it. W>

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:17 pm

Adirondack Jones · Post by **Adirondack Jones** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 3:48 pm

There's a book out about the decline of hat wearing called "Hatless Jack." Look for it on Amazon.
And, by the way, I'm another one of those guys who doesn't mind wearing a suit (and I've also recently mastered the art of tying a bow tie). We had a party not long ago for a relative who graduated from graduate school. I showed up wearing a suit and my brother-in-law looked at me and said, "Hey, it's not a funeral!" I replied that we were here to honor the graduate and part of honoring her is to actually take the time to look presentable. Stupid me!

auntsugar · Post by **auntsugar** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:25 pm

Michaelson wrote:Yep, depending on style, material and company ordered from (so, what's new? ) anywhere from $4 to $10 would have bought his jacket. Still a goodly sum during the Depression, especially when folks counted themselves lucky to make a dollar or less a day, so it represented a couple weeks wages.

Regards! Michaelson

Sloop, back then--how much did you pay for yours? LOL!

Post by **Michaelson** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:51 pm

warbird · Post by **warbird** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:03 pm

This jacket cost my great uncle $10 in 1937

He wore it through war, from the air, and weather and gave it to me nearly 30 years ago. It is made of FQHH. Leather is still in great shape, but the liner has about had it. Not a bad run for it though.

ron521 · Post by **ron521** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 5:56 pm

Awesome artifact, and surely the general type which inspired Indy's. Just out of curiosity, how wide is the sleeve at the bicep? Wondering about the fit of a period jacket.

warbird · Post by **warbird** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:43 pm

ron521 wrote:Awesome artifact, and surely the general type which inspired Indy's. Just out of curiosity, how wide is the sleeve at the bicep? Wondering about the fit of a period jacket.

Approximately 8". Size 42 jacket.

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 6:56 am

WOAH!!! That is the concept Indy's jacket!!! Nice!

Mitch LaRue · Post by **Mitch LaRue** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:24 am

LOVELY jacket, warbird!

TheExit148 · Post by **TheExit148** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:33 am

Nice jacket Warbird. This is the exact jacket I want, but in black.

Havana · Post by **Havana** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:13 pm

Reminds me of a jacket that my grandfather wore. As a truck driver in the 40's & 50's, he always wore a waist length leather jacket, brown fedora, beige Dickies pants and a tie sometimes. He looked a lot like Alan Ladd in the movie China.