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2,000kr is $300. If you earn that in five hours, you make around $10,000/month after taxes. So more than double the median of $4,632/month. But okay, even at th

2,000kr is $300. If you earn that in five hours, you make around $10,000/month after taxes. So more than double the median of $4,632/month. But okay, even at that median, I guess it's just two days of work. Are you sure you had to work 5 months for a freezer at median work in 1950? Seems nobody would buy them then.

tomtom1337 3y ago
Some context - I’m assuming that OP is Norwegian: 2000 Norwegian kr (NOK) = 198 USD 2000 Swedish kr (SEK) = 191 USD 2000 Danish kr (DKK) = 296 USD 2000 Icelandic kr (ISK) = 15 USD
lb1lf 3y ago
I am Norwegian, our kroner are somewhat less sought after than the Danish krone. As for the cost in 1950, I have no idea except what my grandmother told me - but the 7,000kr average annual pay I looked up at the bureau of statistics. My paternal grandmother, though, upon hearing my maternal grandmother had a freezer already in 1950, was green with envy - they had not got one until the end of that decade. I guess being an early adopter came at a price back then, too.
- lb1lf 3y ago
  I found this [0] story (In Norwegian only, use your translation service of choice), where it is observed that a freezer cost 'several months' wages' for a worker, and that adoption didn't take off until down payment options were introduced in the early sixties. Interestingly, I found another couple of historical prices on consumer electronics: A 21" black-and-white TV set in 1960: NOK 2,200 (two months' gross wages) Tandberg 1/4" reel-to-reel tape deck (Also 1960): NOK 880 (Just shy of a month's wages) 'Cheap' 26" colour TV, 1993: Three weeks' wages VHS recorder, also 1993: Another three weeks' wages. Sony Walkman, also 1993: A week and a half of wages. It is ridiculous how prices have come down in later decades. [0] https://forskning.no/forbruk-hus-og-hjem-moderne-historie/dypfryseren-forandret-landet/818265 https://forskning.no/forbruk-hus-og-hjem-moderne-historie/dy...
rsynnott 3y ago
After tax, in many places you have to work a _decade_ at the median wage for a house (or in some places considerably more). And yet people buy those. Domestic appliances really have gotten dramatically cheaper relative to earning power, pretty much everywhere. Have a look at some old prices and compare to median wages; it's really fairly dramatic for most stuff.

tomtom1337 3y ago

Some context - I’m assuming that OP is Norwegian: 2000 Norwegian kr (NOK) = 198 USD 2000 Swedish kr (SEK) = 191 USD 2000 Danish kr (DKK) = 296 USD 2000 Icelandic kr (ISK) = 15 USD

lb1lf 3y ago

I am Norwegian, our kroner are somewhat less sought after than the Danish krone. As for the cost in 1950, I have no idea except what my grandmother told me - but the 7,000kr average annual pay I looked up at the bureau of statistics. My paternal grandmother, though, upon hearing my maternal grandmother had a freezer already in 1950, was green with envy - they had not got one until the end of that decade. I guess being an early adopter came at a price back then, too.

lb1lf 3y ago
I found this [0] story (In Norwegian only, use your translation service of choice), where it is observed that a freezer cost 'several months' wages' for a worker, and that adoption didn't take off until down payment options were introduced in the early sixties. Interestingly, I found another couple of historical prices on consumer electronics: A 21" black-and-white TV set in 1960: NOK 2,200 (two months' gross wages) Tandberg 1/4" reel-to-reel tape deck (Also 1960): NOK 880 (Just shy of a month's wages) 'Cheap' 26" colour TV, 1993: Three weeks' wages VHS recorder, also 1993: Another three weeks' wages. Sony Walkman, also 1993: A week and a half of wages. It is ridiculous how prices have come down in later decades. [0] https://forskning.no/forbruk-hus-og-hjem-moderne-historie/dypfryseren-forandret-landet/818265 https://forskning.no/forbruk-hus-og-hjem-moderne-historie/dy...

rsynnott 3y ago

After tax, in many places you have to work a _decade_ at the median wage for a house (or in some places considerably more). And yet people buy those. Domestic appliances really have gotten dramatically cheaper relative to earning power, pretty much everywhere. Have a look at some old prices and compare to median wages; it's really fairly dramatic for most stuff.