I don't want to depress you Randall, but vis a day's wages buying a tank of
gas:
Price of gas in Canada = $1.00/litre = $3.78/ US gallon
Size of tank = 11 gallons = $41.58
Average household income = $40,000/year
- 40% cumulative taxes = $24K takehome = $65.75/day
That's net income after taxes for the average family, not for someone just
starting out or working a non-unionised job. No rent, food, clothes or other
unessentials taken out either. And the reality is that the cumulative taxes
for the average family are closer to 50%. And did I remember to mention
that that $40K average income has a lot more families with both adults
working than in 1933?
Also I'm not so sure that those old 20 hp Fords chewed up fuel the way a
slightly used medium-sized 100 hp car does today. Remember cities were
smallers and distances less as well. Chances were you were driving 10 miles
"all the way" out to the country. The average commute is now quite high. I
drive about 15 miles each way which keeps me on Montreal island and in the
suburbs, but you can get a lot better deal on a house off the island if you
are willing to spend another 1/2 hour each way in traffic. Which chews up
more gas...
So seventy years later, in the "age of leisure", the situation is not a hell
of a lot better than at the height of the great depression. :^(
Mark
P.S. Damnit, where's my flying car? They promised me a flying car by now!
-----Original Message-----
From: Randall Young [mailto:Ryoung@navcomtech.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 2:00 AM
Cc: Triumphs
Subject: RE: Model T (was : TR4 Rear Seal: Leaking up hill) (no LBC)
> Model Ts were driven up steep hills in reverse because it was the lowest
> ratio in the box.
Close, but not quite. Reverse was actually the same ratio as first ... but
the 1st gear clutch band was usually worn out, so that it would slip on
steep hills. Reverse, being much less used, was usually in good shape, so
it wouldn't slip.
BTW the thing with the gas tank applied mostly when the tank was almost
empty. Considering that an average day's wages wouldn't buy a full tank of
gas in 1933, there was a lot of that going around ...
Randall
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