posted
While digging through old Adventure Legion letter columns for EDE's "Bits of Legionnaire Business" thread, I stumbled upon this gem, which warrants sharing:
Dear Editor: In the Legion story about Bouncing Boy, (Note: this letter refers to Adventure Comics #301, "The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy")you show him buying a bottle of soda pop which cost fifty cents? Isn't that kind of expensive? - Ronald Berglind, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The editor responded: Obviously, inflation during the coming centuries will have zoomed the price of soda pop. Hot dogs at the Yankee Stadium used to cost 10 cents when Babe Ruth was a player, cost 25 cents today. Besides this soda pop was a special brand, imported from another planet, hence the increased cost.
Extracted from Adventure #304, January 1963
They had no freakin' idea!! I wish sodas were only 50 cents, the way I put them away! Hey, where are all the flying cars and alien dignitaries of the U.P.?
50 cents? Chuck's lucky it didn't cost 50 bucks!
But what would Chuck know about inflation anyway?
[ August 23, 2003, 02:05 AM: Message edited by: Omni Craig ]
-------------------- Craig C.
- Time travel stories are told in chronillogical order.
From: Santa Ana, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Just goes to show - you probably don't want to know the future...
There could have been one hell of a deflationary collapse in the 30th century, or the money was seriously devalued to come up with that price. Or a whole new monetary system was in place with "cents" taking on a meaning/value unrelated to our concept.
Most likely, given the Earth's economic history so far, there will have been a series of booms and busts, inflationary and deflationary cycles. There has been reference in Legion stories to a number of world wars on Earth (are they up to VII? should probably be CVII) and some major, interplanetary conflagration in the 27th (?) century that wiped out a lot of technology.
I don't know when the writers switched to the more contemporary (and vague) "credits". It is a bit jarring to see something so specifically 20th century in a futuristic story - I wonder what we're reading now that will seem equally out of place in 20 years.
Well, Lester, that's certainly how I feel at this moment - but I'm not running off and disappearing for 40 years or whatever it's been since we last saw you.
quote:Originally posted by Omni Craig: While digging through old Adventure Legion letter columns for EDE's "Bits of Legionnaire Business" thread, I stumbled upon this gem, which warrants sharing:
Dear Editor: In the Legion story about Bouncing Boy, (Note: this letter refers to Adventure Comics #301, "The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy")you show him buying a bottle of soda pop which cost fifty cents? Isn't that kind of expensive? - Ronald Berglind, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The editor responded: Obviously, inflation during the coming centuries will have zoomed the price of soda pop. Hot dogs at the Yankee Stadium used to cost 10 cents when Babe Ruth was a player, cost 25 cents today. Besides this soda pop was a special brand, imported from another planet, hence the increased cost.
Extracted from Adventure #304, January 1963
They had no freakin' idea!! I wish sodas were only 50 cents, the way I put them away! Hey, where are all the flying cars and alien dignitaries of the U.P.?
50 cents? Chuck's lucky it didn't cost 50 bucks!
But what would Chuck know about inflation anyway?
I bet the soda cost 50 UP cents, the 31st century's version of the euro.
From: elizabeth,nj | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Good point rhino, and thanks for digging up this old thread. T'was fortuitous, as I bought a 12 pack of Mt Dew at the grocery store yesterday, and it was advertised at $4.00!!! Four bucks??? Like that's supposed to be a good value??? OMG!!!! What happened to skyrocket the price of soda in the past couple of months???
I'm starting to feel like an old man, complaining about how little things used to cost... If I ever say, "When I was a boy..." somebody please tazer me!
-------------------- Craig C.
- Time travel stories are told in chronillogical order.
From: Santa Ana, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
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