Posted by Rick Denney on July 17, 2002 at 13:42:34:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Are Yorks a good investment? posted by Chuck(G) on July 15, 2002 at 20:36:02:
The reason I chose tubas for this comparison is that they are made now pretty much the same way they were made then.
You could buy a car for $5000 if it had the same features as a Model T. But now we want air conditioning, a plush interior--hell, an interior--power locks, stereo, carpet, radial tires, fuel injection, and all sort of items that would have been inconceivable luxuries in 1923. I'd bet you could build and sell a Model T Ford for $5000, except that nobody would buy it and it would not pass any modern safety and environmental requirements. Where is the commensurate increase in the luxuries that come with tubas? If anything, the luxurious handwork of yesteryear has faded away.
That three-bedroom house was nice, but not compared to today. It would have been one-third to one-half the size of a modern three-bedroom house, and it would not have had a host of features that would be expected in any modern house, including thermal insulation, windows that work on humid days, kitchens that would make Julia Child complain of conspicuous consumption, an extra bathroom or two, and so on. Granted, the old house would have had hardwood floors for no extra costs, and the owner would have saved up for rugs to cover it up. But the biggest increase in housing has to do with the land the house sits on. That land has escalated hugely in many areas. And people nowadays are paying a higher price for their house as a percentage of their overall spending, too--but not because of choice--it's rather because of limited supply, which is not a problem for tubas. Real-estate is always a supply and demand issue, but tubas are not.
But, again, this misses my missing my point. I'm not talking about investment for the long haul, or whether tubas make a good one (I didn't buy my tubas to earn investment income, but to play), I'm talking about the amount modern tuba players are willing to spend in real dollars for professional instruments compared to 80 years ago.
Rick "who thinks the trend in real tuba prices expose a higher modern expectation of material wealth" Denney