[Leica] Leica manufacture during WW2

[pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig)]

Yep, it has a lot to do with "purchasing power parity" in the post-war 
economy. 
A camera for which you probably couldn't get much film was tradable for 
something apparently more valuable - $20 worth of cigarettes, probably 2,500 
cigarettes in total. Cigarettes had a value either collectively or singly, 
so it 
wasn't such a bad deal if what you wanted to do was trade for food fort you 
and 
your family. Shame about the lung cancer though...

It was the intersection of two very different worlds. For the victors, they 
could get most things easily especially if you were a GI. For the vanquished 
it 
was a completely different world.

Peter Dzwig


Gary Todoroff wrote:

> In 1968, 18 cents was equal to today's dollar, representing over five times
> inflation since then. That "cheap" M4 at $600 was over $3000 in today's
> currency (see: http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/cv2005.pdf for
> inflation factors).
> 
> Leica's have stayed about the same price over almost forty years - it's 
> just
> the other camera's that have become much less expensive!
> 
> Gary Todoroff
> 
> -----Original Message-----