Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/05/29

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Subject: [Leica] Re: leica during WW II
From: Summicron1 at aol.com (Summicron1@aol.com)
Date: Sun May 29 10:52:01 2005

In a message dated 5/29/05 10:56:52 AM, lug-request@leica-users.org writes:


> 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.
> 
i know a guy in salt lake city who swapped a carton of cigarettes for a 
leica 
after the war -- Germany's money had collapsed a couple of times, nobody 
trusted it, so they went back to that most ancient of currencies--tobacco. 
One 
German official, no kidding, when told the US was sending financial aid, 
asked in 
all seriousness how many cartons it was sending.

ctrentelman

Replies: Reply from ealadner at comcast.net (Eric Ladner) ([Leica] Re: leica during WW II)