Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Glimpse of the Past

In clinic yesterday, a patient brought something that I thought was interesting. It was from 1950. I wondered what the world was like in 1950, so I googled a little trivia and found this:
How much things cost in 1950:
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.09%
Average Cost of new house: $8,450.00
Average wages per year: $3,210.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas: 18 cents
Average Cost of a new car: $1,510.00
Stromburg Black and White Television: $249.95
Ball Point Pen: $0.25
Samsonite Case: $25.00
Clock Radio: $59.95
So what did the patient bring? His pediatrician's bill. His mother described him as "the best pediatrician in Evanston" at the time.

Why he had this, I had no idea. Anyway, here's a picture of the bill for an pediatric office visit from 1950 (taken with my iPhone). Sorry about the quality:

Click image to enlarge

No billing service. Cash. It certainly stands in stark contrast to office visits today.

-Wes
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousTue Mar 31, 12:33:00 PM CDT

    It appears that we should be studying the Clock Radio industry as a business model for keeping costs down. You can still get a very good clock radio today for $59.95.

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  2. AnonymousTue Mar 31, 02:32:00 PM CDT

    Hmmm - makes me wonder how much it cost my parents' for a month's stay at Evanston Hospital in 1961, when preemies weren't allowed to go home until they weighed 5 lbs. My mom used to tell me the doctor got fed up after a month and weighed me with a fully-loaded cloth diaper so he could discharge me.

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