Sears pocket knife prices in 1897...

[Neko2]

As a comparison of prices on items found in the Sears 1897 catalog... Bicycles, which were definitely NOT cheaply priced back in the late 19th Century. The bikes offered ranged from 30'ish to 60'ish dollars. One of the mid tier bikes was priced at $43. That $43 would translate to $1,307.82 in 2018. So, in my opinion, a $.25 pocket knife was one heck of a bargain

I think a bike of similar quality that is still made in USA is over $1,000 so I think the adjusted pricing is about the same for both (about 32x the cost).

That being said, I'd love a bike, pocket knife and steel guitar from that catalog.

 

[Shotgun]

I chuckle at this.... a kid today would say "Who in the hell was Ted Williams?" I know just "google it", right. I purposely buy at Sears when I can.

Ugh...baseball? Watching a bunch of guys stand around for 3 hours and do nothing? Never understood it.

Cool ad OP. Seems that small blade/large blade has always been pretty popular. My first knife was a sak with a similar pattern.

 

[22-rimfire]

Ugh...baseball? Watching a bunch of guys stand around for 3 hours and do nothing? Never understood it.

I find it a bit boring to watch a game generally unless I know some of the players. Baseball as far as I'm concerned is a game to play not to watch others play. But I prefer softball.

 

[Uncle Timbo]

Didn't the Original Horace "Kephart" knife cost about $2 bucks? If you had one today you could almost name your price.
Could you imagine finding a box of those in your grandparents attic?

 

[needler420]

As a comparison of prices on items found in the Sears 1897 catalog... Bicycles, which were definitely NOT cheaply priced back in the late 19th Century. The bikes offered ranged from 30'ish to 60'ish dollars. One of the mid tier bikes was priced at $43. That $43 would translate to $1,307.82 in 2018. So, in my opinion, a $.25 pocket knife was one heck of a bargain

I got this bike at walmart clearance a few months ago for $35