Mac's Believe It Or Not!
by John McDougald
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", December 1997, page 30
One of Grampa Mac's Antique Insulator Emporium customers enclosed a copy of
Grampa Mac's sales lists from 1978 (that was before Grampa Mac knew he would be
Grampa Mac) along with his invoice. I though that you might be interested in
some of the insulators that appeared on that list and the prices that were
quoted almost 20 years ago.
Then I thought, "maybe the readers would be
interested in what kind of an investment those insulators would have been over
that 20 year period." So with my trusty financial calculator in hand, I
computed the compound interest rate that would have been earned over the 20 year
period if, instead of selling the insulators in 1978, I would have held onto
them and sold them in 1997.
The table on the next page lists a random sample of
the pieces on the 1978 sales list, the 1978 selling price, the 1997 Insulator
Emporium catalog price, and the 20 year compound interest rate. As you can see,
several pieces sell for less now than they did then, quite a few would have been
poorer investments than putting the proceeds in your savings account (about 3%
return), many returned less than the current CD rates (about 6%), and very few
would have successfully competed against the stock market (10-12%) over that
same period of time.
So while many collectors are surprised at the prices of
insulators today, the change in prices over the past 20 years has been pretty
comparable to the normal investment vehicles. We've never treated our collection
as an investment, but I thought you might be interested to see the comparison
for your own amusement. Thanks to Dave Schmidt for sending me my list back. I
saw a couple of pieces on it I'd like to have in my collection now (e.g. a CD
134 T.H-E in amber for $70). Believe It Or Not!
CD
|
Description
|
1977
Prices
|
1997
Prices
|
Annual %
Return
|
102
|
Hawley, aqua
|
7
|
5
|
(1.7)
|
102
|
Bar, Bar, royal purple
|
6
|
20
|
6.2
|
106.1
|
Duquesne, cornflower
|
15
|
75
|
8.4
|
108
|
Whitall Tatum, purple
|
10
|
20
|
3.5
|
112.4
|
Hemingray No.8, aqua
|
25
|
25
|
0
|
122
|
Hemingray No. 16, 7-up green
|
4
|
20
|
8.4
|
128.4
|
Hemingray, SB, clear
|
29
|
50
|
2.8
|
133
|
California, aqua
|
8
|
7
|
(.7)
|
137.5
|
Unembossed,
clear
|
40
|
375
|
11.8
|
143
|
Dwight Pattern, aqua
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
145
|
Hemi-21, RDP, clear
|
3
|
4
|
1.4
|
152
|
California, purple
|
4.50
|
12
|
5
|
154
|
Whitall Tatum, purple
|
4
|
20
|
8.4
|
157
|
Hemi-38,
aqua
|
5
|
12
|
4.5
|
162
|
H.G.Co., peacock blue
|
37.50
|
275
|
10.5
|
162
|
Hemi-19, 7-up green
|
7
|
40
|
9.1
|
162
|
Fort Wayne, aqua
|
15
|
65
|
7.6
|
168
|
Hemi D510, golden amber
|
8
|
15
|
3.2
|
202
|
Hemi/No. 14, aqua
|
20
|
7
|
(5.1)
|
205
|
Hemi-55, RDP, ice blue
|
7
|
15
|
3.9
|
214
|
Telegraphos,
Golden amber
|
18
|
110
|
9.5
|
233
|
Hemi 511, clear
|
65
|
175
|
5.1
|
234
|
Pyrex, carnival
|
9
|
20
|
4.1
|
241
|
Hemi 23, RDP, amber
|
15
|
70
|
8
|
257
|
Hemi, peacock blue
|
90
|
1100
|
13.3
|
282
|
Hemi
NO.2 Provo, aqua
|
15
|
40
|
5.0
|
302
|
Hemi/Muncie
|
15
|
35
|
4.3
|
320
|
Pyrex 171, carnival
|
22.5
|
28
|
1.1
|
|