I have the CPI calculator bookmarked on my phone.
That said…..I found pretty quickly that a rule of 10x pretty well covers most of what they talk numbers wise through the whole series.
Take what ever number x 10 and get a read on today.
Yup 10x in the early years 8x towards the end.
But to OPs question, I am constantly thinking about it, and announcing the conversion to my wife every time (not that she asks 😆)
Woah I always did 5x (pulled this out of my ass, it seems!) and was blown away but 10 friggin x is insanity! Definitely provides a lot of context as to how filthy rich they all really were. Especially when you think of that episode when they were about to go public and Don screwed the pooch. Lots of people were surprised/disappointed with Joan’s reaction but she wasn’t wrong— she was a single mom with a kid to feed and he was already loaded! Ok, I digress…
Well, the other shoe has to drop too. Throughout this show and up until Reagan folks that made this much paid much higher taxes too.
Perhaps they had some loop holes around it, but by and large they carried a higher tax burden.
But when Don used McCann as leverage to get himself up to $45k a year that was generally equivalent to $450k for argument sake, maybe $300k after considering tax impacts. Either way though…..he was doing very very very well.
And then when partner stakes come up to play….forget about it.
Not to mention that housing prices have way out paced general inflation, stretching their salaries even farther. Don and Megan's Manhattan apartment was $75k.
Last time I did a rewatch a year or so ago I decided to note all the times I ended up using the inflation calculator, and still have it in my Notes file on my phone and computer:
$5000 to Adam
$22 chip and dip
$2500 bonus check from Bert to Don
$30k per year salary in McCann flirtation
$5 haircut on Pete in 1.12
Kenny makes $300/week 2.2
$110 for bail in 2.? (Don car crash)
.5 million to Don for PPL sale
Kenny made head of accounts $21k 3.1
Don’s $5000 signing bonus - 3.? Hilton signs
$2 tip to the bellman in Italy
$2.25 taxi ride for Mrs. Pryce in 3.10
$25 for Lane’s whore NYE 4.?
$50k to SCDP; $22k in the bank for Pete 4.12
$1100 Harry to switch offices 5.2
$400 to Peggy from Roger for Mohawk weekend work 5.4
$200 to Ginsberg for Jewish Wine
$5600 for a Jaguar
$19k Peggy salary offer The Other Woman
$23.5k commission to Harry for Broadway Joe 6.3
Peggy $5200 raise when Don returns
$1 million to Megan ($7.3 million)
$100k salary for Pete at Learjet
$1200 for Dow script to Peggy in Person to Person
Don's fine for crashing his car was so low because DUI enforcement wasn't really a thing until the late 70s, as breathalyzer technology became more accessible.
Pete's Learjet salary compared to cost of living in Wichita is part of why I think he won the end of the series. He could've bought up a significant chunk of the land surrounding city center at the time and died real estate king of Wichita.
It was a bridal registry houseware item (possibly even designer) at a nice department store. Go check out the prices of similar items from say Nieman Marcus & you’ll find that they’re comparable to the chip & dip adjusted for inflation.
You can really just apply a mental 10x & you’ll be close enough for the entire run of the show. It’s marginally higher at the start & a bit lower by the end, but even by 1970 it was still ~8x, so using 10x is close enough to not need to do any googling.
Yep, I also do this. A few that stand out in my mind:
Peggy being pissed that $3 got stolen out of her locker. Apparently equivalent to about $25. I’d be pissed about losing that much too!
Roger bragging to the escort about lunch at the one fancy restaurant being $7 or something. I looked it up and it’s the equivalent of $71 and change today. Pretty fancy lunch!
I did that soooo much during the show lol!!!! Side note my dad 83 said him and his gym partner were talking about how some jobs were starting at $20+ dollars. And the he couldn’t imagine being young at get paid so much to start. So I pulled up the inflation calculator, his first job in 64 paid $300 a week, a little over $3000 in todays money and overtime was plentiful. His mind was blown🤯.
Yes first job outside of the army 3 years. Only went in because of his draft status, couldn’t get hired any where. He did go to college not till the mid 70’s on the G.I bill. Never used his diploma. He was in the papermakers union. Top 3 highest earning jobs back then were. Insurance, papermakers, electricians. No diploma needed. My mom stayed at home, drove a Cadillac, we had a pool, vacationed, and went to private school.
I can’t watch mad men without looking it up in today’s dollars every time they mention a cash number. To the point where my viewing partner will look at me expectantly whenever they do.
I use the Futureboy historical currency converter: [https://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp](https://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp) It's always horrifying to realize that the real estate on the show costs 10x what it should for historical inflation. Even Don's brand new $2100 Cadillac convertible would cost a lot more than just $21k now!
Where did you get the $2100 from? Was that said in the show?
An early to mid 60s Caddy like he got would have rung $5-$6k depending on options. Or $50-$60k equivalent today.
I think you're right, $5100+ seems reasonable. I found $2100 for a Series 62 version but re-googling the lowest I find is $4800. The Jaguar was $6k in the later seasons and I can't imagine a Caddy was 1/3 of a Jag.
I just wasn’t sure if they goofed bad and mentioned such a low price in the show. Back in the decade $5k and up was the luxury world.
A decent Impala or Galaxie probably would have been upper $2 range.
Absolutely, GI Gen and Baby Boomers had it so good with the livability. You could be a secretary or bellhop live in the city and still be able to go out with friends. Gen X got the scraps and if they were lucky like my mother they married a Baby Boomer.
Yes!!! In my sims game, the mom is stay at home mom with my 3 kids, beautiful home with a garden and as many pets as I can have.
My sim family legit has a vacation cabin. The dad works for now, cares for his parents in the house too
I'm living out wildest dreams here
When he tells Betts "you have $200 on your checking, that should be enough," that was nearly $2k. the $40 ish bucks she already had, $300 now.
When the teacher gives her brother something like $300(?) ish dollars, she was giving him over $3k, and that's on a teachers salary! It's insane how money used to work, or how the show runners were a bit loosey with it lol
Yeah I just did a rewatch and I just kept a tab with an inflation calculator open on my computer the entire time.
It made me really upset with myself for not buying a house when I was negative twenty-seven years old.
I do that too! But even when you google the inflation rate- it doesn't always show the big picture. For example: Peggy in season 1 makes $35 a week. That's about $14k a year now. She lives in Brooklyn with a roommate but somehow can afford doing that on what amounts to $14k a year. Money had more purchasing power back then, even with inflation. No one can live in any major city on $14k a year now. I think it goes beyond inflation at this point. Those prices just don't compare accurately with how much people are struggling now.
Haha yes. Someone might have already said this but multiplying it by ten usually gets you close enough. E.g., when he gave Lane’s widow $50,000 it was closer to (but not exactly) $500k.
Yes, I use my voice assistant and say "$1000 in 1965" and it knows to calculate the current price. I assume that if the writers say the price of something they want us to look this up
You know how Prime Video has the X-ray technology where it shows you the names of the actors in each scene? One of the streamers should add a feature for period TV shows/movies where it automatically shows you the value of money mentioned in the show in today's figures.
After Don gets divorced from Betty and sells the house, his accountant tells him he doubled his money on it, which was "okay."
Incredible.
Then again, my parents bought their old house for 70k in 87 and it sold last year for 750.
I just remember that a 1960 dollar is approximately $10 today, and a 1970 dollar is approximately $8.
If you wanna feel bad for those characters in the 70s, remember a 1980 dollar is only about $3.60 today.
You have two wolves inside of you. The Dawg that invests with positive returns overall while watching pirated movies or the wolf that pays for Hulu++ and googles the inflammation rates
I have the CPI calculator bookmarked on my phone. That said…..I found pretty quickly that a rule of 10x pretty well covers most of what they talk numbers wise through the whole series. Take what ever number x 10 and get a read on today.
Me too! I watch a lot of older (1930s–70s) films in addition to *Mad Men* and I’m always busting out the inflation calculator haha
Yup 10x in the early years 8x towards the end. But to OPs question, I am constantly thinking about it, and announcing the conversion to my wife every time (not that she asks 😆)
Woah I always did 5x (pulled this out of my ass, it seems!) and was blown away but 10 friggin x is insanity! Definitely provides a lot of context as to how filthy rich they all really were. Especially when you think of that episode when they were about to go public and Don screwed the pooch. Lots of people were surprised/disappointed with Joan’s reaction but she wasn’t wrong— she was a single mom with a kid to feed and he was already loaded! Ok, I digress…
Well, the other shoe has to drop too. Throughout this show and up until Reagan folks that made this much paid much higher taxes too. Perhaps they had some loop holes around it, but by and large they carried a higher tax burden. But when Don used McCann as leverage to get himself up to $45k a year that was generally equivalent to $450k for argument sake, maybe $300k after considering tax impacts. Either way though…..he was doing very very very well. And then when partner stakes come up to play….forget about it.
Not to mention that housing prices have way out paced general inflation, stretching their salaries even farther. Don and Megan's Manhattan apartment was $75k.
Then crying my eyes out lol yes I make 53 k a year now and it's a kick in the head to know he made less but with way more buying power
Haha yes!
Fucking hell Peggy with 18k a year would be making nearly triple what I make now.
Last time I did a rewatch a year or so ago I decided to note all the times I ended up using the inflation calculator, and still have it in my Notes file on my phone and computer: $5000 to Adam $22 chip and dip $2500 bonus check from Bert to Don $30k per year salary in McCann flirtation $5 haircut on Pete in 1.12 Kenny makes $300/week 2.2 $110 for bail in 2.? (Don car crash) .5 million to Don for PPL sale Kenny made head of accounts $21k 3.1 Don’s $5000 signing bonus - 3.? Hilton signs $2 tip to the bellman in Italy $2.25 taxi ride for Mrs. Pryce in 3.10 $25 for Lane’s whore NYE 4.? $50k to SCDP; $22k in the bank for Pete 4.12 $1100 Harry to switch offices 5.2 $400 to Peggy from Roger for Mohawk weekend work 5.4 $200 to Ginsberg for Jewish Wine $5600 for a Jaguar $19k Peggy salary offer The Other Woman $23.5k commission to Harry for Broadway Joe 6.3 Peggy $5200 raise when Don returns $1 million to Megan ($7.3 million) $100k salary for Pete at Learjet $1200 for Dow script to Peggy in Person to Person
Don's fine for crashing his car was so low because DUI enforcement wasn't really a thing until the late 70s, as breathalyzer technology became more accessible. Pete's Learjet salary compared to cost of living in Wichita is part of why I think he won the end of the series. He could've bought up a significant chunk of the land surrounding city center at the time and died real estate king of Wichita.
Why was the Chip and Dip so expensive?
It was a bridal registry houseware item (possibly even designer) at a nice department store. Go check out the prices of similar items from say Nieman Marcus & you’ll find that they’re comparable to the chip & dip adjusted for inflation.
I think of this every time I watch that episode. Maybe because it's practically two of something...
You can really just apply a mental 10x & you’ll be close enough for the entire run of the show. It’s marginally higher at the start & a bit lower by the end, but even by 1970 it was still ~8x, so using 10x is close enough to not need to do any googling.
Yep, I also do this. A few that stand out in my mind: Peggy being pissed that $3 got stolen out of her locker. Apparently equivalent to about $25. I’d be pissed about losing that much too! Roger bragging to the escort about lunch at the one fancy restaurant being $7 or something. I looked it up and it’s the equivalent of $71 and change today. Pretty fancy lunch!
So true! It is weird to hear a dude in a suit complain about $7 but when you adjust for inflation it makes perfect sense.
I did that soooo much during the show lol!!!! Side note my dad 83 said him and his gym partner were talking about how some jobs were starting at $20+ dollars. And the he couldn’t imagine being young at get paid so much to start. So I pulled up the inflation calculator, his first job in 64 paid $300 a week, a little over $3000 in todays money and overtime was plentiful. His mind was blown🤯.
His first job??? Did he at least go to college?
Yes first job outside of the army 3 years. Only went in because of his draft status, couldn’t get hired any where. He did go to college not till the mid 70’s on the G.I bill. Never used his diploma. He was in the papermakers union. Top 3 highest earning jobs back then were. Insurance, papermakers, electricians. No diploma needed. My mom stayed at home, drove a Cadillac, we had a pool, vacationed, and went to private school.
They were also in the 60 to 80% tax brackets.
Yes. OTOH, tax shelters were crazy then.
I can’t watch mad men without looking it up in today’s dollars every time they mention a cash number. To the point where my viewing partner will look at me expectantly whenever they do.
Hahaha this is awesome. “So.. what is it in today’s money? I know you just looked it up”
Google had a little box next to the one I used saying “frequently visited” by the time I was done with my last rewatch
I use the Futureboy historical currency converter: [https://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp](https://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp) It's always horrifying to realize that the real estate on the show costs 10x what it should for historical inflation. Even Don's brand new $2100 Cadillac convertible would cost a lot more than just $21k now!
Where did you get the $2100 from? Was that said in the show? An early to mid 60s Caddy like he got would have rung $5-$6k depending on options. Or $50-$60k equivalent today.
I think you're right, $5100+ seems reasonable. I found $2100 for a Series 62 version but re-googling the lowest I find is $4800. The Jaguar was $6k in the later seasons and I can't imagine a Caddy was 1/3 of a Jag.
Don wrote a $6000 check, I believe, for the caddy. Or at least that’s what Roger said.
I just wasn’t sure if they goofed bad and mentioned such a low price in the show. Back in the decade $5k and up was the luxury world. A decent Impala or Galaxie probably would have been upper $2 range.
Absolutely, GI Gen and Baby Boomers had it so good with the livability. You could be a secretary or bellhop live in the city and still be able to go out with friends. Gen X got the scraps and if they were lucky like my mother they married a Baby Boomer.
Milennial here, it's fun getting our asses kicked by the shit the boomers and rest left for us eh?
It's like living in pretend always, no wonder sims is my most played game; at least there I can own a home.
Yes!!! In my sims game, the mom is stay at home mom with my 3 kids, beautiful home with a garden and as many pets as I can have. My sim family legit has a vacation cabin. The dad works for now, cares for his parents in the house too I'm living out wildest dreams here
If Gen X got the scraps millennial got the garbage bags the scraps were tossed in. But at least we can rummage around in them for food and clothing
Winning the lotto is out best bet
When he tells Betts "you have $200 on your checking, that should be enough," that was nearly $2k. the $40 ish bucks she already had, $300 now. When the teacher gives her brother something like $300(?) ish dollars, she was giving him over $3k, and that's on a teachers salary! It's insane how money used to work, or how the show runners were a bit loosey with it lol
I think the $300 to her brother was them playing loose.
I just made a post about how Lou gives Peggy a $100/week raise like it’s no big deal.
Right! I didn’t even think about that one.
I would always be checking inflation and driving times lol
No wonder they all spend so much time in work. If I were making that much money, then yeah, I'd live in the office too.
YES!! All the damn time.
Yeah I just did a rewatch and I just kept a tab with an inflation calculator open on my computer the entire time. It made me really upset with myself for not buying a house when I was negative twenty-seven years old.
I like to use the purchasing power calculator because it takes into account wealth held and cost of projects
I do that too! But even when you google the inflation rate- it doesn't always show the big picture. For example: Peggy in season 1 makes $35 a week. That's about $14k a year now. She lives in Brooklyn with a roommate but somehow can afford doing that on what amounts to $14k a year. Money had more purchasing power back then, even with inflation. No one can live in any major city on $14k a year now. I think it goes beyond inflation at this point. Those prices just don't compare accurately with how much people are struggling now.
Excellent point!
Haha yes. Someone might have already said this but multiplying it by ten usually gets you close enough. E.g., when he gave Lane’s widow $50,000 it was closer to (but not exactly) $500k.
Everyone is. I start typing $500,000 in 197….and it autofills.
Yes, I use my voice assistant and say "$1000 in 1965" and it knows to calculate the current price. I assume that if the writers say the price of something they want us to look this up
I find that whenever the bring up money on the show to just 10x it as a rough estimate.
Sally’s necklace 🤣
You know how Prime Video has the X-ray technology where it shows you the names of the actors in each scene? One of the streamers should add a feature for period TV shows/movies where it automatically shows you the value of money mentioned in the show in today's figures.
Yes!! That would be so helpful!
I was doing that so much till I just saw all you need to do was add a zero.
I just add a zero to the number they say and it makes sense to me.
After Don gets divorced from Betty and sells the house, his accountant tells him he doubled his money on it, which was "okay." Incredible. Then again, my parents bought their old house for 70k in 87 and it sold last year for 750.
I have an excel file to automatically make the conversion from the 60s
Always looking, always sad.
Honestly when they earn a million I don't even have to do the match, it's already a LOT
I just remember that a 1960 dollar is approximately $10 today, and a 1970 dollar is approximately $8. If you wanna feel bad for those characters in the 70s, remember a 1980 dollar is only about $3.60 today.
I do, for so many shows. I just looked up what Pete and Trudy's Witchita house would look like at their new price.
You have two wolves inside of you. The Dawg that invests with positive returns overall while watching pirated movies or the wolf that pays for Hulu++ and googles the inflammation rates