The cost of a Rototiller in 1935

[charlie]

The advert below from The Fruit Grower July 1935 shows how expensive these machines were and how low wages must have been compared to today. A Rototiller was claimed to only cost one mans wage for a year.

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[andyfrost]

Quality always comes at a price Charlie…………FAR better engineered than your average machine.

Andy.

[vhgmcbuddy]

I believe a years pay for a gardener is £17.000 – £18.000 these days. I wouldn’t want to pay that for a rotavator. And theirs a lot more getting way beyond these figures. I wonder what that £120 a year would buy back then, apart from a Rototiller.

[charlie]

Other adverts from the same magazine include.
Land to rent, 3 to 12 acres of Market Garden land to let. £4 per acre.

Splendid modern nursery 20 miles from London, 14 acres well cultivated with 56 glasshouses covering 2 acres all heated and in new condition. Convenient up to date residence with electric light and mains water. Large packing shed, garages etc. Price FREEHOLD £10,500. Stock at value.

Fine meat & bone meal. 10/- (50p) per cwt ex wharf London.

[vhgmcbuddy]

hi charlie i have many bound volumes of country life dated 1960 been intresting read all winter loads ov intresting reads an pics tarpen allen oxford autogarder howard shay all but to name a few houses an land very cheap and loads of good adverts an pics of the austin gypsy useing sawbenchs welders all other sorts of tools i will take pics of some this if intrested also i got a leather bound book made up of newspapers i think it is the gateshead chronicle dateing 1860 it s the biggest thing you ever seen must weigh 2 stone plus it took me 6 monts on an off to read it classified ads and wanted were brill also a top story was about lord lamptons carriage driver who was stopped by a constable going over elvet bridge co durham driving at a furious pace aprox 5mph fined a shilling a most intresting read made me chuckle loads of names of people sent to australia for very mistermeaner crimes and i saved all of these from the tip

[vhgmcbuddy]

Interesting looking back Charlie, I found this bit (Ford 8) The car was powered by a 933 cc, 8 (RAC)hp Ford Sidevalve engine. The little Ford was available in two and four-door versions. In June 1935 a reduced specification two-door model was the only closed-body car ever to sell in Britain for just £100, a price it held until July 1937. If I was about back then with £120 in my back pocket I would have went for the Ford. Well saved from the tip catfish, would have been gone for good.

[will-haggle]

My Dad did buy one in 1946, BYA 918, 1936 model, cost him £80 with no engine or interior as it had been used as a chicken coop through the war! Army blankets were used for the headlining! When we went to the seaside in it we waved at other cars! Not many about then!
That engine and box was used in the Anzani Iron Horse….

[charlie]

One of the great things about these old magazines and newspapers is the adverts. There are some lovely sounding things in The Fruit Grower for pest control, eg arsenate of lead, cyanide and nicotine.

[Author]

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