Film prices of the mid 1960's

#1 by Barry Attwood ( deleted ) , Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:57 am

I've just had in the first 6 volumes of Heritage Films "Flicker Flashbacks" in Standard 8mm 'Hi-Fidelity' Sound (all superb quality!), and on the front of the original box is the R.R.P. which was £6 9 Shillings & 6 pence, which made me think how dear (if you paid the full asking price) one of these reels must have been, I bet the weekly wage for the mid sixties would only be between 10 & 15 Pounds. It just shows that film has always been dear (especially sound items), but as is today, we collectors always seem to find a way of buying a title we really, really want!


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Barry Attwood

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#2 by Hugh Thompson Scott ( deleted ) , Wed Sep 02, 2015 12:08 pm

When I left school in '69 Barry, my wage was £5.00 per week, I got an apprenticeship that paid £4. 10/- which was £4.50, I remember
wanting to buy two secondhand col silent 200's, the Americom ""Curse of Frankenstein" & "Horror of Dracula", but at £4.00 each were out of my league, the average 200' secondhand were 30/- or £1.50.



Hugh Thompson Scott
Last edited Wed Sep 02, 2015 12:09 pm | Top

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#3 by Barry Attwood ( deleted ) , Wed Sep 02, 2015 1:06 pm

I forgot to mention that these are only 200' reels as well!


Barry Attwood

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#4 by Vidar Olavesen , Wed Sep 02, 2015 3:20 pm

Was barely alive in the 60's, so have no idea of prices here in Norway. I do know in 1977 when I started with my Elmo ST-600, a film on 400' cost 500,- NOK (50 GBP about, todays currency is low, so about 40 by today). It sounded a lot when I started, but by reading your prices in 60's, not so bad after all :-)


 
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RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#5 by Hugh Thompson Scott ( deleted ) , Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:19 pm

Hi gang, in '69, you could have the '66 World Cup Final in B/W 200's STD 8 mm slt for £3.15/- in snd for £6.6/-
SUPER 8 slt £4.0.0 SUPER 8 snd £6.10/-
The Columbia "Sinbad" & "Jason" 200's at std 8mm col/snd £10.50, Super 8 S/8 col/snd £12.00,
Std 8mm col slt £8.25 , S/8 £8.75, b/w sound same price all gauges £4.75, slt all gauges £5.00
Lets be honest, in 1969, these prices were expensive, a Movietone News reel cost £5.00 in b/w snd from Powell Films.
The cost of a sound feature from Mountain Films, the 8-9 reelers was £45.5/- each, not cheap even in those days, my £4.10/- weekly wage was pitiful in comparison.



Hugh Thompson Scott
Last edited Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:24 pm | Top

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#6 by David Hardy ( deleted ) , Thu Sep 03, 2015 1:38 am

My wages in 1969 was £ 5. 10 /- . They were not much higher in 2012. hahaha !
Seriously though I don't know how I have ever managed to afford to buy films.
Only thing I ask myself is that if I ever decide to sell off my collection ( shock, horror. ) how much of the money I spent
will I get back ?


David Hardy

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#7 by Mats Abelli , Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:52 am

I believe that you can get Your Money back, David, but in the sixties a pound was a bit harder to earn than today. ( This was my schooltime and I had about 7-8 £ pocketmoney a month and a 200ft col/snd film could cost £10. )But we would not sell. Would we?


 
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RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#8 by Andrew Woodcock ( deleted ) , Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:28 am

Anyone on nearly £2 week pocket money per week in the sixties was a very much loved and lucky child Mats! Well done you.

In the early 70's for washing the dinner plates a couple of times a week after a meal, my pocket money or "spends" as us northerners called it, was a whopping 50p a week or ten Bob as my Dad called it! Ha ha.



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Andrew Woodcock
Last edited Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:29 am | Top

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#9 by Robert Crewdson ( deleted ) , Thu Sep 03, 2015 10:34 am

My wages in 1969 were £5 a week, and we had to pay ten shillings national insurance. In the early 70s I was only getting between £18 to £21, so not surprising that Icould only set aside £5 a week to save for films.



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Robert Crewdson

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#10 by Andrew Woodcock ( deleted ) , Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:06 am

That was a huge proportion of your wage Robert! You must have been a true film devotee to set aside that kind of money all those years ago my friend.

It never ceases to amaze me just what length film lovers will go to to pursue what was and still can be, a very wealthy man's hobby.
Well done Robert, we salute you Sir!


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Andrew Woodcock

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#11 by Robert Crewdson ( deleted ) , Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:14 pm

Hi Andrew, I think at one time, I could only set aside about £2 or £3 a week about 1971, and after a couple of months I would travel up to Waltham Cross to Enfield Film Services and come back with some 400ft reels of silent L&H films. You have been in this game a long time like Hugh, David, and several others here, and we are still here.

I could never understand how some people could prefer watching their films on TV compared to watching on a big screen. You probably saw the shops offering to transfer your home movies to video. I wouldn't have trusted my films with them; we have all read of someone's holiday photos going astray, and being offered a replacement roll of film. I used to think if my original got damaged, the reply would probably be 'Well, you don't need it now that you have it on tape'. Can you believe that some people actually binned their home movies after having them transferred, believing they didn't need them again. I didn't know until recently that video tapes need to be stored upright; I have had many stored flat in boxes; explains why some won't run properly.

During the heyday of super 8 (70s and early 80s), I was fanatical about film, and talked about it all day long, I got three people to buy sound projectors with my enthusiasm.



Robert Crewdson
Last edited Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:18 pm | Top

RE: Film prices of the mid 1960's

#12 by Hugh Thompson Scott ( deleted ) , Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:28 pm

I had 3/6d a week as pocket money in 1969, I cut peoples gardens to bump it up, No matter, those films were a world away, even in some cases, secondhand. Full time work then was little better, after turning over your wage at home when earning regularly.



Hugh Thompson Scott
Last edited Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:29 pm | Top

   

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