October 1930 Radio-Craft
[Table
of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Craft,
published 1929 - 1953. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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If
you think paying $80-$100 per night for a relatively low end chain hotel/motel is outrageous, then this advertisement in
a 1930 issue of Radio-Craft magazine will help justify your indignation. While in California for the
IMS 2016 show two weeks ago, a convention-goer likely paid $200 or
more per night for a room within walking distance of the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Compare that rate to,
say, the Eastgate Hotel or St. Clair Hotel in Chicago in 1930. Room prices started at $2.50 - including free garage parking.
The Madison Hotel in Atlantic City had rooms starting at $4 per night that even included "Showers and Baths Throughout."
According to the CPI Inflation Calculator* published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $2.50 in 1930 is the equivalent
of $35.82 in 2016 currency, and $4.00 equals $57.31. Those were prices for downtown medium grade hotels in downtown areas
of major cities. Yeah, you're being shaken down, alright.
* CPI = Consumer Price Index
Hotel Directory of the Radio Trade
The hotels on this and the following pages are patronized by the Radio Trade. Make them your headquarters.

Posted June 6, 2016
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