Any accountants out there?

C

Commander Toasty

Member
This weekend I was pouring in the routine 4.5 quarts - I follow the 500 mile schedule. I was thinking this Costco oil is quite reasonable, even given how much of it I use. Then I wondered ... How reasonable was it back in 1929?

Brings to mind a few questions that are out of my realm to answer:

How much was a quart of motor oil in 1929?

What does that translate into for today's dollar? I other words, if it was say ten cents a quart back then, how much is that ten cents now?

And working it backwards, how much are we paying adjusted back to 1929? So if it is three dollars a quart now, what would that have been in 1929?

Inquiring minds need to know!
 
In 1963 I was buying bulk oil for 10 cents a quart for my oil burning 1949 Plymouth. A buck for gas and 10 cents for oil was my usual gas station stop on Rice street in St. Paul.
 
The CPI index multiplier for 1929 is 17.1, so 10 cents would be $1.71. Of course, price indexes are highly subjective.
 
I have an old gas pump that I intend to restore, that has a licence tag on it dated 1955 and the price per gallon of gas was $.319.
 
The first bulk oil I bought was in about 1977.My truck held 15 gallons,so it didn't make sense to buy anything but drums.It was an even $55.per barrel then for 15-40 Rotella,plus a $10.barrel charge.As of this morning that same barrel of oil is $537.No barrel charge but a $10.EPA charge.In 2000 it was $202.Hydraulic oil was $102.in 2000,this morning it is $337.I have always used Rotella in everything except Harleys.Up into the early 80's anti-freeze was $99.95 a barrel.I don't know what it is now,I get it by the barrel from the junkyard for free and run it through a recycler.The machine tells me what chemicals to add and how much.I always seem to run out of motor oil and hydraulic oil at the same time,and I have to come up with a big nugget.
 
I have a piece of paper here that a friend gave me a while back. It is "Selling Schedule Motor Lubricants" Prices effective June 21st,1932.
I don't have a scan of it but here is an example:
Texaco Motor Oil "E" (S.A.E. Viscosity No. 30)
Bulk-Retail 1.00,Dealer .55,
30 gal drum-1.05/.60,
1 5 gal can-4.50/3.40.
Does this help answer your question?
I also use an on-line inflation calculator that I find interesting and usually pretty accurate.

http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top