st barbara Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Just a question for people to which I cannot find an easy answer in my "Pulp Hero" book(Of course I could just not be looking in the right place !) What sort of annual income would a librarian (with a college education) have been on in the Pulp Era ? What would the head librarian (or his/her cheif assistant) at The Smithsonian have been on ? (for example) or at a University Library . Not vitally important, just a little bit of background for my campaign (so I can work out how much disposable income my assistant librarian at the Adventurers' Club" library might have ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmccarty4 Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income Back in the 80's, when I last played Pulp Hero ("Justice, Inc.", really), we generally figured that things cost 1/10th what they cost now. I'd ballpark that at 1/20th in 2007-2008 (Rule of 72 says prices will double in 18 years at 4% annual inflation). This works best for commodities -- food, gasoline, clothing, household goods. Technological items and entertainment are a bit tricky, as what was cutting edge is now commoditized, and we seem to be willing to pay more for entertainment than we did 70 years ago. Adjust up for tech, down for entertainment? Also depends whether your Pulp Era is in the Roaring Twenties or after the Great Depression. Adjust up for the Twenties, or down for the Thirties. As for pay... again, it depends somewhat on whether we're talking about ante-Depression or post-Depression, but figure that labor probably paid better back then, and top-end professions (surgeon, lawyer, I-banker) less so. So what does that mean for your librarian? I'll guess that the position might earn $70K/year nowadays; take a 20th of that, and you're at $3500 annually, call it $275-$300/mo. BTW, if your character is a woman, she'd earn maybe half that amount. Sexism stinks. And I'm not thinking of taxes, although IIRC, Roosevelt raised income taxes very significantly, so you might expect to take home a good part of that. OTOH, such a person might well not own a car, and if single, might live in some kind of shared housing. A 3-bed, 2-bath detached house and a car are features of post-war life, not Pulp Era life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income Here is some great info the stuff on rail roads workers is very good IN an articlue on stragery pages cic it stated that 80 of the country between 1900 and 1940 made 200 a year with a Doctor making 2500 dollars a year which is top 1%. Lord Ghee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income Hey the site list teachers lowest in US 338.00 Higest 1000.00, average in US 700.00 a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income PH has some information on period wages on page 334, and information on prices and related subjects in that same section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income PH has some information on period wages on page 334' date=' and information on prices and related subjects in that same section.[/quote'] It doesn't seem to quite cover what I need Steve. The "University Professor" wages might be about right for the club's Head Librarian , Mrs Hobbs (Doc Storm knows how valuable she is, and pays accordingly !) BUt her Cheif Assistant Honeydew Holliday isn't going to be quite as well paid, despite her potentially usefull "Occult Librarian" specialization (She went to U Tex Brownsville and became interested in the ghosts therin, leading to a specialization in the occult and a job with an eccentric bibliophile with an occult obsession before she was recruited to the "Adventurers' Club" !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted December 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income Sorry "Lord Ghee" your link seems to have got lost. What is the name of that site please ? And "thank you" everyone for replying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income You're welcome. What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted December 15, 2007 Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income try this http://books.google.com/books?id=P84JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=pay+rates+in+1920&source=web&ots=w7Mymks0F6&sig=_oiRpc4coJ6Sh6B0OrMVQDgf3e0 shearch pay 1920 got; wages in varies industries and occupations: a summary. . . a goggle books result. http://books.google.com/books?id=P84JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=pay+rates+in+1920&source=web&ots=w7Mymks0F6&sig=_oiRpc4coJ6Sh6B0OrMVQDgf3e0 hope this helps LG hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexraccoon Posted December 15, 2007 Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income http://www.rootsweb.com/~neresour/OLLibrary/Blue_Book/1920/pages/bb200199.htm Nebraska state librarian 1921 salary $3000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted December 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income http://www.rootsweb.com/~neresour/OLLibrary/Blue_Book/1920/pages/bb200199.htm Nebraska state librarian 1921 salary $3000 About $60 a week ! And THAT is for a state librarian:eek: If I assume that the HEAD librarian at the club is getting about that (Hey, the club values its librarians, and Mrs Hobbs is worth it !;)) Then her Chief Assistant might be getting about two thirds of that or $40 a week ($2000 a year) ? Even for someone of my generation that sounds like a pitiful wage ! Of course we know that prices were lower in those days but sheesh ! Of course I would assume that a wealthy state such as New York would pay its librarians a litle better than Nebraska, but then it would have more of them too. Which makes the Nebraska State Librarian salary a good benchmark. Thanks again people ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted December 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income Back in the 80's, when I last played Pulp Hero ("Justice, Inc.", really), we generally figured that things cost 1/10th what they cost now. I'd ballpark that at 1/20th in 2007-2008 (Rule of 72 says prices will double in 18 years at 4% annual inflation). This works best for commodities -- food, gasoline, clothing, household goods. Technological items and entertainment are a bit tricky, as what was cutting edge is now commoditized, and we seem to be willing to pay more for entertainment than we did 70 years ago. Adjust up for tech, down for entertainment? Also depends whether your Pulp Era is in the Roaring Twenties or after the Great Depression. Adjust up for the Twenties, or down for the Thirties. As for pay... again, it depends somewhat on whether we're talking about ante-Depression or post-Depression, but figure that labor probably paid better back then, and top-end professions (surgeon, lawyer, I-banker) less so. So what does that mean for your librarian? I'll guess that the position might earn $70K/year nowadays; take a 20th of that, and you're at $3500 annually, call it $275-$300/mo. BTW, if your character is a woman, she'd earn maybe half that amount. Sexism stinks. And I'm not thinking of taxes, although IIRC, Roosevelt raised income taxes very significantly, so you might expect to take home a good part of that. OTOH, such a person might well not own a car, and if single, might live in some kind of shared housing. A 3-bed, 2-bath detached house and a car are features of post-war life, not Pulp Era life. Oh and thank YOU for the well reasoned response ! Background. Honeydew joined "The Adventurers'Club" after the death (from natural causes) of her former employer, an eccentric bibliophile. When the club sent two members to collect her (and pick up some books from her ex employer"s collection at auction) they encounted a break in and theft of rare (and dangerous !) occult volumes which led them (inevitably !) to NAZIS, a cross country chase et al with Honeydew's knowledge both of the occult AND the books that they were chasing being vital in the successful outcome. She now lives, rent free with the two members (one of whom is rich), works at the club and sometimes goes on adventures where her particular skills can be useful, although currently she is in a spot of bother and the P Cs are needed to help her get out of it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GothKidSamurai Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income I don't have the book with me right now but Spirit of the Century has a ton of great information about the cost of living in the pulp era. When I get back home from my parents' place for the holidays I'll give it a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenscroft 106 Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income st brabra also forgot to ask someone to check any Call of Cthulhu Keeper's Companion books they might have laying about the house. The GMPC of Honeydew is unofficially nicknamed "Melons". (no wonder she lives "rent free" with a wealthy benefactor) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income Forgot I own a 1928 World Almanac. Not much info on incomes in the data, but the ads are another matter: the second ad in the whole book is a "how to get a job" deal, for jobs in "Electricity: Big Pay Field" promising $3500 to $10000 a year. Apparently that was very good wages. Here's another for "how to get hired by the feds" for jobs like Railway Postal Clerks, City Mail Carriers, etc. It promises incomes from $1140 to $3600 a year. That sounds more like librarian-type jobs, and can be considered way higher than a normal starting salary. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted January 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Re: A Question About Jobs and Income st brabra also forgot to ask someone to check any Call of Cthulhu Keeper's Companion books they might have laying about the house. The GMPC of Honeydew is unofficially nicknamed "Melons". (no wonder she lives "rent free" with a wealthy benefactor) That sir is a base canard ! And yes I DID forget to ask you to check "Call Of Cthulhu" books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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