It's fair to say that many of us take many aspects of 21st-century life for granted. Our phones, our computers, our TVs... even a cup of tea! Yet for many people in decades and centuries gone by, the simple commodities we love today were once a luxury, which only the wealthiest members of society could afford. Read on to discover which things used to only be available to the rich, and when they became affordable to everyone else. All dollar amounts in US dollars.
Tea is arguably the national drink of the UK, and for many Brits the idea of going without at least one cup a day is unfathomable. For most of the 18th century, however, tea was a luxury that only the wealthiest members of society could afford. The high taxes on imported tea, a 119% tariff, resulted in a slew of problems, including tea smuggling. It also sparked 1773's Boston Tea Party (pictured) – a political protest in which American colonists, enraged at Britain for imposing exorbitant taxes, stormed a merchant ship before hurling 342 chests of imported tea into the harbour.
Things changed when Richard Twining (pictured) of Twinings Tea Company persuaded British Prime Minister William Pitt that reducing taxes would increase tea revenues and bring an end to smuggling. As a result, the Commutation Act of 1784 was passed, lowering tea tariffs from 119% to 12.5%, and making the beverage affordable to all. Within a decade, the industry was booming and the drink had become a key component of everyday life. Today, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, second only to water. According to the Index Mundi, the average price of a kilogram of tea is currently just £1.62 in the UK and $2.22 in the US.
While cars did exist in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were inefficient and expensive, and an extravagance reserved only for the richest members of society. One of the few automobiles on the market was the Ford Model B, which was manufactured between 1904 and 1906, and cost $2,000 (£1.5k) at the time. Sound reasonable? When adjusted for inflation, that's a whopping $61,642 (£45.9k).
However, when Ford introduced its Model T (pictured) to the market in autumn 1908, everything changed. Affectionally dubbed the 'tin Lizzie', the Model T is regarded as the first budget-friendly car, with a price point that was accessible to the mainstream.
Its low cost was justified as it could be mass-produced using a moving assembly line. Prices ranged from $250 (£185) to $850 (£630), or $7,515 (£5.6k) to $25k (£18.6k) in today's money. The 2021 Carflation study by finance group Moneybarn suggests that the average price of a new car in the UK is around £38,585 ($51.8k). According to research by Kelley Blue Book and Cox Automotive, the equivalent figure Stateside is $45,031 (£33.7k). However, unlike our 20th-century ancestors, we at least have the luxury of choice, with different cars now available to suit a wide spectrum of budgets.
When people first started buying radios for their homes in the 1920s, the typical price point was between $120 (£85) to $200 (£145). In today's money, that's a hefty $1,645 (£1.2k) to $2,745 (£2k). For those with a smaller budget, cheaper 'crystal radios' could be built at home for just $6 (£4) using lead galena crystal and fine metal wire (known as a 'cat whisker'). However, the sound quality was poor, there were frequent static interruptions, and earphones were required. It wasn't long before the allure of possessing a radio caught the public's attention and mass production began, which considerably lowered costs. By the end of the 1920s, prices had dropped to a far more accessible $35 (£26), or $580 (£430) in today's money.
The 1930s was nicknamed the 'Golden Age of Radio', and it's believed that almost half of American homes owned a radio, and half a million cars were fitted with one. In addition, the number of radio stations increased from five in 1921 to 612 in 1931 – a staggering increase of 12,140%.
Fast-forward to 2021, however, and times have changed. The radio's heyday is long gone, with various other forms of modern entertainment taking its place. A portable radio will cost you just $12.98 (£9.68) at Walmart, or £13 ($17) at UK retailer ASDA, with almost every smartphone and car fitted out with a radio as standard.
Although Scottish inventor John Logie Baird began to demonstrate his first television prototype in the mid 1920s, his 'Televisor' creation wouldn't hit shelves until the 1930s. The RCA TRK-12 was one of the earliest TVs to go on sale in America, and was first available to buy in 1939. However, you'd need to spend a small fortune to own it as the tiny 12-inch TV initially retailed for $600 (£445), or an eye-watering $11,925 (£8.9k) in today's money. TV sales were low in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and not even reduced prices helped to drive up sales. Why? Due to the turbulence of the World War II era, job uncertainty was rife, and disposable cash was hard to come by.
The TV business began to boom in the 1950s. By 1954, the most affordable television was a 17-inch black-and-white RCA model costing $189 (£140) or $1,935 (£1.4k) in today's money. Although still costly, many US households considered it a worthwhile investment, and by the end of the decade around 55 million TVs had been purchased. Far from being a fad, 98% of Americans possessed at least one TV set by 1993. Fortunately, today's TVs are significantly less expensive. The worldwide average selling price for a TV set in 2018 was $560 (£420). According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, TV prices are 99.1% cheaper in 2021 than they were in 1950.
A vacuum cleaner is now a basic staple in most households, although this wasn't always the case. Back in the World War II era, the vacuum was marketed towards middle-class housewives, with a substantial bank balance required to purchase one. For example, in 1937 a Hoover Model 150 cost around $80 (£60). It might not sound a lot but that's actually a whopping $1,555 (£1.16k) in today's money so, needless to say, most people opted to stick with a budget-friendly broom...
However, people wouldn’t have to wait long for vacuums to enter the mainstream. In 1976, models such as the Singer Deluxe vacuum retailed for a much more reasonable $69.95, the equivalent of $340 (£255) today. Today, people can enjoy the convenience of a vacuum cleaner without breaking the bank. The best-selling model on Amazon.com is a BISSELL 2252 CleanView Swivel Upright Bagless, which retails for around $106 (£79). In the UK , meanwhile, the best-loved vacuum is the iconic Henry Hoover, which retails on Amazon for £99.99 ($134).
Although commercial air travel had begun to gain momentum in the 1920s, it only really began to take off in the 1950s. Despite this, more than 80% of Americans had never been on a plane by 1958 due to the sky high prices. A round-trip ticket from Boston to LA cost the equivalent of $4,539 in 1941, compared to $480 in 2015. Cost aside, flights took significantly longer too. In 1941, for example, that same flight took longer than 15 hours and included 12 stops, compared to a direct flight of six hours in 2015. With all that in mind, it's safe to say that the early days of commercial air travel were very much a luxury for the rich.
In 1978, however, everything changed. Prior to this point, the federal government regulated airlines in the United States, controlling routes, scheduling, rates, and the number of carriers. Airlines had just one objective in the post-deregulation era: to sell tickets. Prices were slashed as competing airlines fought to fill their seats and, as a result, air travel became affordable to the masses.
Today, air travel is more accessible than ever before. In fact, according to a 2017 survey conducted by Airlines.org, 88% of Americans had flown on a commercial plane. In the UK, meanwhile, 2019 data from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) revealed that Brits were more likely to have flown abroad than people from any other nation.
Whether it's a home desktop, a laptop, or a mobile phone, our computers are now more or less regarded as a basic necessity of 21st-century life. However, you won't believe the outrageous cost of the first personal computer. When it hit shelves in 1957, the IBM 610 (pictured) cost $55,000 (£40k) – a staggering $546,630 (£408k) in today's money. Alternatively, the machine could also be rented for $1,150 (£860) per month, which equates to about $11,430 (£8.5k) in today’s money. Needless to say, only 180 units were produced due to the jaw-dropping price.
Two decades later, personal computers were still expensive. In 1977, the world's first successful mass-produced microcomputer – the Apple II – entered the market. However, it came with a $1,289 (£960) price tag, or $5,800 (£4.3k) in today’s money.
Fortunately, after the launch of the Apple II, there wasn't a long wait for more affordable personal computers. The Sinclair ZX80 (pictured) was released in 1980. With a price of £99.95 ($135) for a ready-built version (or £350/$470 in today's money), it was one of the first computers to sell in the UK for less than £100.
The first mobile phone was invented earlier than you might imagine – in 1973 by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper. The bulky DynaTAC 8000X (pictured) weighed a hefty 2lb (1.1kg) and only allowed 30 minutes of talk time before needing 10 hours to recharge. Despite this, the device was still priced at $3,995 (£2.9k), which is around $24,240 (£18k) in today’s money.
Despite Cooper's breakthrough invention, the mobile phone industry wouldn't gain serious momentum until the 1990s. Due to the high cost of the gadgets, however, they were reserved for the likes of business professionals or the ultra-wealthy for most of the decade.
Everything changed when the Nokia 3210 hit shelves, in 1999. Nokia had been producing mobile phones for years, but its 3210 model was the first phone that nailed a winning formula of affordable price, reasonable size, and must-have functionality. As well as appealing to the mainstream market, it was also the first mobile phone to have a fully internal antenna – oh, and it included the must-play Snake game too.
A year later, its successor the Nokia 3310 (pictured) was released. Sleeker and more compact, the 3310 has sold over 126 million units since it first launched, and remains one of the best-selling mobile phones of all time. Of course, when the first iPhone hit shelves in 2007, the industry was reinvented once again. However, it was the launch of the Nokia 3310 that first introduced mobiles to the mainstream.
The first digital camera was invented in 1975 by Steve Sasson, an engineer at Kodak. His prototype was the size of a bread bin and took a tedious 23 seconds to capture a single image. Despite Sasson's admirable innovation, it never made it to market. The first digital camera to actually go on sale was the Kodak Digital Camera System (pictured) in 1991. The camera came with a hefty $20,000 (£14k) price tag, or an eye-watering $40,760 (£30.1k) in today’s money. Aimed at professionals, the device required an external data storage component that the photographer had to carry on a shoulder strap and connect by cable to the camera. Due to the cost, only 987 units were sold from 1991 to 1994.
Digital cameras became substantially less expensive when Apple debuted its QuickTake camera (pictured) in 1994, with a price at $749 (£555) or £1,405 (£1k) in today's money. As the decade went on, digital cameras gradually became more affordable. In 2007, the first iPhone launched for $499 (£369) (or about $675/£510 in today's money), revolutionising the digital camera forever.
Today, thanks to our smartphones, many of us have high-quality digital cameras that fit in our pockets. And we evidently love using them – according to the digital marketing firm Omnicore a whopping 1,074 photographs are uploaded to Instagram every single second.
Prior to 1984, the majority of printers on the market were noisy and printed in poor resolution. IT company HP had been collaborating with Canon on laser printer technology since the 1970s. With the rise of personal computers in the 1980s, the company decided to implement the cutting-edge technology into its printers.
As a result, HP's LaserJet printer (pictured) was the first-ever desktop laser printer created for personal computers. When it was first launched in 1984, it cost $3,500 (£2.5k), or a staggering $9,145 (£6.7k) in today's money. With its ability to quickly produce high-quality print-outs in near-silence, there was no other printer like it on the market, and it could command a premium price.
The LaserJet IIP launched in 1990 at $1,495 (£1.1k), or about $3,220 (£2.4k) in today's money. But throughout the decade the cost of laser printers continued to fall. In fact, they became so accessible to the general public that HP celebrated the shipping of its 50 millionth LaserJet printer in December 2000. The machine became a staple in the home as well as in the office. Laser printers are now, thankfully, far more affordable than they were decades ago. You can order one on the HP website for as little as $299 (£225).
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