I would put a 40 cent bike rental in the EARLY 30s or maybe even the late 20s - BEFORE the stock market crash. My favorite Gene Autry movie from the 30s has a scene where Smiley asks Gene to loan him a quarter so Smiley can “take a girl out to the movies, then take her out for a hamburger and a cup of coffee afterward!” Can you imagine getting TWO movie tickets plus TWO hamburgers PLUS two cups of coffee for a quarter? So - for that time period - 40 cents to rent a bike might have been considered a bit too high-priced for ordinary fellows to indulge in an afternoon bike ride. The late 20s before the stock market crash might have found more people believing that 40 cents to rent a bike for an hour was a good price.
Simon_Jester over 15 years ago
40 cents an hour for a bike rental? Yeah, 1930s looks about right.
I’d love to see some of the REALLY old ones, from the 1920s
DebJ4 over 15 years ago
I would put a 40 cent bike rental in the EARLY 30s or maybe even the late 20s - BEFORE the stock market crash. My favorite Gene Autry movie from the 30s has a scene where Smiley asks Gene to loan him a quarter so Smiley can “take a girl out to the movies, then take her out for a hamburger and a cup of coffee afterward!” Can you imagine getting TWO movie tickets plus TWO hamburgers PLUS two cups of coffee for a quarter? So - for that time period - 40 cents to rent a bike might have been considered a bit too high-priced for ordinary fellows to indulge in an afternoon bike ride. The late 20s before the stock market crash might have found more people believing that 40 cents to rent a bike for an hour was a good price.
Dberrymanal1 over 15 years ago
Yes, those were the days alright. Were did America go wrong? Maybe getting into too many wars around the world and driving the national debit up?