Funny to know from experience how this feels for both Calvin and his dad
I still barely grasp the the intense anxiety about the cost and prestige of binoculars, for previous generations. Were they a thousand dollars in 1960? Because my whole life, it’s seemed like you can get a decent set for like a hundred. Or much worse for much less.
JC Penney catalog, spring 1980, $40-90. Headphones were more expensive.
This 1988 Sears spring catalog doesn’t have binoculars, but there’s a 28-70mm camera lens that was twice as expensive on the next page of that 1980 catalog.
I think the era of them being extremely pricy is somewhat further back. I dug up this thread discussing the same question:
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/community/threads/cost-of-quality-binoculars-in-1912.35305/
Also, something from the JC Penney or Sears catalog probably isn’t what comes to mind when talking about top-quality professional gear.
That’s the point, though: eye-watering professional equipment was the exception. No doubt, to this day, you can drop ten grand on binoculars. Anything involving optics has no ceiling.
But the money pit for Calvin’s dad was his bike.
