VOC BLADES: A comprehensive look

A. G. Maisey · 26th February 2014, 10:06 PM

I reckon you've been at this game about as long as I have Jim.

My collecting started with the gift of my grandfather's small collection when I was 12 in 1953. I started buying for myself a couple of years after that.

Yes, if we look at what we had to pay back in the 1950's and compare to the prices of today it can make our hearts bleed.

But we tend to forget what wages were back then.

I started work in 1957. My first week's pay was about $10 (about 5 Australian pounds). At that time I had no qualification and was working as a junior clerk for a government agency. In 1955 in Australia an adult tradesman received about $15 for a 40 hour week

Some time in 1957 I bought an old Javanese keris:- Tuban, ivory hilt, badly damaged scabbard. It cost me about $60 (+/- 30 pounds). Six weeks pay. I had saved this money to buy a repeating rifle, I'd only had a single shot at the time, but the keris won.

Now tell me:-

how long does a junior clerk work these days to get enough to buy a middle quality 22RF bolt action rifle?

In Australia I reckon that less than a week's work will get him something pretty OK.

For an adult tradesman the cost will be about 2 or 3 days work, not the month that an adult tradesman would have had to work to buy the rifle in 1955.

What is today's value of a keris such as I describe?

Well, a junior clerk will work a bit longer than a week to get a keris such as I bought in 1957, but it won't be anywhere near the 5 weeks that I worked to get that keris.

In fact Jim, it is more affordable to collect edged weapons now than it has been at any time during the last 60 years.

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26th February 2014, 10:06 PM	#25
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	I reckon you've been at this game about as long as I have Jim. My collecting started with the gift of my grandfather's small collection when I was 12 in 1953. I started buying for myself a couple of years after that. Yes, if we look at what we had to pay back in the 1950's and compare to the prices of today it can make our hearts bleed. But we tend to forget what wages were back then. I started work in 1957. My first week's pay was about $10 (about 5 Australian pounds). At that time I had no qualification and was working as a junior clerk for a government agency. In 1955 in Australia an adult tradesman received about $15 for a 40 hour week Some time in 1957 I bought an old Javanese keris:- Tuban, ivory hilt, badly damaged scabbard. It cost me about $60 (+/- 30 pounds). Six weeks pay. I had saved this money to buy a repeating rifle, I'd only had a single shot at the time, but the keris won. Now tell me:- how long does a junior clerk work these days to get enough to buy a middle quality 22RF bolt action rifle? In Australia I reckon that less than a week's work will get him something pretty OK. For an adult tradesman the cost will be about 2 or 3 days work, not the month that an adult tradesman would have had to work to buy the rifle in 1955. What is today's value of a keris such as I describe? Well, a junior clerk will work a bit longer than a week to get a keris such as I bought in 1957, but it won't be anywhere near the 5 weeks that I worked to get that keris. In fact Jim, it is more affordable to collect edged weapons now than it has been at any time during the last 60 years.