If you were born on November 2, 1953 your father likely paid $.27 per gallon for the gas he used to fire-up the Studebaker and run your mother to the hospital.
A cup of coffee in the waiting room would have set him back another quarter; it would still be several decades before a father’s place was in the delivery room!
Now, thanks to inflation and the passing of most of your life both products cost significantly more; the average price for gasoline in the United States is now $3.65 per-gallon and a cup of Joe averages five-bucks.
As long as you don’t fill up at this place, or Starbucks!
And what of paint? How has inflation and time impacted the price for the resinous liquid so dear to us all?
I Remember When
THE paint old-timers I tend to surround myself with have adopted a nomenclature which expresses the length of their careers without using more mortal measurements of time such as years, decades or scores. That "measurement," a comparative which adds more context than numbers alone could provide!
The price of Regal.
That marker a reflection THE crown’s omnipresence in the shared experiences of Benjamin Moore dealers and employees of the company.
Myself, I remember when Regal was $12.95 per-gallon, which speaks both to how long I’ve been in the business as well as to how competitive the New York market was in the early days of my paint career.
Let me know if you remember less!
Before Regal there was Alkyd Sani-Flat, Benjamin Moore’s top-selling wall finish for 50-years before changes in lead and VOC's laws rang the product's death knell.
And while I'm old enough to remember "ASF" as my father used to refer to the oil-based flat paint, if I wanted to share with you how much it cost, I was going to have to look it up!
It's Always Been YOU!
I began writing for the Paint Dealer Magazine in the 1990’s. The communications technology of that era only allowing me to know how many copies the magazine mailed out each month.
I had no way of knowing how many people actually read THE column!
The digital age leaves no such stone unturned with every click, like, view and listen measured and reported back. Though I generally tend to ignore such data.
Recently though, one particular statistic caught my attention. One which brought pause and remains on my mind as I write this for you now.
YOU, are one of 5,000 followers of these pages.
THE 5,000 most engaged retailers and stakeholders of the independent channel, and coatings industry at large!
When I reflect on that number and the Lilliputian nature of our shared economic micro-segment, it’s hard not to take some pride in the accomplishment.
But overwhelmingly, what I feel is gratitude to THE 4,999 followers who put this milestone within my reach. And you!
So thank you for making my words relevant. Without your presence here, I'm just a crazy old man saying "I remember when!"
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