Old Argos Catalogues

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wobs

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Fancy a trip down memory lane? Here is a copy of the 1983 Autumn/Winter Argos catalogue:
https://issuu.com/retromash/docs/argos-no20-1983-autumnwinter

Can't believe how much the hi-fi's are! My Dad's Amstrad was about £175! (TS80Mk2). A truly appaulling piece of kit.

If only we could go back and buy up the Mk1 B&D workmates.....hmmmmm.

Don't look at the rowing machine, you won't like it.

It seems 1983 was great if you liked beige.

Catalogues go all the way back to 1973.
 
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Grattan were quite explicit some years. :)
(Mind you, I was only about 12 at the time. LOL )
 
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I was chatting to Mrs CB about people who used to call round, pools lady, Avon lady, local rugby/football lottery lady, and of course the catalogue lady who took your order and delivered it and collected your weekly payments, one of ours drove a Ford Classic Estate I think, packed with goods from the catalogue
 
£15 to £20 for a toaster, and yet people are convinced things are more expensive today than they used to be! :rolleyes:
 
Gerrydelasel said:
£15 to £20 for a toaster, and yet people are convinced things are more expensive today than they used to be! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yes, but in those days, ordinary people could afford to buy a house to put all of their purchases in.

Also, much of the stuff sold in these catalogues would have been manufactured here and much better quality. For example, a Swan kettle may have cost more then, allowing for inflation, etc, but they lasted for years and you could replace the element. Now a 20 quid Chinese kettle is scrap in a couple of years. Appliances seem cheap now, but it's all an illusion.
 
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woodbine said:
Yes, but in those days, ordinary people could afford to buy a house to put all of their purchases in.
Click to expand...
With 15% interest rates? My parents would disagree.

a Swan kettle may have cost more then, allowing for inflation
Click to expand...
That's the point; £20 in 1983 is like £50 today, and you can still buy a damn fine kettle that WILL last for years for £50 today. Or you can buy one for £10 if you prefer, but in 1983 there WAS no £8 kettle. It was the expensive option or nothing! :ROFLMAO:
 
Gerrydelasel said:
With 15% interest rates? My parents would disagree.
Click to expand...

But interest rates are only part of the story. Throughout much of the 80s and 90s, you only needed to borrow 3 or 4 times average earnings to purchase an average house. Often just based on the husband's earnings. Now, it's minimum 6 times earnings - 12 times in London. And don't forget, interest rates won't always be as low as they are now.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/02/housing-market-gulf-salaries-house-prices

(Can't believe I pasted an article from that lefty rag! :rolleyes: )
 
Gerrydelasel said:
, but in 1983 there WAS no £8 kettle. It was the expensive option or nothing! :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Your memory is short. Years ago, if you couldn't afford an expensive leccy kettle, you did what everyone else did - bought a cheap whistling one for the stove. ;)
 
And now the whistling kettles are mega expensive. As a child I used to love looking through the catalogues my mum got, Kays, Grattan, Marshall Ward , etc, etc but only at toys & fishing tackle. Underwear, why would a 10 year old be interested in old lady's (18/19 yrs old) knickers?
 
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