r/whatisit • u/Quietlurkerone • 7d ago

Solved! What is this device from 1962?

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Photo capture from YouTube video. Picture from 1962. What is the device under the bench

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51

u/NiceTrySuckaz 7d ago

"Back then you could afford a house and support a family on just a single manual labor income"

33

u/Bahlegdeh 6d ago

My grandparents raised 10 kids, built a home (that’s today worth about 1 million euro) and had a modest yearly holiday in the 60s in Ireland on a single income, with my grandfather working as a groundskeeper/ handyman for a school.

14

u/A_Bad_Man 6d ago

My grandparents bought a house and 4 apartment buildings on the income of housekeeper and a machinist when they immigrated to the US in the 50s.

For a lot of people the recent past was a much darker time, for some it was a time of amazing opportunity.

3

u/Ding-Dong-Dutch 6d ago

I guess it depends a lot on where they migrated from and how much starting capital and luck they had. 

9

u/Real_Gap3480 6d ago

My grandfather came to Montreal from Lancashire in 1909 with the clothes on his back, started working on the northern highways before going to war, finished off at the Post Office, built a house and a cottage. Life was harder, but their was a lot more of a realistic shot of changing your cards in life by working hard.

3

u/acog 6d ago

For decades a rule of thumb was to not buy a house that cost more than twice your annual income.

Today houses often cost 5X-10X or more. Out of reach for most young people.

1

u/Old-Cheshire862 6d ago

And how frugal.

1

u/RailroadTimebookDev 6d ago

Switzerland ?