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Found a 1950s repair shop ledger at an estate sale in Dayton, and the labor rates blew my mind
I drove out to an estate sale in Dayton about 3 weeks ago because the listing mentioned a bunch of old camera gear, and I ended up walking out with a repair shop ledger from a guy who ran a shop downtown from 1953 to 1971. The rates are wild. A shutter clean and lube ran $6.50 in 1958, and a full rangefinder adjustment was $4. The guy logged every job by hand, and he noted parts sources in the margins like "Kodak, Rochester, 9 days shipping." What really got me was how many jobs per week he turned around solo, sometimes 40 bodies in 7 days. It made me think about how we quote jobs now and what customers expect for turnaround. Did old shops keep records like this, or was this guy just extra careful?
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