In contrast to the post below about the inflated costs of visiting various countries, I stumbled across a newspaper from 1960 while unpacking a box today. There is a Sony add for "The World's Best Transistor Radio". There are 14 different radios advertised, the cheapest one is $59.95; in today's dollars that would be $455.62, and if you wanted a radio with standard, shortwave and marine band it would have set you back $149.50 which would be equal to $1,136.20 in 2011. This is a Canadian add and I used the CPI calculator on the Bank of Canada web site.

You can get a 46" Toshiba LET HDTV for that coin today and for $59.95 you can get "iLuv iMM153 Desktop Alarm Clock for iPod - Includes Bed Shaker, FM Radio, Built-in Speakers, Large LCD, Plays iPod. Program your iLuv iMM153 Desktop Alarm Clock for iPod to help you get out of bed with one of 10 pre-selected radio stations, iPod or buzzer"

Now mind you, you did get a whole 7 transistors for that and you know how much those things cost. Bed shaker? Um, no. It did not come with a bed shaker.