In 1958 $10,000 a year was considered pretty good pay for a professional man (women got paid less), and a blue-collar worker often got around $100 a week. That would pay for a 721--before taxes.
Today many people consider consider $30,000 a year on the slim side. That's about $14 an hour, or around $577 a week, just enough to buy a Ruger 77--before taxes.
When I started working on Montana ranches and farms in the late 1960's, the average daily pay was $12, plus room and board, for an experienced man. That's about $3750 a year, working 6 days a week, which was common except during harvest when you typically worked 7. I got $5 a day for my first full-time ranch job.
