Axel
and Betty and their first Radio-Phonograph, 1949
By Doug Boilesen 2018
My parents, Axel and Betty Boilesen,
were married on August 25, 1946.
In October 1946 they officially began
managing their new household by entering all expenses in annual budget
books which I recently reviewed for the years 1946 to 1950. These
books detail expendures for each month and provide summaries by categories.
For me their book-keeping is special
because they are my parents but also because they micro-document the
economic life of a newly married couple in post-War Lincoln, Nebraska.
Axel was going to school on the GI Bill and receiving $105.00 from
the government each month and Betty was working and depositing around
$150 each month (c. 1949) into their joint account.
Reviewing their daily expenses and being
a Friend of the Phonograph my eye quickly focused on entries
related to their purchase of a phonograph and radio in December 1948:
Radio $110.75; Phono $37.43; January 1949: "Freight on Radio
& Phono of $4.05", "Radio wire, etc., $.42" and
"Records $5.51."
After purchasing the radio and phonograph
Axel built a cabinet for the components which required the purchase
in March 1949 of a drill, bits, saw & screws $5.50, wood for the
Radio $17.50 and other expenses listed as "Labor? on Radio $7.00,
Screen for Radio $.40, angle irons for Radio $.68, screen & paint
for Radio $.94."
In April 1949 more Radio construction
expenses: "Pressed board for Radio $.40, Slides for Radio $1.00,
Brackets for radio $.60, Radio Knobs $3.70." In March 1950 there
is an entry for a Radio Speaker $1.50. In April 1950, Radio Wire $.32.
In August 1950, Records $2.50
When you add up these numbers you know
that the Radio-Phonograph was clearly a major purchase. Consider that
their "Rent" for the month was $30.00, "Groceries"
$26.00 (Dec 1948) and total expenses that averaged about $$215 per
month. Total household expenses from Jan 1948 to Jan 1949 (12 months)
was recorded in their "National Family Budget Book" as "$2620.11
(clothing included)."
I'm sure Axel calculated how much he
hoped to save by building the cabinet himself and it took some time.
But in the end the goal was achieved: a modern Radio-Phonograph had
entered our home and would be waiting for me when I was born the following
year.
The Radio-Phonograph
at our "H" Street apartment, December 1952
