WE’RE ALL WAL-MART PEOPLE

Don’t ask me how, but somehow we lost our crockpot in the move last summer. I think it’s pretty good that we only lost one thing, but still, it’s a bit disconcerting to think that somehow something bigger than a breadbox just vanished from your kitchen.

We’ve made it almost five months without it, which I suppose means we could make it forever, but I missed it, so I stopped off at Wal-Mart on my way home from work to pick up a new one. Which I did, a nice 6-quart model for just under $25.

For some reason that seemed like a suspiciously low price to me, and of course the reason why is right there on the box: MADE IN CHINA. (So much for thinking I was supporting the local economy by buying a West Bend crockpot.) I started to feel bad about myself, almost like maybe I should take it back and buy a different model.

I suppose that’s what I get for consorting with the Evil Empire, the Ozarkian Sphere of Annihilation that’s taken over retailing in America. Most companies selling low-to-mid-priced consumer goods find it increasingly hard to do business unless they do business with Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart is all about the price. They want a price that’s lower than anybody else can get–which is exactly what I want, but I digress.

Anyway, that probably explains why my West Bend crockpot only came to West Bend to be sold. Given a choice between outsourcing to meet Wal-Mart’s price goals, or going out of business, West Bend probably made the right choice. Selling 100,000 crockpots at 50 cents of profit a piece (or whatever it is) makes a company a lot more money than going under.

Still, a person just comes to resent the inevitablilty of it all. I’m afraid that pretty soon your only choices for buying crockpots will be Wal-Mart or upscale online retailers who sell high-feature, high-price models. And the main thing that means is that, for those of us who thrive on having out-of-the-mainstream tastes, our chosen lifestyles are going to grow tremendously expensive. Like the man once said, cui bono?

Just about everybody, as it turns out. I happened to be glancing through the October 1976 Reader’s Digest tonight (the fact that this was even possible should give you some idea what my basement looks like) and just beyond a laughably quaint article about Chinese cuisine was a major ad for household goods. Lo and behold, what was among the items? A Sunbeam crockpot! 5-quart capacity, just a little smaller than the one I bought tonight. Two heat settings, unlike the three on my new crockpot. And the price?

$28.

Just to give you some perspective, according to our government, consumer prices increased 131% from October 1976 to December 2004 (the latest month for which statistics are available). So that means the 1976 crockpot cost almost $65 in 2004 dollars. At Amazon.com, you can’t even buy a $65 crockpot. Conversely, my $24 2005 crockpot would have to have sold for $10.39 in 1976 to be as affordable as it is today.

More amazing was the 10-cup automatic drip coffeemaker similar to (but almost certainly not as advanced as) the $12 Black & Decker 12-cup coffeemaker on my counter today. It sold for $42, which comes out as $97.02 in today’s dollars. You can certainly spend a lot more than that on a coffeemaker today, but your $100 2005 coffeepot will do things 1976 consumers would’ve only seen in a Jetsons cartoon. And I’m sure that 1976’s $5.20 coffeemaker (my Black & Decker in 1976 bucks) was a teakettle and a jar of Taster’s Choice.

A Black & Decker 3/8″ variable-speed reversible drill was $24.99 in 1976. A new one wil run you $29.99 at Amazon.com.

Need a car? A 1977 Chevelle based at $3,885, but that’s for the Water Department’s six-cylinder with three-on-the-tree and “255″ air conditioning. $6,300 would buy you a Chevelle optioned the way a real 2005 person would’ve liked it, with such niceties as power steering and full carpeting being extra right along with the AC, tilt, cruise, power windows and locks, and rear defroster we’ve all taken for granted for over a decade. That would be about $14,553 in today’s money, which is more than you’ll pay for a 2005 Malibu, which starts at $19,825. Of course, that’s laden with all kinds of stuff that wasn’t even optional on a ‘77 Chevelle.

My point in all of this is that, while we certainly know that many things have grown unfathomably more expensive since 1976, there’s an awful lot of stuff which has grown cheaper, everyday stuff that we all take for granted. So when you’re shaking your fist at the big-box retailers, remember–without their clout, you’d probably have to spend $60 for a crockpot and $100 for a coffeemaker. Say what you will, the price for the trappings of a middle-class life is less than it used to be.