I remember when tacos at Taco Bell were 19 cents!
Whaaaaat???? Wow! I can't remember when any kind of "real" food was 19 cents, although I do remember candy bars being a quarter and pay phones being 10 cents. I also remember that when I worked at McDonald's back in high school a hamburger was 50 cents. Now I don't think they even sell a plain hamburger anymore. Still, at least where I live a McDouble is only $1, so I guess their prices haven't gone up all that much.
In relating this to CA, I sometimes wonder what kind of salary Charlie paid the Angels. I know that Jill hinted a couple of times in season 1 that it wasn't enough, but she may have just been kidding around because none of them ever quit over the low pay and LA is an expensive place to live.
I remember an episode of "Rhoda" that aired around the same time as season 1 of CA and someone commented that he made $29,000/year--in NYC, no less--to try to impress women (which it did and they acted like he was a millionaire, lol). I also remember an episode of "Starsky and Hutch" where someone had a foreign luxury car like a BMW and Starsky commented more than once and with an incredulous expression that it cost "$35,000!!!!!" These days you can barely buy a basic sedan from one of the Big Three for under $30,000 and a new pick up truck costs in excess of $40,000.
I never feel old until I realize how cheap things were when I was a kid so it must have been a long time ago. A 19 cent taco. Wow!!!
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sherm456
8 years ago
Yeah, could you imagine what sorts of feasts you could get these days in a world where tacos are 19 cents? Even in the 90s, Taco Bell was ridiculously cheap. Today, not so much, but probably still a favorite among broke college students.
That "Rhoda" episode reminds me of a movie from the late 70s I saw; the character was talking about her new high-powered job making some serious money. It was something like $23,000.
I have wondered too what the Angels made. I hope it was a whole lot, considering they were put in danger all the time and sexually harassed by their boss.
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eveningstarz
8 years ago
Jill said that Charlie would never be able to find anyone who would work as cheap as they got paid. But I don't think it would be the salary to impress someone to go work for him.
Job requirements: Dodging bullets, bikini-fit body, know explosives, run like a man, know karate, judo, and martial arts. Be convincing enough to be a tennis pro to a call girl depending on the assignment, wrist wrestle men like Bingo, and don't fall in love with a suspect.
Who would work for Charlie after those qualification even if he paid you top salary?
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horizonbeach
8 years ago
Who would work for Charlie after those qualification even if he paid you top salary?
They probably figured it beat writing traffic tickets, running a switchboard, or working at a school crosswalk. Wow, those jobs must have paid about $8,000/year by 1970s standards!
There were also some perks in working for Charlie, though. They got to travel on someone else's dime, Charlie bought them nice clothes if they were needed for a case and also provided a car, and how many times do you remember him saying to one of the staff when they were feeling sad or overworked something like, "Your trip to Acapulco is on me," proving that he could also be pretty generous. Besides, how could Jill beef about their low wages when she lived in a Malibu beach house? Even then that would have been impossibly expensive, even if she just rented.
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sdtcats
8 years ago
I love your job requirements for the Angels eveningstarz! I've added a few more: Drive like your in the Indy 500, Be able to seduce any man, anytime, land an airplane, know basic nursing skills, wrestle alligators, make moonshine from scratch, scuba dive like a pro, skateboard like a pro, and roller skate good enough to join the roller derby!
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eveningstarz
8 years ago
a couple of add-ons, card shark/card counter, talent for knife and sword throwing (you're the target), and taken hostage during gunfire.
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