Ballpark Estimate: $150 to $400 There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of ways to catch fish. But none of them are as exciting as luring and hooking a sport fish on a fly that was tied by your own hands. In fly fishing terminology “flies” are artificial lures utilized primarily by fly fisherman for attracting or “baiting”…
Ballpark Estimate: $3,000 to $8,000 for a horse; $1,000 per month food, care, and boarding Some of the best things in life are free, while others can certainly come at a hefty cost. Few can deny the magnificent beauty and power of a horse, but fewer still can actually afford to call one their own. Horse…
Ballpark Estimate: $100 to $150 for a starter kit; $250+ from Scratch Maybe the only home brewed beer you’ve ever had was made by your college roommate in your dorm room. If so, you probably have memories of a flat, bad tasting beer that you only drank once out of politeness. It is possible, however, to…
Ballpark Estimate: $800 to $1,300 (plus $100 a month for lessons) Admit it- we all have done it. You’re driving in the car and “In the Air Tonight” comes on the radio and you get to that drum fill. You break out the air sticks and bang away on your steering wheel and for that few…
Ballpark Estimate: $2,000 to $3,000 The early 1860s was a time unparalleled in U.S. history. Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency, the South seceded from the Union, and before long the country was at war with itself, the North against the South, kin against kin, brother against brother. The North called it the War of…
Ballpark Estimate: $1,000 to $1,400 Building a kayak is less a matter of money and more one of time. The biggest payoff is that there’s no route to fine boat ownership that is more satisfying and more economical than paddling a kayak you built yourself. Workspace for Building To start, you’ll need a workroom: a basement, garage…
Ballpark Estimate: $6,000 to $12,000 If you’ve ever flown in a small aircraft, you’ve probably experienced that rush of excitement that comes from being one with nature with just a slim piece of metal to separate you from the sky. The feeling that goes along with flying is one that many people insist just can’t be…
Ballpark Estimate: 31 cents/gallon A gallon of (leaded) gas in the United States in 1960 cost only 31 cents! That sounds like an incredible bargain until you factor in inflation. 31 cents in 1960 is equivalent to $2.07 in the year 2007. The national average cost of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in 2007 was…
Ballpark Estimate: $850. The first production Ford Model T was built in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan. The Model T had a 2.9 liter four-cylinder engine that produced 20 horsepower (HP) and had a top speed of 45 mph. It cost $850. That’s about $17,000 in 2007 inflation-adjusted dollars, which is about the same price of a…
Ballpark Estimate: $114 billion (1956-1991 dollars); $500 billion (2008 dollars) Holding the distinction of being the largest in the world, the Interstate Highway System is a coast to coast network of state-owned roads. It is a system of high-speed highways that serves every major city in the United States for the transportation of products and goods, personal…
Ballpark Estimate: $67 Billion (1953 dollars); $535 billion (2008 dollars) It was December 1945. With the surrender of Japan some four months earlier World War II was finally over and, as with all wars, the victors assembled to negotiate the rules for divvying up their winnings. One such agreement, reached at the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers,…
Ballpark Estimate: $37 Million Dollars + Interest The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was built over a four and a half year period between 1933 and 1937. It is the second largest suspension bridge in the United States. The bridge cost $37 million, but was funded by municipal bonds that cost an additional $39 million…
Ballpark Estimate: $20.67 per ounce Over 100 years ago, the price of gold sat at a relatively stable price of $20.67 per ounce on the open market. On November 15, 2007, the price for an ounce of gold was $793.30. It’s important to compare apples with apples, so it’s necessary to know that the purchasing power…
Ballpark Estimate: $10.25/Adult, $9.25/Child Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971. The admission price for a single day pass was $3.50 for an adult (age 18+) ticket and $1.00 for a child. This was just to get in the gates — no rides were included. The ticket price structure for the actual rides…
Ballpark Estimate: $50 million in 1931 dollars; $690 million in 2008 dollars For years, the low-lying plains of the West, especially the areas around Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, suffered from a severe lack of water for the residence, their animals, and for irrigating their farmlands. In fact, it was the hottest, driest region in…