I’ve read several articles and seen many pictures of Madison Hardware as it was in the '60s thru '80s before it was sold. I marveled at the “new old stock” that was stored in so many rooms and on countless shelves - that only they owners could find.
My question is, did they increase the prices on the postwar items as the years went by? In other words, the typical 6464 boxcar sold for $5-$7 dollars in the 1950s. Did they continue to sell them at that in the '60s and later, or did they change prices as time went by?
Thanks!
Mobilman44
PS: I sure would have loved to explore that place!!!
I was never able to get their myself. but from the stories I’ve read in CTT they did indeed raise prices. just like any busnessmen would do. in one of the stories the teller stated that they went to Madison for such and such an item, they had it, but it was going to be expensive, but new.
I phoned a friend of mine that was a frequent Madison customer. He says that, to best of his memory, it was a “supply and demand” situation. Some of the items were reasonable and others were well ‘out of his reach’. Hope this helps!
OK guys, here’s how it goes: ‘there’ refers to a place, as in they went there; ‘their’ infers ownership, as in it was their store[2c]. Wish we had a spelling and grammer checker on the forum, as I’m not a good speller myself.
What you said about Madison Hardware, their having deep inventory of old stock, explains how my dad managed to purchase a new 1947 675 Pacific in '51 or '52. He worked about 3 blocks form the place and passed it every day! He bought stuff regularly there for years, but of course I have no idea what he paid!
The speaker implies (states his meaning indirectly) and the listener infers (draws a conclusion about what the speaker means). So it is equally true that you can imply something, and I can then infer what you mean.
I went to Madison Hardware, just around the corner from Madison Square in New York, in the late 70s/early 80s. I was looking for the front coupler for an 8976 (pre-war 227 0-6-0 switcher). As a TCA member, I had read of the relationship between Lionel and the Shur brothers.
Lou Shur, who just loved to talk Lionel even tho I was a stranger, walked me toward the back of the store where row after row of small unmarked drawers filled the wall. He opened a drawer and there it was. I forgot what I paid, but where else could I get 40 year old electro-coupler.
Not exactly, cheech, but it’s refreshing to see that someone actually cares.
Either of us can imply, and either of us can infer; but the “rule” is better stated “I imply, you infer.”
That’s because someone must first state or at least implysomething, before a second person gets an opportunity to understand or at least infersomething else. Either imply or infer can stand by itself; but they certainly do not mean the same thing.
For still more examples, simply key the words implyinfer into Google with no punctuation. With this advice I imply that the internet is a good source of material related to English usage; and you may reasonably infer that I sometimes use a computer when I want information.
edw: I don’t know your source but I disagree with it. To imply means to indicate by implication, not by inference. Otherwise we are, as you suggest, right back where we started, and that is not progress. The issue turns on the personal pronoun: it is essential to be clear about who is doing the implying vs. who is doing the inferring.
This all may be [#offtopic], but as an English major in school I find this back and forth warms my heart. Spell check works if it is used; but grammar check can only point out something in question, not make the correct choice for you.
I readily infer that I erred. I meant to say that ‘their’ implies ownership. Which is why they say people who live in glass houses should throw doughnuts perhaps, but not stones.
Thanks for the help. That’s part of what we do here, isn’t it - help each other?
Actually, the personal pronoun is not critical. I have been known to imply and infer, over the same comment.
For example, I might imply one thing in a late night post, while half asleep, only to find myself inferring the next morning, what the heck I was thinking. [:D]
Madison did raise prices on new old stock postwar. Sometime in the early 80’s I got some 6464 boxcars from the 1960’s for around $50 each and a ballast tamper for around $175. Those were steep prices at the time.
OK. Even the OED grants that “imply” and “infer” have been used interchangeably for a long time. That doesn’t make it a good idea, however.
Carried to its logical conclusion, “come” will mean “go”, “yes” will mean “no”, “Lionel” will mean “MTH”, etc. In fact, the last of these is already commonplace. Much of the general public, upon encountering an MTH train, will refer to it as “a Lionel”. This tends to annoy Mike Wolf; and we all know what happens when he gets his knickers in a twist.
In a similar sense, misusing “imply” or “infer” can be so jarring to the eyes and ears that it detracts from the smooth flow and clarity of whatever is being written or uttered.* Indeed, it becomes a distraction.** This is only natural because “detraction” and “distraction” mean exactly the same thing in our brave new world.
So let us agree to disagree. Onward and downward!
Refers to portions of the underbelly of a cow.
** The cause of wheel-slip.
References: 1. OED = Oxford English Dictionary. 2. “'Words mean what I want them to mean”', says Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. 3. See also Dorothy Parker on “horticulture”.
I assumed they raised their prices, but was uncertain if they were a “price leader” or negotiated or what. They were really in a unique position, and their store was a real treasure from what I have read. Darn, I wish I had visited them when I was working in NY during the summer of 1975.
I too missed the boat. I was living in NJ around the same time and was in Manhattan a lot for business and monkey business, must have passed the train mecca a dozen times and didn’t know about Madison Hardware at the time.