VN era vets remember when you went over to the PX/BX and wanted to buy...

[HereSince1628]

...something like

This



This



or This




How did that work out? There must be a story there to tell the grand kids.

[DrDan]

1. what a deal those were

but - I got the TEAC tape deck, a Pentax Spotmatic, and an Omega watch.

The BX was a terrific place to shop in the era.

[HereSince1628]

2. You hit the trifecta, still have any of them?

[DrDan]

7. still have the Omega

It was a choice between the Omega at $125 or a Rolex at $150

saved those 25 bucks - but that late '60s Rolex would have been worth much much more than the Omega is today

[Raven]

3. Pampers were about 20 cents a box. :-)

[hootinholler]

4. I bought that exact Maymia SLR

for about $50 used, the previous owner was upgrading. A couple of years later I bought a Canon A1, which I still have 30 years later and it works fine although batteries are getting harder to find these days.

[haele]

5. Heck, you could still get those deals well into the 1980's.

BX/PX was not supposed to make a profit, so most of what you bought was for cost with perhaps up to 2% tacked on if the base had a seriously active MWR organization. And the products they provided were what the majority of people on base wanted, so there was always lots of gift, recreational, and "comfort" items.

Used to be what ever cost $10 on the economy would cost $1 to $2 at the BX/PX or commissary. BX/PX Ciggies and Booze were prime Black Market currency outside of base.

However, all good things have to come to an end. BRAC and a rush to privatize support activities dropped the quality and raised the base cost of items by around 20%, because of a small mark-up for "the vendors" - like Haliburton (Thank you, Dick Cheney!). In the 1990's, local governments pushed to add a surcharge to be added to go back into the community (a type of local sales tax) that could add another 2 to 5% to the final purchase. So, basically you're getting Macy's products at Target prices.

Still not bad and better than the economy in many places, but retirees and junior enlisted have to consider their shopping dollar, which they didn't have to before

Haele

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. We got the reel to reel at PX..

And my super macho ex-husband issued stern warnings to me not to "mess" with it, apparently under the delusion it was too
complicated and fragile for my lil brain.

Lots of changes since then...

[Tikki]

8. We still have these and use them in our music room.

Tikki

[HereSince1628]

9. I had earphone...how'd you get those things home?

[Tikki]

10. My brother bought them in Germany..shipped them home. Gave them to us as a wedding gift.

My husband was in finance in the Army, got most of his ETS money early..
We went to the BX and bought as much non-perishables as we could..bedding, baby clothes, cookware
tools, etc before we ETSed a few days later.

Still have this sheet set I use only in the guest room.

(circa 1969)

The Tikkis

[HereSince1628]

11. Seems to have been a durable purchase.

My headphones came home in my awol bag,

They served as a chew-toy for a puppy in the winter or 77-78.

[Kingofalldems]

12. Cigs were $2.00 a carton in 1967

[HereSince1628]

13. I remember cigarette lighters with unit patches being popular px items

Didn't smoke so I never bought one...

[Kingofalldems]

14. Zippos? Those were the days

I think at least 50% or more smoked also.

[HereSince1628]

15. They may have been zippos...

Metal case with engraved unit insignia, also place and date IIRC

[Bandit]

16. Those lighters are worth Buku bucks now adays

Memories. One thing DU does for me is bring back many memories. some not so good but some very good.

[sarge43]

19. Zippos. I had one with the SAC coat of arms. nt

[MindPilot]

17. And even cheaper overseas.

Bought a bunch of stuff...on my ship the brigs served as storage for our homeward bound goodies.

I still have the Zippo with my ship's (USS Tulare County LKA112) insignia. Next to a Buck knife and a John Wayne, that Zippo was an indispensable tool.

[Elwood P Dowd]

18. Wow, does this bring back some memories.

I purchased a Kenwood receiver and speakers in the PX (1970-72) along with a Yashica camera, Sony clock radio, who knows how many record albums, and misc other stuff during my Army time. Some of my friends stationed in Vietnam got even better deals buying stereos and cameras through the AAFES overseas. Some of that stuff was 50-70% off the retail in the States. Gear from Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood, Sony, Minolta, were incredibly cheap.