I was in the Racing legends site recently and one of the items on display was a ticket stub from the MOW/Sir Barton match race in Canada in 1920. I found the general admission cost of the ticket at $5.00 very interesting. What was $5.00 worth in 1920, well I'm not sure, but in Laura Hillenbrand"s book "Seabiscuit" she records the average per capita income in 1935 at $432.00, that's $8.30 per week. So lets say for arguments sake that 15 years earlier the income might have been $380.00 anually or $7.30 per week. That means that the average worker who wanted to see the race would have to part with 68% of his weekly pay packet for the privelage. Lets equate that into todays terms, if the average worker earns $35,000.00 per year or $673.00 per week then it would mean forking out $457.00 to go to the races for the Match Race. Who would go at that price ? you say, well 32,000 turned up, for gate takings of $160000.00, not bad for the promoters who put up the $75000.00 purse. When food and bar takings are added the overall profit would exceed 100,000.00, but it's the punters forking out $5.00 from their $8.30 weekly pay packet that baffles me, can you imagine giving your wife/husband only 32% of this weeks pay and saying "That's all you're gett'in, I need the rest to get in the gate at the track on Saturday". Gee I haven't been out to Cannon Park since they put the admission up to $10.00 eight years ago, so there would have been 2 chances of me going to the MOW/Sir Barton match race - Buckleys and none !
