Here’s a little perspective: In 1939, gas cost 10 cents a gallon at the pump. A movie ticket set you back 20 cents. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the year’s bestselling hardcover book, was $2.75. For a nation suffering 20 percent unemployment, books were an impossible expense.
How Paperbacks Transformed the Way Americans Read – Mental Floss (via bookriot)
Wow! This excellent article puts a lot of things into perspective.