Mark Perry uses Christmas to demonstate the increased purchasing power of American consumers:
If you’re not convinced that today’s consumers are better off than at any time in history, spend some time browsing the old Sears, Wards, and J.C. Penney’s Christmas catalogs available here back to the 1930s, convert those old retail prices into their “time cost” equivalent using that year’s prevailing hourly wage, and you’ll quickly see that there has never been a better time to be a holiday shopper and consumers than right now. For that, you can thank the “miracle of the marketplace,” which brings us better and cheaper consumer goods all the time.
The Dish 