Believe this (found on the web) came out of a Rifleman from 1934, in the teeth of the Great Depression. My parents' rent was $25 a month and there were times they had trouble getting that up. I have several Rifleman issues from 1939 (the year I was born); prices really hadn't gone up. Everything is relative, I suppose, so what people are paying for Marlins these days isn't that outrageous. My interest goes back to the early 60's, and believe me, prices have gone up since then.
My scanner died. Otherwise I could come up with several more interesting items