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35 YEARS AGO
From the pages of the Rappahannock News of Dec. 23,1971:
Local consumer debt $850 per family How well are Rappahannock County residents managing their financial affairs these days? How much do they owe in the form of installment debt? lb what extent have they been using the abundant amount of credit at their command to purchase automobiles, dishwashers, air conditioners, furniture and other expensive items? Although their incomes have gone up in the last year or two, in most cases, enabling them to become more expansive in their spending, they have been more cautious than usual, due to their uncertainties with regard to inflation, unemployment and other economic factors. As a result, they have kept their debt load well within manageable limits and their credit in good shape. According to data from the Federal Reserve Board, the National Consumer Finance Association and others, the amount of consumer debt outstanding in the United States is over $103 billion. It is equivalent to about $1,600 per family. In Rappahannock County, on the basis of recent national reports and based upon average earnings and expenditures locally, the overall load is estimated at $1,271,000. This includes automobile loans, credit extended for the purchase of other consumer goods, personal loans and loans for home repairs and modernization. It does not include mortgage debt, charge accounts and single payment loans. The debt load in the local area figures out to $850 per family. That is the mathematical average. However, since many families have no debt at all, the amount owed by those that do is considerably higher. In general, more than $1 out of every $7 that a family has left after paying its personal taxes goes toward the repayments it must make on its installment debt. Is this too much of a burden for them? Not according to the figures. They show that the proportion of defaults is very small. Most people are careful about their finances and do not take on more debt than they can handle.
Rural America turns the key The latch string is out no more in rural America. Small towns and rural communities, where unlocked doors have traditionally been a neighborly way of life, are finally following the lead of big cities and suburbs. In the face of increasing burglaries and other crimes, they are now turning the key and buying better locks. In the last five years, say the Associated Locksmiths of America, there has been a boom in lock sales - up 100 percent. Locks are better than ever, but there’s still no such thing as a lock that can’t be picked. Through history, better locks have been invented because of better burglars, the National Geographic Society says. And the earliest lock picks may have been stout crowbars or heavy hammers. ...
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