I am reading the Perry Mason novels in chronological order. I am not particularly interested in figuring out who done it, but I do like all the clues about life in Los Angeles "back in the day." We started in 1933. I just finished was The Case of the Golddigger's Purse from 1945.
In Golddigger, Paul Drake of The Drake Detective Agency assigns one of his operatives to undercover work. She got herself hired as a maid in a household that Perry wants watched.
I've often wondered what it cost to hire the Drake Detective Agency. Obviously Mrs. Staunton is getting a bargain without realizing it. According to this website, $1 in 1945 is comparable to $12.16 today. So Paul pays his operative the equivalent of $145 a day.
Jim Rockford, on the other hand, charged $200 a day plus expenses (in the 1970s). In today's money, he'd be asking $900 a day.
I've no idea what maids are paid (then or now).
In Golddigger, Paul Drake of The Drake Detective Agency assigns one of his operatives to undercover work. She got herself hired as a maid in a household that Perry wants watched.
"Mrs. Staunton is tickled to death. She thinks this girl is the best all-around maid she's ever had." Drake grinned and went on. "What Mrs. Staunton doesn't realize is that she's getting maid service from a twelve-dollar-a-day detective and that the minute this girl gets the information she wants, she'll dust out of there, leaving Mrs. Staunton with a sink full of dirty dishes."
Pocket Book edition, 1951, p. 192.
I've often wondered what it cost to hire the Drake Detective Agency. Obviously Mrs. Staunton is getting a bargain without realizing it. According to this website, $1 in 1945 is comparable to $12.16 today. So Paul pays his operative the equivalent of $145 a day.
Jim Rockford, on the other hand, charged $200 a day plus expenses (in the 1970s). In today's money, he'd be asking $900 a day.
I've no idea what maids are paid (then or now).