Cost of Living: It’s All Relative
Real estate isn’t the only thing that is expensive in Southern California. So are teeth and stuffed toys.
The magazine Smart Money has published a “Real-Life Index” comparing prices in Los Angeles on some real-life parental purchases with prices in five other cities and towns across the country. Among the findings:
* A foot-long Barney dinosaur doll averages $21.95 in Los Angeles, compared to $20 in Atlanta and $14.99 in Springfield, Mo.
* The tooth fairy costs parents $1 per tooth here, compared to 25 cents in Springfield (but $2 in New York).
* A trendy “Aprici Citimini” stroller averages $199.85 here. It’s $189.95 in New York and $177.99 in Pittsburgh.
* Teen-age baby-sitters average $5 an hour here on a Saturday night, compared to $3 in Atlanta, $7 in New York and $1 in Lampasas, Tex.
* A full-time nanny for a week runs $300 in Los Angeles but costs $250 in Springfield, Mo. and $350 in New York. (No indication if that includes Social Security taxes.)
Coming to a Store Near You
The release of Walt Disney Co.’s animated hit “Aladdin” last October is already being touted as the video event of the year.
But it may have a competitor.
Time-Life Inc. late this month is launching the video “An American Reunion: Inauguration ‘93,” described as “the official video recording of the 1993 Presidential Inauguration.”
Hopefully, sales of the video won’t head south once it’s released, as President Clinton’s popularity ratings did after the inauguration.
Tuned Out
Representatives of television infomercial star Dave Del Dotto, charged by the Federal Trade Commission with making phony claims for his get-rich-quick kits, recently revealed that Del Dotto’s infomercials were pulled off the air at the end of 1992 because of the FTC investigation.
Turns out Del Dotto, a former drywall worker from Modesto, was honored just a few weeks before that happened by the National Infomercial Marketing Assn. trade group.
His award: “Longest-running infomercial.”
Del Dotto has denied the FTC charges but has indicated a willingness to settle to avoid litigation.
If so, he might consider calling on Monty Hall, who hosted one of Del Dotto’s infomercials.
After all, Hall made his name as host of “Let’s Make a Deal.”
Briefly . . .
Prudential Securities analyst George M. Salem, in a report arguing that Wells Fargo’s stock trades at a much higher price than it should, includes a stock-price graph labeled “Don’t Look: You’ll Get Dizzy”. . . . The Seal Beach-based “Slick Willie Wire” says President Clinton kept his promise to fill the Cabinet with minorities by selecting millionaires. . . . San Antonio, in pitching itself to filmmakers as a location site, calls itself “The real virtual reality.”
