Buying something on tick in old-time Phoenix


This morning I was showing a friend of mine my new phone, and in the course of conversation I mentioned that I got it "on easy terms". That is, I'm making payments on it for the next two years. I like phrases like that, and since he's from Australia, he remembered buying something like that as "appro", which is short for on approval. I remember my grandmother calling it "buying on tick" (although I really don't know why). For her, buying something on tick, on credit, or on any easy payment plan, was a shameful thing to do. She was a proud woman, and her husband (my grandfather) earned a nice income, so they never bought anything on tick, including their house, and their cars.

Oddly enough, the company that sold me my phone had terms of zero interest. I added up the number of months multiplied by the amount that I would pay per month, and of course it was more expensive than if I'd paid cash outright, but I found it fascinating that it was a zero-interest loan. They simply came up with a monthly number, and a total number of months. My best guess is that most people would see this as 24-months same as cash, but it's really isn't. But I'm OK with it! Since my grandmother, who was born in 1901, wouldn't have been, I've been thinking about buying stuff like that in old-time Phoenix. From what I understand, it gets kinda complicated.

In the ad at the top of this post, you see that a couple of cars are offered with the word "terms". Arranging terms could have meant anything in 1919. It could be paying a certain amount a month until the amount was paid, or it could have included interest. Interest rates are limited by State Usury Laws, which for Arizona is ten percent, but I really doubt that such consumer protection existed in 1919!

Anyway, allowing someone time to pay for something, including groceries, would have been considered just common courtesy back then. It wouldn't have been unusual for someone to stop into their favorite place that sold beverages, and simply say, "Put it on my tab". That amount would only be paid when either the customer decides to settle up on his own, or when the retailer tells them that they'll get no more until they do. As you can imagine, these tabs could get out of control, leaving people in the uncomfortable situation of having to come up with money for drinks they drank a long time ago.

Since I worked for a bank back in the '90s, I got to see a little bit of how lending money works. One of the trickiest things is the way that credit cards end up charging you more money, over time, by asking for less money per month. And if you want to get in the world's most boring argument, you can talk to some people about whether they should pay cash for something by drawing money out of savings, or pay with credit.

Thank you for buying on tick with me in old-time Phoenix! I want that 1917 Oakland!
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