Are commercially tied flies cheap today?
I would argue that commercial flies, today, are quite cheap and I believe this is due to the global world economy which allows us to import flies from under-developed countries with very cheap labor.
I offer a couple of examples.
I recently mentioned the Bunyan flies in another thread. These were tied by Paul Bunyan (Norman Means) of Montana in the early to late 1920's and for many years thereafter. They were unique and did command a premium in price.
As shown in the picture below, the flies were sold for $0.50 each. Not certain of the original date of the purchase of this fly, but, if it were purchased in the mid-20's, This, brought to current time with annual inflation over the period would be over $8.00. If purchased later, it would be less than $8 today, but still more than today's flies of premium quality/difficulty of tying.
Likewise, Franz Pott's extremely popular woven hackle flies, of the same general time span, were sold for $0.35 each which, in today's dollars, would be over $6.00. Granted, less popular, locally tied flies, were probably selling at prices much less. Still, I would guess today's flly prices are, adjusted for inflation, cheaper.
It is also, I would argue, why there isn't much money to be made in tying flies for commercial sale.......unless you own the shop yourself.
Do others agree that, if not for foreign competition, locally tied flies would be much more expensive?
Thanks
One of the Bunyan flies:
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