How a 1958 magazine cheered America’s slide into installment debt
The July 1958 issue of Argosy Magazine ran “Live Now—Pay Later” by Carlton Brown, capturing the moment America gleefully abandoned its Puritan thrift hangover for installment plans.
By 1958, Brown reports, between 60 and 75 percent of new cars and half of major household appliances were being bought on time, with deferred payments hitting roughly $40 bil…
