🇺🇸 United States · 1984 · 🛠️ Pricey gadgets
An ordinary claw hammer. On a 1980s spare-parts invoice.
💸 Guess, then reveal the price
US$436 one hammer
It hits nails. And, eventually, Congress.
What actually happened
Spare-parts prices like the $436 hammer became symbols of Pentagon waste in the mid-1980s. Later analysis noted much of the price came from overhead costs spread across parts by accounting rules, not the hammer itself.
Source: US Naval Institute Proceedings ↗ · Amount in original currency, not adjusted for inflation. An unusual cost is not automatically waste; see how we check the facts.