Antennae and transistor boosters circa 1960

[Electronic M]

I'm not very familiar with pricing of such items back then so I can't help on that front.

I can say that tube boosters were common for several years before and after the setting of the story. A booster served to amplify the signal, and would be only used in homes with one TV set that were located way out in the boonies, homes with multiple TV sets in moderate signal areas (because more sets connected to one antenna = less signal to go around), and cases where there was a need to run an extremely long wire between the set and antenna.
In strong signal areas such as large cities and places near to transmiters one could get away with the internal antenna in most sets or a good pair of rabbit ears, and the only use for outdoor antennas would be to reduce ghosting or to fish for signals from distant cities for the fun of it.