Scrooges money bin and offices and other "details".

Geir.Hasnes@DELAB.SINTEF.no Geir.Hasnes at DELAB.SINTEF.no
Mon Aug 16 12:26:25 CEST 1993


Hello Don, 

I would like to tell you my explanations to some seemingly impossibilities
in the Duckburg universe, now consisting of Rosa stories in addition to the
Barks canon.

>	As Per mentioned, someone did finally point out to me that it is
>stated in "Lost in the Andes" that Rhutt Betler (not "Betluh... that
>includes the southern drawl) died as he left Plain Awful...
>When the story is printed again in Germany or the US, the goof
>can be easilly remedied by having the old guy be the professor who
>bought the eggs from the Cuzco padre; this has two problems though: if
>it ISN'T the REAL Rhutt Betler there's not much point to the whole
>scene -- also, why did they forget between 1882 and 1949 that those
>stones were eggs. (That latter matter is easilly explained. Often
>museums file away stuff and forget what it is.)

Another twist may be that the professor got out alive, seeked sponsors for
the new trip, finally gave up, returned to Plain Awful (but keeping the
secret about it because of the natives), and then didn't find his way
through the fog and finally died, exhausted, before the family who then
lived at the edge of the fog.

>	My "Life and Times of $crooge McDuck" does seek to take every
>last detail of $crooge's life, no matter HOW MINISCULE, and include it
>in the series. I challenge anyone to locate a detail I have missed!
>...The Magic Hourglass as never existing.

What the heck! Why?

> And I have the Money Bin built in
>1902 just as it is "today" rather than how Barks slowly hit on the idea
>between 1947 and 1951 or so. 

NO! NO!! NO!!! Pleazzze Don !!! Dont you see that Scrooge always collected
his money in his office, which became larger and larger, until finally he
had to build the bin. That is a much better explanation, because you then
assume that his offices became larger as the money kept on coming in - but
not going out. You cant expect Scrooge to build that incredibly large bin
at the beginning of his career, unless you give him some sort of
perspective on "I shall be the worlds richest duck and this bin here is
gonna prove it!" Scrooge in fact builds his bin at the end of his career,
he partly retires to it, he doesnt have to use his time in the office so
much anymore. More about the bin below.

>The change after "Back to the
>Klondike" is almost imperceptible compared to this -- perhaps that 1952
>change is just the tail-end of the main change?

You are right, but nevertheless read John Nicholses essay, the best essay
he ever made.

>	As for Gladstone's ancestry... I like intrigue like this --
>I have lots of it in the series -- but this bit of intrigue doesn't make
>sense to me.

Better have some Swedish Duck fan translate the essay to you. Huh Per?

>And in 'The Money Pit' we get to see that there are some VERY old and rare
>coins near the bottom of the bin. This would mean that the story 'The
>Money Pit' takes place *before* any of the Barks stories where all Scrooge's
>money gets out of the bin? Including the 'first' money bin stories?

Scrooge is an eccentric character. The banks, in which he doesnt trust his
dear old money, know that he is an eccentric and that if he ever exchanges
everything he owns, he will come back and change it back!!! So that they
always keep his fortune in their vaults and extra-vaults and doesnt ever
give it away to others until he requests it back. As in the story about the
money champ - he finally asks to have the silver dollars exchanged into his
old personal coins. And the same in the stories where all the greenbacks he
got at last will be converted back into his own money. The banks never dare
take out anything of it, whatever that may be of scarce money. Remember, as
the worlds greatest capitalist, Scrooge controls the banks of Duckburg.
Therefore Scrooge always knows where his cash is in the bin, he has only
recently put it there...

>in case he needs
>to (gasp!) buy something, or if he ever gets the desire to frolic in his
>wealth.  

Scrooge needs to buy something, but he doesnt need to use his private cash
of the money bin. He has of course other values, among them his daily flow
of money from his factories etc. In early stories we see him get it into
his office, later on this will be taken care of by his clerks in downtown
while he has partly retired to his money bin.

>Of course that is one of those stories that make it a bit strange
>that there are old coins about that Scrooge remember exactly when he
>earned.  Presumably he took care to get the same coins and bills back
>afterwards.  (Another one is where he exchanged all his money into
>greenbacks.)

Exactly! And I am firmly of that opinion that we can explain most of
Barkses twists and turns by common sense. It is of course much better for
Don and us others that the money bin is drawn the same way the whole time!

Now why have I never seen a lift in the money bin. Scrooges office is at
the top of the bin. And how do you get the money in and up and out into the
bin: A large lift for the goods that can also carry equipment like shovels
and bulldozers. 

And why doesnt he have to expand the bin? Simply because the bin contains
his personal cash which he collected himself, and he will never throw
anything into the bin that is simply a result of financial transactions
which he himself has to supervise only! That cash gets into his banks
downtown or is used to finance other developments in his financial empire!
All the salaries are paid downtown. Scrooge isnt that mad. You must not
view him as an extremely stingy man. He just wants to keep his collection
of his personal reminiscences (= coins and greenbacks), because the
collection is the result of his life, and all his memories are in cash, not
in building up a family. Most people build a family and would never give
away any children even though they may be starving. Scrooge build a fortune
and would never give it away. Giving away the money of the bin is giving
away his life. He has unpersonal money downtown which can be used to
finance trips around the world to inspect, etc.

Happy to have some comments! I hope you understand that to build a money
bin in 1902 already would be a grave mistake and show a wrong understanding
of Scrooge as a person. To sum up: As long as he actively works in his
office, all the money is in his office. When he retires to his money bin,
his personal money goes with him while the unpersonal money, that other
people make for him as he is their boss or owner of their company or
whatever, still goes into his office downtown.

So I also hope to see one day that Scrooges office empire has a prominent
place in Duckburg. This also explains why he sometimes is found in offices
in the city while other times in his money bon. It also explains why he has
few or none clerks in his bin while a lot of them on the city.

Geir Hasnes - at the age of five, in 1962, intending to be the worlds
foremost Donald Duck expert - at the age of 36 not living with that vision
anymore.




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