my 2 cents worth on Penny Wise

Wilmer Rivers rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV
Mon Aug 23 08:11:20 CEST 1993


I agree with Geir Hasnes, who reminds us that Scrooge's protestations of
pending financial ruin at the hands of Miss Penny Wise are probably just
a gross exageration - even if he owed her only $100, he would carry on
the same way, claiming that she would call in her note for his entire
fortune.  I also agree with Per that this is a funny Donald story and we
shouldn't make too much of what it implies about Scrooge's past business
dealings.  However, Harry Fluks does raise some intriguing possibilities:
> And about Penny Wise: couldn't she have some paper that would make her the
> owner of the golden teeth of one of Scrooge's ancestors? Or maybe even
> the owner of a certain Golden Helmet, so that she would own America?
> (the document would then state that the actual helmet need not be around.)
> Just a thought...
>
Or, maybe Miss Wise has inherited from Cyrus Coot (?) the genuine deed
to the hill on which Scrooge's money bin sits?  It would be just like
Scrooge to have been too cheap to pay for a full title search before
building on the land!  Then Scrooge could in fact have his entire
fortune claimed by Miss Wise, just as he once could have had it claimed
(or so he feared) by Grandpa Beagle when the money was buried in the
wrong plot of ground.  At some time in the past, Scrooge discovered his
mistake, and so he negotiated a deal with Miss Wise (who seems like an
easy-to-please character, although quite eccentric) whereby she wouldn't
call in her claim on his land so long as she had a residence of her own
elsewhere, and of course Donald brings that agreement to an end when he
destroys her house.  O.K. that's far-fetched, but then so is the whole
premise that Donald demonstrates this super-potent flour to only 3
customers, and they are all in a position to cause much harm to Scrooge.
My own favorite is actually the first customer, the grocer Mr. McChain.
Scrooge says, "I hope Donald didn't make any blunders here!  Endless
McChain could be my biggest customer!"  Endless McChain, indeed!  This
is funny for its modern-day implications, if you consider the flour to
be the principal ingredient in hamburger buns!

Wilmer Rivers
umlx at cyzk.bcoufsk.goo



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