I asked this on another Christmas Carol board.
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — A Christmas Carol
JR541 — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 08:50 PM)
I asked this on another Christmas Carol board.
Was he just "well off"? (in today's money worth a few million dollars), very rich ? (tens of millions) or extremely wealthy? (100 million dollars). Anyone have an opinion?
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese? -
TwoThousandOneMark — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 10:50 PM)
I'd say (merely) well off. He was a penny pincher with a healthy $ margin, who surely didn't splurge on anything. Not able to live a life of luxury. His abode (shared with Marley?) wasn't really all that much either.
my essential 50
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls056413299/ -
Big_AL-96 — 9 years ago(December 18, 2016 03:07 PM)
He was more than capable of looking bing a life of life luxury, he just eschewed that in order to save money. Fred even states that
'Come, then,' returned the nephew gaily. 'What
right have you to be dismal? What reason have you
to be morose? You're rich enough.'
Let's pray the human race never escapes Earth to spread its iniquity elsewhere. C.S Lewis -
sroy2001 — 9 years ago(December 26, 2016 09:22 AM)
I'd say probably the wealthiest man in town,like Mr. Potter was in IAWL, but not anywhere near the top of the wealthiest persons in England. Just based on his business alone, he really wasn't running a big company. It was a very small operation - him and Cratchet, so how much could he actually be drawing? His wealth primarily came from being a miser and saving all of his money.
-
jsk32870 — 9 years ago(January 06, 2017 10:23 PM)
Definitely not the wealthiest man in town. Reading the story, when Scrooge is with the Future Ghost, they come upon two men talking in the street:
"He (Scrooge) knew these men, also, perfectly. They were men of business: very wealthy, and of great importance. He had made a point always of standing well in their esteem: in a business point of view, that is; strictly in a business point of view."
If Scrooge made a point of 'making sure he looked good' in front of these guys, that indicates they outranked him, financially and socially. -
dannieboy20906 — 9 years ago(December 26, 2016 03:52 PM)
I think he was affluent rather than wealthy. He was no longer young, but not yet ancient. So, he may have been able to 'retire,' but he was probably not sufficiently secure with his level of wealth to do so. It is largely left open to conjecture and the film states that he was the sole inheritor of Marley's estate. Still, he was a money lender and changer, not a large business owner. He operated a small counting house, not a major bank or insurance company. He clearly felt the need to be at business every morning in the Exchequer to keep making money.
The story is set contemporaneously to when it was written, about 1840. To get an approximate feel for wealth, take a modern figure and divide by 100, also keep in mind that 1 pound sterling in 1840 is worth about $4.86. That is a very rough approximation. Millionaires are rare and I am pretty sure that billionaires are unheard of. A laborer in the United States is paid $1.00 per day. A person can live, frugally and alone, not supporting a family, on $200 per year. Mr. Cratchit's salary of 15s 6p per week is 807s or 40 pounds 7 shillings sterling per year. That translates to 200 1840 dollars American, perhaps $20,000 today.
Various stories set in the period that I have read suggest that 35 pounds per annum is enough for an individual, but one would want to earn at least four times that much to raise a family. Many people never married because they could never afford to. My wild guess would be that Scrooge earned about as much in a week as Cratchit did in a year. Scrooge's annual salary would be 52 x 40 or 2080 pounds sterling. This would be a good income that would allow him to live comfortably, but little enough that a financial paranoid would be afraid of losing that income.
Remember as you think about this, there is no Social Security, 401k plans, IRA's, and so forth. One bad investment, if it requires too large a percentage of Scrooge's acquired wealth, can leave him impoverished. The original story suggests that something like that happened to Fezziwig. One day he is buzzing along, training two apprentices and throwing parties for his staff, and suddenly the offices are empty and he has no business. At this time there is no life insurance and no medical insurance. Nor are there vaccinations against influenza, measles, mumps, German measles (Rubella), or chicken pox. There are also no antibiotics, so there is little use for medical insurance, anyway. (the following is speculation) The number one killer for men is farm accidents and the number one killer for women is child birth.
The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank. -
dannieboy20906 — 9 years ago(February 07, 2017 05:34 AM)
Yes, I think you are right. Such is not an entirely 'fairy tale' reality. People enjoy doing business more with a person who is basically happy and projects that attitude. It is pleasant to be with pleasant people, even when business is business.
The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.