Scrooge's billionaires club

[Daniel van Eijmeren]

In private, Frank Bubacz and I had a discussion about the creation of 
Scrooge's billionaires club. You can read it below. Any information, 
questions, or comments, are welcome!

F = Frank
D = me

F> -Scrooge's billionaires club isn't a Barks creation, as he first 
F> used it in a story not written by himself: The Christmas Cha Cha!

D> This makes me curious if the billionaires club has been used before 
D> "The Christmas Cha Cha!". 

F> Actually I learnt in the meantime that there is an earlier (Barks-
F> written!) story that contains something comparable: The Titanic Ants. 
F> I don't know, however, if the name 'billionaires club' is mentioned.

D> In the opening panel, Donald says that "today is the date of the 
D> Duckburg BILLIONAIRES PICNIC!" I haven't found other references in 
D> the story.

Note: The INDUCKS story code of "The Titanic Ants" is "W DD 60-02".)

D> BTW. Barks rewrote scripts, which hasn't always been documented. If 
D> "The Christmas Cha Cha!" is the first story with the club, then there 
D> still might be a chance that it was created by Barks.

F> The chance is there, but my instincts tell me it wasn't Barks' idea to 
F> use it in that story, because he would probably have given it more of a 
F> function. (Or does it have? Can't really remember...)

D> If I remember well, the club has a function. Scrooge is worried about 
D> the bad reputation of the club, and then the club lures him into doing 
D> something about it by giving away a prize for the best dancing couple.

F> Still, it was not really necessary to use the club, because Scrooge 
F> could have been worried about his own reputation instead. In the 'Ants' 
F> story there is a reason for it to be included, as Barks seems to have 
F> aimed for the main sight gag of upper class snobs in embarrassing 
F> situations.

Note: This is the point were Frank and I agreed to continue the discussion 
here, on DCML.

--- Daniël