Comments on: Real Millionaire

By: bbb

bbb — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:46:14 +0000

Haha, I know, why did they always point that out?

By: Coco

Coco — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:29:00 +0000

And why do they they always have to point out he is balding? It’s always like “Last summer, Kristy’s mom married this balding millionaire…” I guess those are his two most important traits!

By: greer

greer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:15:50 +0000

@abby: i think dawn’s dad is rich, but not AS rich as watson, despite orange county real estate prices. remember dawn’s dad did not buy the house today, he bought it like thirty years ago if you think of when dawn was introduced as having lived near anaheim. so current socal real estate prices are not important–one needs to look at them from thirty years ago to get an accurate picture of dawn’s financial status. but i know that enormous houses in the long-time wealthiest part of connecticut have always been incredibly expensive.

i agree that probably the stoneybrook parents are just cheap.

By: Abby

Abby — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:50:24 +0000

Oh yeah, I forgot one other thing that might explain the girls needing to pay for their own stuff– Aren’t a couple of the parents really tight with a buck? I remember a few references to Mr. Spier being a major cheapskate (which probably affects Dawn’s mom too), and for some reason the Kishis always struck me as penny pinchers as well. After supporting Mal’s who family Mr. Pike probably can’t afford too many extras. Really, the only parents who spend freely are Stacey’s. (I don’t know Abby, I stopped reading after Dawn moved away).

It’s all a moot point anyway– even though Kristy’s stepdad’s a millionaire, she still pays for all her own stuff anyway.

I think the millionaire thing is probably so emphasized because ANM was a little weak on character development- “This is Watson, he is a millionaire” is about all the insight I got into him (at least until book #67, which is when I stopped reading regularly). Just like, this is Claudia’s mom, she doesn’t like Nancy Drew, or this is Dawn’s mom, she’s remarried and possibly schizophrenic.

By: Abby

Abby — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:27:03 +0000

Well, it depends on where exactly the house is, but I would imagine Dawn is close enough to the beach (maybe it’s only a few miles, but it’s by way of freeways which make it impossible to bike?) where the houses do go for close to a million. I spent some time looking at houses (just for fun, I was on vacation there over the summer) and I saw an 1,100 square foot house a few miles away from the ocean going for $900,000. Of course, there are lots of other SoCal areas that go for less, but I always got the impression she lived pretty close to the ocean. In on of the books, (I believe Farewell Dawn?) she says she went to the beach everyday.

However, if Watson’s house truly was in the $10,000,000 range, then despite how much money the other parents made, he would probably be in a class by himself.

I think the best way to explain the girls having to buy all their own stuff was that ANM wrote them like they were in their late teens anyway-not maturity wise, but they were always solely responsible for things (like Jessi in charge for a weekend with her siblings, or Stacey taking some of the younger kids to Epcot Center alone, all the girls having permission to wander NYC by themselves). Parents weren’t around to watch their children, I guess they also weren’t around to pay for things either.

By: greer

greer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:27:02 +0000

@abby: i don’t think dawn’s house is that near the beach. she can’t even get there by riding her bicycle–she has to have someone drive her or take a bus. if that kind of proximity drives small houses into the millions, i don’t see how southern california can be so populated.

it is always implied that stacey is rich. what i am confused about is why only kristy’s wealth is really mentioned.

By: Abby

Abby — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:49:47 +0000

$10,000,000? Really? I’ve never been to CT so I’ll take your word for it. I know there are some really expensive properties on the east coast but I didn’t know that about where the girls are supposed to be.

To say that Jack could buy Watson several times over was an exaggeration, but still, even a small house near the beach in Southern California would be upwards of a million (today anyways).

My best guess is Ann just liked the word “millionaire” since probably all BSC parents had incomes into the 6 figures, and assets close to or in the millions.

I do think, however, it’s implied, either in Poor Mallory or maybe Kristy and the Snobs (one of the books where Stacey babysits the Delaneys), that Stacey’s dad pulls down a salary pretty even with the rich parents.

By: greer

greer — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:25:49 +0000

@penny: i didn’t really notice it either and also thought that it was weird that they had to pay for so much stuff but in all honesty my family is pretty wealthy so i guess that is why.

By: chicken_queen

chicken_queen — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:19:29 +0000

I know Kristy’s mom works in advertising, becuase Karen goes to work with her in one of the Little Sister books.

By: penny

penny — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:08:01 +0000

I think Watson is old money, plus whatever he makes. Do we ever hear about Watson’s parents?

I also never had a problem with the other girls being “wealthy” when I was growing up. To be honest, I never really noticed it. I thought they were just average people, like me and my friends. *shrug* I actually thought it was weird that they had to pay for so much stuff on their own.

I know, it’s horrible. Sometimes, I sound so spoiled.