We recently learned that Kevin McCallister was actually in charge of “Home Alone” – and now the Internet has its eyes on Clark Griswold…and that mysterious bonus check.
A Reddit The recently launched thread dives deep into the question of what kind of dough Chevy ChaseThe character in “Christmas Vacation” expected what he ended up getting and what he even did for work… which remains unanswered in the film.
It’s not as sophisticated or scientific as the New York Times article that broke down the “Home Alone” Financesbut it’s interesting… because a lot of people seem to have good guesses.
Based on clues left in the film, one user – who sort of takes the lead on all the investigating here – suggests that Clark was some sort of chemical engineer at a grain company… and that his salary at the time probably landed in the ballpark of around $75,000 to $80,000 in 1989.
If this is true, these online accountants estimate that Sparky may have been expecting a pretty hefty bonus of around 20-25%…do the math, and that’s probably a bonus of around $20,000.
He also mentioned having already put down a $7,500 deposit and hoping the check would cover the rest – and based on some historical data… people say that number of checks for pool construction in the late 80s .Clark hoped for (but didn’t get) a five-figure bonus.
Of course, that’s not exactly how things played out – at first anyway – in the holiday classic. Clark gets stiffed by his boss and his cousin Eddie kidnaps the guy to force him to stand up. In the end, the company CEO distributes the bonus – plus an additional 20%.
Ultimately, the Internet suspects, Clark walked away with around $24,000… more than enough to install the pool and pay for it in full. Not bad for the clumsy Griswolds!
It turns out that all of our favorite Christmas movie characters were pretty well off in the 20th century. But something tells us that they would suffer in 2023: these gifts are expensive!
