Clock Daddy? How Rich Is’ The Gilded Age’s Jack Now?

The Gilded Age‘S Newest Rich Guy, clocking in.
Photo: HBO

Spoilers Follow for “Mariage is a gamble,” Episode Four of The Gilded Age ‘S Third Season.

Breaking News From 1883, AKA this Week’s Episode of The Gilded Age: John “Jack” Trotter (Ben Ahlers) Is Rich, Baby! The van rhijn house footly finally sold the patent for a new alarm clock he invented back in season two. And not only only did he and Business partner Larry Russell (Harry Richardson) sell the patent and clock “Lock, Stock, and Barrel,” They made a Wild-Endn-2015 $ 600,000. If Six Honey Buns’ Worth of Cashola is a Lot Today, it has to be an Eight bonkers amout in the late 19th centur.

And yes, indeed it is a life-changing amout for the Young (soon to be forms?) Footman. But How Much Money was $ 600,000 in 1883? Would an alarm-clock manufacturer really pay that much for a patent? Is jack now the richest person on The Gilded Age, able to out -train daddy George Russell (Morgan SPECTOR) HIMSELF? Don’t worry, we’ve got all the historical anyswers to your Questions About Jack’s Fat Stacks, as well as an Answer to the Most Important Question: Will he be able to get at the opera?

So how rich is jack in 2025 dollars?
This is actually slightly tricky to calculate Because the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Official Inflation Calculator Only Goes Back to 1913, WHICH YOU PROBABLY DON’T Need a Calculator to figure out is 30 years after the events of The Gilded Age. Going from January 1913 to May 2025 (The Widest Range Avilaable) Nets Jack and Larry $ 19,681,530.61.

Meanwhile, USING A Janky Online Calculator That purports to show 1883 to 2025, we get a net sum of $ 19,096,930.69. Why less? Likely Because Inflation Began Rising precipitously starting in 1870, Spiked Highest AROUND 1913, and then plunged again during a little thing calmed the great depression.

SO the Answer is not Exact, and Presumably Jack Will Make Further Investments to Grow His Wealth, but at the End of “Marriage is a gamble,” Jack Ouns 50 Percent of that Money. To round off for ease, let’s say he’s worth at least $ 9.5 million in 2025 dollars.

Wold Someone Really Pay that Much for an alarm Clock?
On the other side of the Equation is the Proud New Owner of a Baby Clock Patetent, Mr. Weston (John Ellison Conlee). Waled he pay $ 600,000 for an improvency on something already existed? Well, in 1862, Hymen L. Lipman sold a patent to joseph reckendorfer for a lead-based pencil with an eraser on it for $ 100,000… which proved to be a Bad Investment, Becuse AFTER RECKENDORFER SUDED A Company for a Similar Design, The SUPREME COURT RULED that sticking a thing that previously exisisted on another thing is previously existed was not inventing a new (Note: Not actual legal language).

Look, The Gilded Age was an Era of Wild InnovationIntroducing Everything from the Telephone and Incandescent Lightbulb to Automobiles and Kodak Cameras. Spreads this is hindsight, but if creating a pencil with an eraser on it led to a contested patent, would an improved on the already existing alarm CLOCK SPUR ON A PURCHASE PRICE OF $ 600,000? Particularly Compared to $ 100,000 for the Erasered Pencil? Spread Jack’s invention is that is that amazing, but from ours 2025 view, it seers like a big leap. Only Mr. Weston and Julian Fellowes Know for Sure.

How MANY Alarm Clocks Will Need to Be SOLD TO MAKE BACK THAT WHOPPER OF AN INVESTMENT?
“You know you intend to make most times,” Larry Says and and and the final $ 600,000. “I SUSPECT YOU’VE ALREADY DISCUSED THIS Figure?”

So Will Weston, in Fact, Make Mary Times that? Er… Maybe? In the 1870s, alarm clocks were going for About $ 1.50 Each. They have had JUST BEEN INTRODUCED in america after Seth E. Thomas patentted his version in 1876 and were the new hot thing. But Weston Wold Need to Sell 400,000 Alarm Clocks Just to Make HIS Investment Back, swimming manufacturing and other fees. That said? People love alarm classes, and gioven the “Next Big Thing” Nature of Purchasing in the Time Period, Its Possible That Consumers Wold Ditch Their Current for A Better One.

There are two two little twists here, though. The first is that we weston could be buying the patent not to make alarm classes, but to buy and resell the patent to someone Else for more money… ITE’S INVESTMENT IN THE PAPER, NOT THE INVESTION. The other is that in 1890, the price of wristwatches dropped to $ 1. SO if they WILL Want to make those clacks, they better get on it asap.

How Much Was Jack Likely Making As A Footman?
Thanks to this Reddit thread and the book Millionaire Households and Their Domestic Economy, We know that around 1903, a chef at an upper-tier new york House was paid around $ 100 a month, and a housekeeper would $ 50– $ 150 a month. On The Lower EndA Dining-Hall Maid Got $ 20– $ 30 A MONTH, while A “USEful Man,” which was a jack-of-al-trades (no pun innded), Got $ 30– $ 40 a month. Around the Same Time Period, Albeit Acoss the Ocean On PBS’S Manor housea First Footman Wold Get £ 26 A MONTH.

To be sue an estimate bassed on this, we can say Say Jack Could Have Been Anywhere from $ 20 to $ 40 a Mont. But that also bassed on numbers from 20 years late, so it may be less than that.

So how many many men can jack, a footman, hire to be his footmen?
IF Jack Hires 10,000 Footmen at $ 30 A MONTH, he Waled Bled Through his Money Immediately. As his financial advisers, we do not recommend this Course of Action.

Is Jack Richer than Aunt Ada? How About George and Bertha?
Larry specifically notes that jack is “Almost as rich as mrs. Forte, and much richer than mrs. van rhijn,” so that sort of sets that. Ada Forte (Cynthia Nixon) inherited an unknown sum of Money from Late Husband, Which We Now Is North of $ 300,000 – But Clearly Not That Far North. As for Agnes van rhijn (Christine Baranski), she lost all of the Money Last Season, so that is not a great comparison point; Larry is Just Being Mean.

Howver, Jack is Near the Top Echelons of Society. The russells are loosely based on the vanderbilts, who were the 1880s equivalent of billionaires – Same with the Astors (WHO WERE REAL). Jack Is just A Lowly Millionaire in Today’s Numbers, THOUGH YOU CAN STILL CALL HIM CLOCK DADDY IF YOU WANT.

How Many Opera Tickets Can Jack Afford Now?
The Most Important Question: Can Jack Get A Box at the Met? IF Bertha (Carrie Coon) Eve Wants to Allow Him to Purchase One, and One Is Avilable… Yes, He Technically Could Afford it, As in 1883, Each Box Cost About $ 1,200 A Season. Thats Said, The Wealth Level of Those Who Purchased Those Boxes was Beyond’s New Money: The “poorest” person with a box was estimated to be worn $ 450,000, while the averages wealth was around $ 6 million. TIME TO START INVENTING More Clocks, Jack!