# You're a time traveler to the late 1800s. What do you do for money? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546 "2021-05-20T13:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/81 "2021-05-22T19:09:09Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Just to be different, I’m going to answer the OP’s question: Silver and/or gems. Just to be different, you are going to answer options already discussed in the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/82 "2021-05-22T19:12:05Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I still like meds as a long-term source of money, though. Sure, start with some silver to set yourself up. But you could make a decent living as a doctor, and explain that you learned your skills (and acquired your weird accent) somewhere in the far east. Of course it helps if you’re already a doctor before traveling in time. (And by the way, if you decide on gold or silver, you’ll want to make sure the markings don’t identify it as being from a later date. Gold is soft, so perhaps bang it up so the markings aren’t identifiable?) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/83 "2021-05-22T20:11:18Z")
I was thinking of mostly bringing over-the-counter stuff, that we all know how to use. NSAIDs like ibuprofen, antacids like Pepcid and Prilosec. Antifungals that you can buy for athlete’s foot. Antihistamines and decongestants and expectorants. Yeah, I suppose I’d also want some broad spectrum antibiotics and I imagine there’d be money in viagra. But I wasn’t thinking of attempting to treat diabetes or hypertension or cancer. Just common ailments that are easy to treat with the right meds. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/84 "2021-05-22T20:13:43Z")
Sure but you’re also going to have patients presenting with wounds, possibly infected ones, or unexplained illness, where it’s not clear what OTC med is appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/85 "2021-05-22T20:14:57Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Just to be different, you are going to answer options already discussed in the thread? I’m answering the question that was asked. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/86 "2021-05-22T20:39:36Z")
I wonder if a carefully curated selection of seeds would be valuable. You can pack a whole lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/87 "2021-05-22T20:40:45Z")
and perfectly legal also … ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/88 "2021-05-22T21:12:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > > > t’s ten times more likely that your accent, style of speaking, terminology, and mannerisms will mark you out as some weird kind of ill-bred foreigner. > > Just tell people you’re a city slicker from out east. A lot of the people out west moved there from back east - they know you were weird for back eastern city slickers. I was glad someone mentioned the stock market - invest in American Express and it’ll do you well for a number of years (get in on Sears when it goes public and it will do amazing things), but of of course, as mentioned, that takes a while, and you have to have money to start. Food and clothing were much more expensive (relative to income) in general. If out west, I want a city, even a small one. By the mid 1880s, they would have running water (some with sewer systems) and electricity available, and those are good to have. So is being able to send your clothes to the steam laundry. But I have to be able to afford it. I do like the old bills that several mentioned. Silver was cool, too, but heavier in weight. Leadville, if early enough, or Cripple Creek - good if you can get in early and know the right mine. I know the area, but not which particular place. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/89 "2021-05-22T21:23:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Heck there are risks in killing a butterfly. Ok, that decides it. I’ll be taking gold instead of my entymology kit. By the way, would it be less suspicious if my gold looks less like bars, and more like I panned/dug it out myself? (Ooh, then I’d _git ta do muh ol’ pros-speck-a-ter voice, ya dadgum willywhacker!)_ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/90 "2021-05-23T00:50:52Z")
Rough-cast bars of a smaller weight would likely be best. Make them look like they were made from placer gold melted down and cast by a blacksmith or such. Less suspicious. Then follow the advice others have given and buy Standard Oil/Coca-Cola shares. As an alternative, beat Bob Hope to the punch and buy the San Fernando Valley while it’s still brush. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/91 "2021-05-23T02:48:17Z")
I think silenus wins for both most informative and most amusing answer. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/92 "2021-05-23T03:45:19Z")
Are there any spices that have gone way down in relative cost since then? Perhaps something which was rare but now is farmed in great quantities? Although I suppose one issue with spices is the time it would take to sell enough to live comfortably. You’d essentially have to be a spice distributer. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/93 "2021-05-23T11:42:53Z")
While gold has vastly outpaced inflation, silver is close to 1:1 depending on where you land [Historical Silver Prices](https://www.denvergold.org/precious-metal-prices-charts/historical-silver-prices/) 1800 → 1.24/oz t 1864-\> 2.73 1886-\> .99 Dec 31 2020 → 20.53 [$1 in 1800 is worth $21.19 today](https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1800?amount=1#:~:text=Dollar%20inflation%3A%201800-2021%20%20%20%20Year%20,%20%205.61%25%20%20109%20more%20rows%20) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/94 "2021-05-23T13:11:31Z")
That site also puts the value of a 1915 dollar at $26, so ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/95 "2021-05-23T15:26:46Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > You think there would be a market for pornography in the old west? Photos existed but we super expensive to acquire, how much money could I make selling my Inherited collection of Playboys and selling each nude page separately? I can’t find a cite now, but I’ve read of “French pictures” being found in the possessions of dead Civil War soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/96 "2021-05-23T22:55:44Z")
I think I’d go with vodka. I can buy it for $0.01 per oz at 40 proof so there should be a decent profit margin even if I can only sell it for $1/bottle. The hardest part historically is the bottle not matching the time so maybe whiskey would be better especially if I could go through in a cart carrying several dozen barrels. That would be harder to make money since whiskey is so expensive right now. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/97 "2021-05-24T01:30:39Z")
Since vodka was virtually unknown in this country until the 1930s, and in the late 1800s everybody and his brother was making whiskey, I’d think that would be very iffy. Hard to transport as well. How are you going to eat until you can find a buyer? Take the hit on gold and silver and make up for it with _knowledge_. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/98 "2021-05-24T01:49:45Z")
Vodka may be unknown but “this shit will get you fucked up” will sell well in the mining towns and cattle drives. Sure I’m not choosing New York but Denver was basically nothing but cowboys and miners in 1876. Keep in mind the Coors brewery wasn’t founded until 1873 so depending on exactly what year I jump to the competition will be thin. I’ve got a couple IRS tables to look up how many distilleries there were and what they made but I’ll have to do that at work tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/99 "2021-05-24T01:55:32Z")
I just checked on ebay- you can buy old _no longer valid_ $100 banknotes from that period for about $100 or so. Canal Bank New Orleans, The Bank of Brighton, etc. See, once the face value is no longer valid, the collectible value is not based upon the face value. So buy a dozen of these or more. "“enough to open a nice little feed and grain store”. My thought was to bring back a bunch of Vet tetracycline and cure VD on patients. People would easily pay $20- $100 for that. Patent medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2021, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546/100 "2021-05-24T08:35:08Z")
I think some notes plus silver/rubies for serious wealth portability is probably the best answer, but just for the sake of offering a different approach I’m going to go with the McFly Gambit and suggest: a guitar. This only really applies if you’ve got the musical talent to perform competently. But this is a pre-electricity era where people have to make their own entertainment or pay others to perform it live for them. Prayer-meetings, the whorehouse and riding round the town square firing pistols in the air\* will only fill so many hours. And the edge that you will have over other troubadours is that you can learn the stuff that’s going to be popular next year ahead of time. A little musicological study will enable you to build a repertoire that’s all killer, no filler. A pass of the hat should get you enough bona fide currency on your first night for decent lodgings and a meal and then the world is your oyster. If you’re not musical, ripping off the vaudeville routines of the early 1900s should work pretty well too, though this is probably a two player game. \*Yeah, I’ve done my research [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-time-traveler-to-the-late-1800s-what-do-you-do-for-money/942546.md?page=6)