Where did Baggins Money come from?

[herlig9]

Good at savings, less spending

 

[Deimos]

"Save more than you spend.
Put something aside for a rainy day.
Whenever possible use OPM."

 

[Corriedale]

Which Audio book if I may ask? I know of the one by Rob Inglis

This one ( Phil Dragash) was done by a fan and is free, and is truly excellent. I listened on Spotify.

 

[Ent]

That last meaning it even outdid anything in the Tooklands.

Yes, @Squint-eyed Southerner moves closer to an answer to the question.
Where did "Bilbo's" money come from? From his inheritance.
However, the question is, where did his ancestry get their money?
The Hobbits seem so 'down to earth', so unconcerned about wealth for the most part (except for Lobelia at firat), though obviously since everybody was obviously aware of everyone else's wealth, they seem to fit the 'everyman' category of life...unabashed busybodies prone to involvements in rumor and speculation aplenty.

But what do we see among the Hobbits, or in Hobbiton or surrounds, indicating the 'production of wealth' ? We know there were mills. We know there were farms (farmer Maggot e.g.), - but how do we believe hobbits came to be and managed to get healthily and deeply involved in the 'production' of personal wealth?

(Bilbo apparently did nothing personally, to add to his wealth, living off the inheritance he was provided.. all in all, as one author has noted, very much like Smaug sitting on his treasure, knowing it well, but not gaining any real value from it - though to a degree I disagree with the particular author in his too close association of Bilbo's condition at the beginning of his Adventure with Smaugs. There are great similarities, but there are significant differences as well.)

So back to it... how do we believe Hobbits generated wealth?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Yes, the basis of the Shire economy lay in agriculture, which generates its own kind of wealth -- but trade with the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains, as indicated in UT, would also bring material wealth to those able to produce excess food for sale.

On the subject of the wealth/class imbalance, factors beyond the control of hobbits could have contributed, such as the Great Plague of 1636, and the Long Winter of 2758. Very many died, no doubt leaving a lot of farmland empty. Survivors would have put these under cultivation, generating more wealth, as the land slowly repopulated.

There's a real-world parallel in 15th century Europe, recovering from the waves of Black Plague in the previous century. In fact, the accumulation -- or to put it in a negative light, the "concentration" -- of wealth, in the period, has been argued to have led directly to the Renaissance.

 

[Ent]

Excellent inclusions, @Squint-eyed Southerner. Circumstances do provide opportunities, for those positioned to leverage them.
Some may, as I recall, have indulged in the industry of tobaccos, (Longbottom Leaf (and maybe others?) comes to mind)... part of that agrarian business obviously extending beyond the local confines.
An interesting study. How did each area serve its local citizenry in terms of 'accomplishment of sustainability and accumulation of wealth' for itself? I wonder if any books exist already dealing with this area of interest.

Anyone with ideas/input, let me know please.

 

[Olorgando]

Accumulation of wealth in our modern sense presupposes the establishment of cities as centers of power, where the surpluses of first agriculture and then trade in luxury goods for the ruling class (in those cities) lead to immense wealth of those ruling classes. That's basically what broke down at the end of the Bronze Age around 1200 BC, an important factor probably being a disturbance of the trade in tin, the much rarer component needed to be added to copper to produce bronze (important factor, note, not nearly the only or even major one).
Michel Delving, the largest town in the Shire, seems to fall far short of any definition of city even of the Bronze Age, or even late Neolithic (Jericho was ancient, several thousands of years, though not continually settled, by the time some guys with trumpets are alleged to have shown up there). In a way the same holds true for Edoras, capital (fortress) of a people still partially adhering to nomadic traditions. Or even Minas Tirith, when compared to Osgiliath.
So where can we look for a useful model of the Shire? JRRT often described it as resembling his early childhood home of Sarehole. Ummm, yes, but there's no Birmingham nearby. Unless you want to see the Dwarf dwellings nearby as an equivalent. Hobbits trading agricultural products for more complicated smith-works makes sense. Hard to imagine such an idyllic place anywhere in human history. But then the Northern Rangers protected it (and Bree, and ...) from dangers the Hobbits were not (no longer, perhaps never) capable of dealing with themselves. Neolithic farmers with some decidedly modern accessories and wealth distribution aspects? 🤔

 

[Ent]

It seems a bit of a puzzle, does it not?

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Found some older threads on this topic and merged them in