Do you remember the Universal Monsters?
You’d be hard pressed to find somebody who doesn’t have a memory of Bela Lugosi’s turn in Dracula, Boris Karloff’s disturbing portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster or Lon Chaney Jr.’s incredible transformation from Larry Talbot into the Wolf Man…
However, more people have more terrifying memories of the economy during the heyday of the Universal Monsters than of the creatures themselves – as they rose to prominence during the Great Depression.
After the crash of the stock market in 1929 – everybody became scared.
My friend once told me stories of how his grandmother was scared out of her mind while walking home from seeing Dracula, anticipating that the legendary vampire would step out of the shadows at any moment to drink her dry…
But she also told him that was a cake walk compared to the times that she had to watch as a store clerk would write her family’s name down on the ledger for taking a loaf of bread on credit because they couldn’t afford it.
Experts contend that the reason the Universal Monsters became so popular was due mainly to the fact that their every day lives were so stressful – that they needed an escape, any escape from their reality – and the creatures spit forth from Universal during the 1930’s and 1940’s gave them exactly that.
It wasn’t until after WWII that the American economy was able to pull itself out of the muck and mire of the Dust Bowl Era and put this country on track to become the most powerful nation this planet has ever seen.
And while there is no direct correlation with those horrific creatures and the eventual economic recovery – it’s hard to say where we would have gone as a nation had we not had the ability to mentally escape the hardships of those times.
Now – fast forward 80 years…
What types of movies would you say have been the most popular brand of movies for the past decade?
I think it’s no secret that super hero movies have made BILLIONS of dollars since 2005’s premier of Batman Begins…
Then came Spiderman, Captian America, IronMan, etc.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these movies continued to do well throughout the time we’ve taken to calling “The Great Recession” – a time, once again when American consumers were scared.
What were they afraid of? Well, a depression of course – they were afraid of losing their money, losing their jobs or losing their homes – and the more terrified our population became, the more popular the movies starring their super powered heroes became.
They needed an escape. The same escape American’s needed 80 years earlier.
Did it work? Well, it’s too early to tell – but all signs are pointing towards the inclination that we are headed in the right direction, economy-wise, and with a little care – we might be able to right the ship.
While our markets may be in a limbo now due to the election – it’s hard NOT to harbor some optimism for the years to come.
You can bet that GorillaTrades will be taking advantage of any economic movement – whether it be an upswing or a downturn – our trading service has a history of producing easy winners.
We’d like to see you among our subscribers! I’m sure you’d love the kind of profits we could produce if given the chance…
But if not – here’s to hoping all of your returns are of the SUPER-sized variety!
“Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.” – Bob Riley