Editing Donald Duck universe (section)

== Recurring elements ==

===Number One Dime===
The Number One Dime (sometimes also called Lucky Dime in some games) is the first [[coin]] that [[Scrooge McDuck]] ever earned (or, according to some stories, produced). The Number One Dime first appeared in the story ''The Round Money Bin'', created by [[Carl Barks]] and first published in ''[[Uncle Scrooge]]'' #3 (September, 1953).<ref name='US3'>{{cite book | last1 = Barks | first1 = Carl | author-link1 = Carl Barks | title = Uncle Scrooge #3 | publisher = Walt Disney Company | date = September 1953}}</ref> In this story, the dime is so old that it has become thin as a razor blade and allows Scrooge to cut binding ropes and escape from the Beagle Boys. In later stories, it is insinuated that the dime brings good luck to Scrooge and has helped him become a rich man. In some stories, he instantly starts losing money whenever the dime is no longer in his possession. In fact, in some series, Scrooge is so attached to the dime that he becomes hysterical, to the point of losing his mind, whenever he loses possession of the dime.

It is never made clear whether the dime actually brings good [[luck]], or if Scrooge merely believes in it so much that he is distressed and makes bad decisions whenever he no longer has his [[Dime (United States coin)|dime]]. Since Barks never actually said that it was because of the coin that Scrooge was the richest duck in the world, Don Rosa, after various informational exchanges with Barks, for a faithful production of ''The Life and Times Of Scrooge McDuck'', clarified that the Number One Dime is not actually an amulet, and that this vision was just a myth. The Number One Dime is just a sentimental object that happens to be the first coin Scrooge received for his work. Rosa made clear, also, that Scrooge made his fortune working hard and being honest.<ref name='NOD'>{{cite web|url=http://duckman.pettho.com/characters/dime.html |title=The number one dime |access-date=2011-04-11 |last=Grøsfjeld jr. |first=Sigvald |work=The D.U.C.K.man |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514101229/http://duckman.pettho.com/characters/dime.html |archive-date=2011-05-14 }}</ref> This point is heavily reinforced in the ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]]'' TV series where Scrooge tells his nephews about the value of hard earned cash.

The dime is a key plot point in practically every story featuring [[Magica De Spell]], a character invented by Carl Barks, as the main villain. Magica believes that by stealing the first coin earned by the richest person in the world and melting it down to a magical [[amulet]], she can gain the power of the ancient [[King Midas]], so that everything she touches becomes [[gold]] and she can be rich beyond her wildest dreams. The fact that this will only work if the coin indeed belongs to the richest person in the world at the time, and is the first coin that person earned, is crucial, and is made into a plot point in some stories. However, the dime only has magical value because of these circumstances and not on its own. Magica once successfully stole the Dime while helping the Beagle Boys rob McDuck, stopping when she realized this would mean McDuck would no longer be the world's richest person, rendering the Dime worthless.

According to a comic story by [[Don Rosa]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Last of the Clan McDuck (D 91308) {{!}} I.N.D.U.C.K.S. |url=https://inducks.org/s.php?c=D+91308 |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=inducks.org}}</ref> it is an 1875 [[United States Seated Liberty coinage|Seated Liberty]] [[dime (U.S. coin)|dime]], but in a comic story written by Pat and Carol McGreal and drawn by Maximino Tortajada Aguilar,<ref>See Kalle Anka & C:o issue 1-2/2010 p. 66-69.</ref> the last two digits have been swapped, making it an 1857 [[Seated Liberty dime]].

Scrooge earned the dime in 1877 in his hometown of [[Glasgow]], when he started working as a shoeshine boy on his tenth birthday.<ref name="LTSM">''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck]]'' by Don Rosa</ref> Before that it belonged to [[Howard Rockerduck]] (the father of [[John D. Rockerduck]]). The customer who paid it to him, a ditch-digger called Burt, seemingly "cheated" Scrooge. In reality, Scrooge's father, [[Fergus McDuck]], gave Burt the dime specifically for paying Scrooge for his services. Scrooge McDuck never learned that fact, although Fergus did reveal it to Scrooge's sisters Matilda and Hortense. Burt and Magica De Spell, who learned about this when she traveled in time to the day Scrooge earned the Dime, are the only other ones who know. McDuck kept it as a reminder not to be fooled again in the future. When he emigrated to the [[United States|US]] three years later, he carried it with him. Scrooge still has the dime and keeps it on a pillow under glass because of its sentimental value. [[Donald Duck]], [[Huey, Dewey, and Louie]], and [[Gladstone Gander]] among many others think it is really a lucky charm, but Scrooge himself rejects any claims beyond sentimentality.<ref name='NOD' />

===The Junior Woodchucks===
{{main|Junior Woodchucks}}

The Junior Woodchucks are the [[Scouting]] organization to which [[Huey, Dewey, and Louie]] belong. They have a uniform with a [[coonskin cap]]. The Junior Woodchucks were created by [[Carl Barks]] in 1951, in the story "Operation St. Bernhard" (''[[Walt Disney's Comics and Stories]]'' #125). Later stories introduced a similar organization for girls, [[The Junior Chickadees|Junior Chickadees]], to which [[Daisy Duck]]'s nieces, [[April, May and June]] belong. The hallmark of the Junior Woodchucks is their spirited dedication to [[environmental protection]] and [[animal welfare]], as well as the preservation of [[knowledge]] and the furtherance of [[science]]. They are also known for their exalted titles and ranks (Huey, Dewey, and Louie being promoted to become ''Ten-Star Generals'' in the 1952 story of the same name) and the awarding of buckets of badges, along with severe ideals as to decorum. In this way Barks poked gentle but pointed satire at aspects of the Boy Scouts.

===Bombastium===
Bombastium is a [[List of fictional elements, materials, isotopes and atomic particles|fictional chemical element]].<ref name='BB'>''Uncle Scrooge'' #17 by [[Carl Barks]]</ref> Its [[atomic number]] and atomic symbol are unknown. Bombastium is stated to be the rarest element in the world. Even though it is very coveted, its usage potential is not entirely known. One characteristic is that it tastes different every time you try it, and scientists eventually discovered that one atom of bombastium dropped into a barrel of water becomes one barrel of [[ice cream]] &ndash; a different flavor of ice cream each time. The element is orange-brown in color and is about the size of a [[soccer ball]]. To avoid evaporation, bombastium must be kept frozen.

The only piece of bombastium known to exist was found in the [[Belgian Congo]], and it was soon after its discovery acquired by [[Scrooge McDuck]] in the 1957 story "A Cold Bargain" by Carl Barks, but at that time it was also heavily sought after by the hostile nation of [[#Brutopia|Brutopia]]. Brutopia's military spending budget that year amounted to one trillion dollars plus all the kitchen sinks of its happy people. [[Scrooge McDuck]] therefore had to pay one trillion dollars plus six kitchen sinks to win the auction.

The element was also used for the 5-part ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]]'' episode "[[Time is Money (DuckTales)|Time is Money]]", which introduced [[List of DuckTales characters#McDuck household|Bubba the Caveduck]]. In this cartoon episode, bombastium is the fuel for one of [[Gyro Gearloose]]'s inventions, a [[time travel]]ing [[helicopter]] named the Millennium Shortcut. The bombastium itself must be kept frozen in order for it to be usable as fuel (a small [[freezer]] is equipped on board the Shortcut for this purpose). Otherwise, the Shortcut could not travel through time.

One of the treasures that can be obtained in the computer game ''[[DuckTales: The Quest for Gold]]'' is bombastium. Unlike the other treasures, bombastium is worth more than just money, as Gyro Gearloose can use it to build a matter transporter which takes away the risk of flying from place to place while having the possible downside of sending the player to a location they had not intended to go.

===Squiggs===
'''Squiggs''' are fairly small fish that are typically eaten "oolated". Squiggs were first mentioned in the Carl Barks ten-pager "Turkey Trouble" where, in one panel, a can of "oolated squiggs" can be seen as a background detail. Don Rosa later used the fish as a key plot element in the story "[[Oolated Luck]]".

Conserved oolated squiggs are fairly cheap and wholesome food but taste particularly bad, and smell worse. [[Donald Duck]] and [[Gladstone Gander]] once took part in a competition organized by a company producing oolated squiggs, where the grand prize was an [[ocean liner]] cruise. Donald won the grand prize and Gladstone won a year's supply of oolated squiggs.