I'd say Donald is a little younger, but he also debuts six years later. In about 1937-38, he makes the jump from being a school kid to playing the part of the adult, so yeah 1920 seems as good a date as any. (I know it was less common to go to high school in the '30s, but you've got to give him some leeway --- and this is backed up by 1959's This is Your Life, Donald Duck of all things.) It's Goofy's age that's the worst of all, seeing how he starts out as elderly Dippy Dawg in 1932. Is he... older than Mickey or Donald? Younger? Inbetween? It's hard to tell.
Question: Should this discussion be moved to another thread, such as this one? You're absolutely right about This is Your Life, Donald Duck. I believe the animated version states that Donald finished college right before Donald Gets Drafted, which takes place in March 1941 as per the date on Donald's draft card. That would mean Donald was likely born sometime between 1918 and 1922.
As for Goofy, even though he does seem old in his debut, there's nothing concrete to state that he is. Maybe he's just a teenager who grew out a beard and put on his dad's specs. Maybe he's actually acting, and his laughing gag is part of the show. Maybe that's actually not Goofy, but his father, as is supported by House of Mouse.
Yes. Yes, it should. Please. But I can't promise we won't return to this subject at a later stage.
What do you mean, though, by Pete's debut in 1927? I thought Pete the Bear debuted in 1925, and Pete the Cat debuted in 1928?
A mere typo; it is of course 1925 which I meant. Meaning Pete has to have been born in 1906 at the latest by my reckoning… which, come to think of it, allows him to be close enough to the Chirikawa age if we have a circa-1916-born Mickey.
…Though as a matter of fact, I recently dug up an intriguing lead according to which Pete the Cat may in fact have debuted in 1927.
The poetic answer that I came up with is that when characters are immortalized (as in, famous the world over), they stop aging. They don't start out in a floating timeline, but are slowly encased into one. This way, you have their maturation during the 1930s-40s, while still being able to use them in today's world (or the future, as some stories suggest).
That's pretty much canon thanks to Family Ties, that. And very glad I am for it too. (The story doesn't address the why of the phenomenon; I have various, varyingly-serious theories).
That's pretty much canon thanks to Family Ties, that. And very glad I am for it too. (The story doesn't address the why of the phenomenon; I have various, varyingly-serious theories).
Could you point me to that story? I want to see if I can make exceptions to it. Care to explain some of your theories?
In other news, my computer swallowed my half-finished appendix. Welp, back to the drawing board.
This thread got my mind racing, so I decided to write down my two cents regarding the timeline (which includes stories by Gottfredson, Taliaferro, Barks, and Rosa).
- June 9th, 1920-25: Donald is born, or hatched, or whatever. [Note: The Empire-Builder from Calisota mentions that Donald and Della are twins. However, I like the idea of Donald being in his late teens when HDL arrive. This creates a sort of relationship where the immature Donald and the future Junior Woodchucks are kind of raising each other. However, this would mean that Della is a few years older than Donald. I will ignore the twin-line for this reason.]
- 1932: Donald kicks Scrooge in the derriere.
- 1935-40: Donald leaves home and moves in with Uncle Amos in Mouseton (he's not really Donald's uncle, but he lives with him.) Donald has several adventures with Mickey and Goofy during this period. They bust seven ghosts (who turn out to still be alive) and Donald recieves a reward of $1666,67. Donald mentions he'll use the money to buy a house and a boat among other things, not realizing that he isn't super-rich. I propose that he settles for buying the houseboat seen in The Wise Little Hen.
- late 1941/early 1942: As USA joins the WW, Donald tries to enlist. However, he is still too young. [Note: There are cartoons where Donald successfully joins WWII. I suppose they could be placed some time after this.]
- 1942-45: Around this period he visits South America and Mexico, where he meets José Carioca, Panchito Pistolas, and Donna Duck. On the way home to America, he trades in his burro for the 313.
- 1945: At this point in time, Donald lives in a house in Mouseton. There are a number of Taliaferro-strips showing Donald renting houses, so I'm gonna assume this is one of those houses.
- One day Huey, Dewey, and Louie arrive at Donald's house. Since Clarabelle Cow is the next-door neighbor and Goofy is walking the streets, this is still Mouseton. The nephews go back to their parents, but soon return permanently. Some time later, Daisy moves to Donald's neighborhood.
- Christmas, 1945: If Hortense McDuck lives in Duckburg, and Donald and the kids in Mouseton at this point, it makes sense that Best Christmas takes place here, since the Ducks have to travel by horse to reach her. [Note: This only makes sense if Duckburg and Mouseton are neighboring cities, though. Oh, and also this theory assumes that the grandmother in Best Christmas is actually Hortense, and not Elvira.]
- There's a Taliaferro-strip in which Donald can't pay the rent. I infer that the Ducks have to move. Some strips show them trying to find housing in hotels, apartments, and even a greenhouse. At some point, they live in a town called Homeville. All of this culminates in them working as innkeepers in the Bucket o' Blood, as seen in Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. At the end of this story, the Ducks find pirate gold, and presumably uses the treasure to buy a house in Duckburg.
[Note: the Taliaferro-strips referred to are not published in what I propose as the chronological order, so the story arc of the Ducks not finding housing is simply putting scattered pieces together. But I think it's what makes the most sense. Also, Carl Barks was the man who came up with the name 'Duckburg', so I like the idea that the result of his first story is what brings the characters to Duckburg.]
[Note 2: How come Pete doesn't recognize Donald in Pirate Gold if they met in the WWII-cartoons? I don't know.]
- 1945-47: Various Taliaferro-strips and Barks-stories happen here.
- Christmas, 1947: Bear boys.
- early 1948: Scrooge invites Donald and nephews to his new Money Bin, as seen in The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill (new as in "newly armored with a lot of new defense stuff").
- 1948-54: This is where the rest of the post-Scrooge-introduction Taliaferro-, Barks-, and Rosa-stories happen.
- 1955: This is where the last chunk of the Barks-stories happen. Stuff like Daisy growing out her hair and Gladstone turning into a beatnik in The Not-so-Ancient Mariner happen here.
- 1956: At this point HDL would be around 14 years old. Every story using their usual comic-design is in the past. At this point, maybe some version of Quack Pack happens but distorted through a 50s-lens instead of the 90s-version seen on TV?
[Note: I found a potential continuity error in Don Rosa's stories. Alright, stay with me here. According to The Invader of Fort Duckburg, Scrooge arrives in Duckburg 1902. In A Little Something Special, Scrooge celebrates 50 years in Duckburg, meaning that this takes place in 1952. Gyro Gearloose and the giant Cornelius Coot statue are present. The flashbacks of Gyro's First Invention take place "a few months" after the Christmas of A Christmas For Shacktown. Scrooge mentions that the Cornelius Coot statue was built before A Christmas For Shacktown. This means that the statue has to have been erected the year before Gyro invents his invention and joins the cast. And finally, His Majesty, McDuck, tells us that the statue was erected in 1952. So basically, we have the order of (Statue erected) -> (Christmas for Shacktown) -> (a new year) -> (enter Gyro). Since the statue is erected in 1952, Gyro would join in 1953. Yet he and the Little Helper are present in 1952. A possible solution is that the statue in His Majesty, McDuck is simply another statue. Or that the 1952-date on the statue should be changed to 1951. Also, worth noting is that both Flintheart and Magica would have first met Scrooge before 1952, since both appear in A Little Something Special as established bad guys. Flintheart is mentioned as early as Gyro's First Invention, so his introduction takes place even earlier.]
Post by TheMidgetMoose on May 14, 2019 0:44:46 GMT
I'm not going to lie, this thread has got me itching to release my more extensive timelines (not nearly as extensive as I expect That Duckfan's to be). However, I feel like this thread was made more specifically for Duckfan to explain and explore his timeline and to focus almost entirely on Rosa canon, as opposed to the greater Disney comics canon. Should we maybe start up a different thread dedicated to sharing timelines?
This thread got my mind racing, so I decided to write down my two cents regarding the timeline (which includes stories by Gottfredson, Taliaferro, Barks, and Rosa).
LP, I love your timeline! I certainly don't agree with all of it. For example, I believe Donald was born in 1919, and I believe Quack Pack exists in the alternate universe where Ducktales Classic, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, The Legend of the Three Caballeros, and other related properties are canonical. I don't think Quack Pack needs to be altered to fit the timeline of the Ducks who go on adventures in the 40's and 50's, as I see at is existing the separate timeline where the Ducks go on adventures in the 80's and 90's. Besides a few nitpicks like that, I really do love it. I would agree with a lot of it, and I like a lot of your explanations for why the Ducks move from house to house. Good work!
No matter what I say or do, know that Jesus loves you.
I'm not going to lie, this thread has got me itching to release my more extensive timelines (not nearly as extensive as I expect That Duckfan's to be). However, I feel like this thread was made more specifically for Duckfan to explain and explore his timeline and to focus almost entirely on Rosa canon, as opposed to the greater Disney comics canon. Should we maybe start up a different thread dedicated to sharing timelines?
I agree. I certainly don't want to steal Duckfan's spotlight in this thread. A separate thread for timeline-sharing would be neat! Also, I appreciate your enjoyment of my timeline!
I'm not going to lie, this thread has got me itching to release my more extensive timelines (not nearly as extensive as I expect That Duckfan's to be). However, I feel like this thread was made more specifically for Duckfan to explain and explore his timeline and to focus almost entirely on Rosa canon, as opposed to the greater Disney comics canon. Should we maybe start up a different thread dedicated to sharing timelines?
Yeah, this thread was set up to review Rosa stories, with an added timeline feature. It's going to take some time. In hindsight, this was a bad moment to start --- I've got other things I need to work on, and I want to go over these stories pretty extensively. I'm also skipping the appendix for now. Instead, here's an
Addendum to Prologue: Of Names, Orders, and Lists
As it turns out, getting the facts straight on Rosa stories is not as straightforward as it seems. I've compiled a list that I think reflects most accurately the order in which the stories were written, and the titles that I believe most closely resemble his wishes. (If this sounds like unneccary detail, just remember that we're dealing with Rosa stories.) I came across some interesting title changes in the process! To make sure we're all on the same page (and to correct the titles I gave earlier). Inducks varies on capitalization from publisher to publisher (with the Dutch capitalizing basically nothing and Egmont capitalizing everything), and even Rosa and Fantagraphics have made mistakes at times. I believe the rule is to capitalize every word except for articles and prepositions, and I want to be consistent on the matter. With that in mind, here are some stories to look out for. I won't give you the entire list (that would be an appendix), I've used the Fantagraphics collection as a guide for the most part, since it's supposed to print the stories in the order they were made (as opposed to the order in which they were bought, which can be derived from the story codes, or the order in which they were published, which gets pretty fuzzy at the tail ends of both the 1980s and 1990s). I'll only note the ones that deviates significantly.
Fit To Be Pied (AR 108). Occasionally published and referenced as Fit to Be Pied (including by Rosa). In this case, the To is capitalized because it's a noun phrase (as in To Be) rather than a preposition. This also marks the first time I've used the word "noun phrase" in normal conversation, what a landmark.
His Fortune on the Rocks (AR 128). Originally published as Fortune on the Rocks. Rosa occasionally changed his titles for seemingly little reason.
Give Unto Others (H 87178). In this case, I'm letting the capitalization slide as it is a fossilized phrase and a direct reference to the New Testament.
Back in Time for a Dime! (K DTM 90i). I got this one right, but I've seen it in print as Back in Time For a Dime! and that's not right.
The Master Landscapist (D 90057). Inducks has this one down as Master Landscapist and for ages I thought that was the correct title. It is not, apparently. Pays to double-check these things.
Treasure under Glass (D 90227). This one has never been published properly, always as Treasure Under Glass. As Under is a preposition, that's not right. Amazingly, the correct title is right there in the artwork! When Rosa calls it Treasure Under Glass (well, he uses quotation marks for stories and italics for comics and I think that looks silly, but you get the point), he's essentially misquoting himself!
Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies (D 91249). See, this one's sneaky! I had it down as Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies --- which is how the story went out in the 1990s and how it's translated in many countries, because that's the sensible way of summing it up. Rosa had the title changed some before the Gemstone editions of the Life of Scrooge (I'm not sure if he'd already had it changed in foreign translations, but that's the first English reprint) because it's supposed to evoke Lewis Caroll. You know, "of shoes and ships and sealing wax, and carriages and kings!". So, this is one I got wrong in the Prologue.
The Raider of the Copper Hill (D 92083). Known as The King Of The Copper Hill on Inducks (see what I mean with Inducks capitalization?). This might be one of those special European-only titles that Rosa sent to Egmont and then changed his mind on. First published in the United States as King of the Copper Hill.
The Dreamtime Duck of the Never Never (D 92314). So this may originally have been published as Dreamtime Duck of the Never-Never? I'm sure there was a dash on Inducks as well at some point, but the title art got changed at some point (don't have the Gemstone volumes on hand so I can't check there), removing a decoration that could be interpreted as a dash between the Never and the Never in the process. (But since there's a similar decoration between Duck and of, it can be argued that it wasn't meant to read like that. I don't know. It's ambiguous.)
The King of the Klondike (D 92514). Yeah, this story first titled The Phoenix of White Agony Creek and went out to Egmont as The Argonaut of White Agony Creek, which is how it's known in Europe. It was first published in the United States as King of the Klondike. At some point, Rosa decided that all of his Life of Scrooge titles should start with an article, for some reason. Consistency!
Guardians of the Lost Library (D 92380). I followed the article given on Inducks in my Prologue (as The Guardians of the Lost Library, over and over). This is wrong!
The Empire-Builder from Calisota (D 93288). This story was published in Europe as The Richest Duck in the World, which is how it is given on Inducks and at the end of my Prologue. You may have been thinking of...
The Richest Duck in the World (D 92488). Known in Europe and on Inducks as The Recluse of McDuck Manor.
Gyro's Beagletrap (G TEM 9510). Also known as In Case of a Fall (directly translated from the German title, Im Falle der Falle) and Gyro's Beagle Trap (the correct English version). As Rosa is not the writer of this story, and the writer is German, and Beagletrap is a perfectly fine compund word in German (although it really should be Panzerknackerfalle in German), I'm running with the official title. This my main diversion from the Fantagraphics order, they have it down after A Little Something Special but that's clearly two years too late. Other stories have it in similarly unlikely place, or even separate. I have it down between The Lost Charts of Columbus (which was technically published two weeks later that same July 1995, but which must have taken much longer to write as a full 24-page story, so it was likely made 'earlier') and The Incredible Shrinking Tightwad.
Attack of the Hideous Space-Varmints! (D 96203). Listed on Inducks as Attack Of The Hideous Space Monsters. Incidentally, the story comes after Gyro's Beagletrap in the Fantagraphics collection.
Attaaaaaack! (F PM 00201). Originally published in the United States as Attaaack! (after the original French publication, À l'Attaque !!!). I'm not kidding. They changed that. It's got six A's in a row instead of three.
The Dream of a Lifetime! (D 2002-033). Inducks lists this one as The Dream Of A Lifetime. Rosa was getting more and more fond of exclamation marks at the end of his career. I'm surprised he didn't use them for Super Snooper Strikes Again or The Incredible Shrinking Tightwad. The same goes for The Black Knight Glorps Again! (D 2003-235).
A Letter from Home, or The Old Castle's Other Secret (D 2003-081). Inducks just has A Letter From Home, which is the title I'm used to. Rosa this is a story with two titles, which is evidenced by the fact that in its first US publication, it was called The Old Castle's Other Secret, or A Letter From Home (note that From is capitalized here, which as it's a preposition it shouldn't be), the tenth and final Fantagraphics collection is called The Old Castle's Other Secret, in which the story is called A Letter From Home, or The Old Castle's Other Secret (again with the prepositions!). This is the one I'm sticking with and I'm calling it A Letter from Home so as not to confuse people with the original Barks story, The Old Castle's Secret.
The Magnificent Seven (Minus 4) Caballeros! (D 2004-032). Inducks has it down as The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros!. This is the third and last instance of a story gaining an exclamation mark, as it originally went out as The Magnificent Seven (Minus 4) Caballeros. In this case, since neither The Magnificent Seven nor The Three Caballeros originally used exclamation marks, I think it's too much, but I respect Rosa's decision in this matter.
Post by Scrooge MacDuck on May 14, 2019 17:02:03 GMT
Just noting it for any Wiki-editors reading this that while That Duckfan is at full liberty to use whatever conventions he likes, we on the $crooge McDuck Wiki usually use the earliest title for a story, not any given to it in reprints (whether or not that title was suggested by the author). So, still Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies to us, for example.
As a fellow timeline-lover, this thread is going to be a treat to follow!
I'm curious about whether you intend to pin the "present day-" stories down in specific years, or if you'll just stick it in the general present. This is almost as complicated as the UNIT dating controversy, which I'm sure you're familiar with since you mentioned Doctor Who.
I recall (though I can't find the quotation right now) that Rosa wrote that he sees all the "present day" stories (his own and Barks's) happening in a 1950's haze, and doesn't try to figure out a timeline within that haze. It doesn't bother him, for instance, that there may be too many Christmases to fit. He is, though, always charmed when someone puts effort into forming such a timeline. But the fact that he doesn't care about this helps explain why his own present-day stories are not easy to order temporally. And why Huey, Dewey and Louie do not age through the "present day" period, even though you'd need a bunch of years to fit in all the adventures, all the Christmases. They may be a bit younger in WHADALOTTAJARGON, but in the truly "present day" Rosa stories their age is constant. So is everyone else's, of course, but it's the children whose aging would be most obvious, if you were stretching things out over a decade.
I myself lean in that same direction, though I am interested in the timeline of stories leading up to the "present." I have far fewer problems than some of you, because my personal Duck-only canon is so relatively small: most of Barks, almost all of Rosa, somewhere between 150 and 200 selected other comics stories, a very few episodes of DuckTales '87--and the great majority of those occur in the timeline-free present-day haze, which is vaguely mid-20th century. No cartoons other than the aforesaid DT eps, no stories depending on post-1965ish tech (using, possibly, but not depending on...if I can mentally "blip over" a cell phone, it doesn't bother me). In any case, it makes no sense to me to assume that a story "really happened" in the year it was created/published/aired. Though if you enjoy that constraint while you're putting your puzzle together, go for it!
To return to the topic of this thread: it's right down my mostly Barks/Rosa alley, both the timeline of pre-"present day" stories and the focus on Rosa. Much looking forward to this thread, as I re-read Rosa from the Fantagraphics volumes.
Just noting it for any Wiki-editors reading this that while That Duckfan is at full liberty to use whatever conventions he likes, we on the $crooge McDuck Wiki usually use the earliest title for a story, not any given to it in reprints (whether or not that title was suggested by the author). So, still Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies to us, for example.
Coming back to your earlier question about the timeline, I'm not sure if I made it clear: it's not a summation of everything that happens in Rosa stories, only of all the things we see in the stories. Characters being born and ships being sunk, we can infer all that later.
Speaking of ships being sunk, I accidentally glossed over one of my notes in writing the Prologue. This next one fits between Francis Drake and the Hound.
In 1626, Captain Melian of Spain attempts to salvage the sunken treasure armada of 1622. He is unable to retrieve the ships, limited by the technology of his time. (Treasure under Glass)
As a fellow timeline-lover, this thread is going to be a treat to follow!
I'm curious about whether you intend to pin the "present day-" stories down in specific years, or if you'll just stick it in the general present. This is almost as complicated as the UNIT dating controversy, which I'm sure you're familiar with since you mentioned Doctor Who.
I recall (though I can't find the quotation right now) that Rosa wrote that he sees all the "present day" stories (his own and Barks's) happening in a 1950's haze, and doesn't try to figure out a timeline within that haze. It doesn't bother him, for instance, that there may be too many Christmases to fit. He is, though, always charmed when someone puts effort into forming such a timeline. But the fact that he doesn't care about this helps explain why his own present-day stories are not easy to order temporally. And why Huey, Dewey and Louie do not age through the "present day" period, even though you'd need a bunch of years to fit in all the adventures, all the Christmases. They may be a bit younger in WHADALOTTAJARGON, but in the truly "present day" Rosa stories their age is constant. So is everyone else's, of course, but it's the children whose aging would be most obvious, if you were stretching things out over a decade.
I myself lean in that same direction, though I am interested in the timeline of stories leading up to the "present." I have far fewer problems than some of you, because my personal Duck-only canon is so relatively small: most of Barks, almost all of Rosa, somewhere between 150 and 200 selected other comics stories, a very few episodes of DuckTales '87--and the great majority of those occur in the timeline-free present-day haze, which is vaguely mid-20th century. No cartoons other than the aforesaid DT eps, no stories depending on post-1965ish tech (using, possibly, but not depending on...if I can mentally "blip over" a cell phone, it doesn't bother me). In any case, it makes no sense to me to assume that a story "really happened" in the year it was created/published/aired. Though if you enjoy that constraint while you're putting your puzzle together, go for it!
To return to the topic of this thread: it's right down my mostly Barks/Rosa alley, both the timeline of pre-"present day" stories and the focus on Rosa. Much looking forward to this thread, as I re-read Rosa from the Fantagraphics volumes.
Such pressure! Again, it's hard to find the time to do some proper research (and let's be real, a lot of info is going to be lost on me as it's all in those Scandinavian Rosa collections that I have no access to)!
Also, people who possess the later volumes of the Fantagraphics collection, I may have to call on you for sources sometimes... my inner completist can't justify buying a single volume, and those double-volume collections run out of stock fast!
You hit on a lot of good points. What's interesting is that Rosa seems to picture the early 1950s as his era, when Barks was at his height and all that... But he grew up reading his older sister's comics, and it shows. There's a lot of late '50s, early '60s pop culture references in his stories that's impossible to ignore. The latest date mentioned in an in-universe publication is August 31, 1953 (and I'll leave you nerds to figure out what story that's in), but there are some other publications that are easily dateable to later years and it's a slippery slope from there. I've decided to ignore the Island in the Sky approach and approach technology the same way I approach pop culture references, which puts stories with satellites (like the Sputnik from The Curse of Nostrildamus, or the satellite that sets Island at the Edge of the World in motion) past 1957 for instance. You could argue that the march of science is a slippery slope with Gyro around, but that just makes everything even messier and since the past is portrayed accurately, I don't see why that would change in the present. (Though you could approach the Rosa universe as being an alternate timeline, with the POD being 1947 or 1952 or whatever. I just don't see why you would want to.*)
*The same is true for Rosa himself, by the way, who views quite a number of stories as "Imaginary" imaginary stories if he isn't satisfied or if it stretches his suspension of disbelief too far. Come on, man. You created these stories, and now you're asking us to ignore them? He doesn't seem able to handle criticism all that well (which I respect, for reasons laid out in the Why I Quit letter, but that doesn't mean I can't critique them anyway). Sure we can play Russian nesting doll "dream within a dream" theories all day long, but where's the fun in that? It's funny, actually. For a long time, Rosa got a lot of criticism over his Life of Scrooge from old-school fans, which made him very defensive about his idea. He's always been keen to stretch that it's just his interpretation (with a more recent layer of "if you don't like it then don't read it" that I find troubling). It's funny, because I interpreted his "this is just my interpretation" as an invitation, an invitation to do things better or different --- and that's what first got me into writing fanfiction. I should write about that once we get to 1904. But thank you Don Rosa, for laying the groundwork! I know universe melding is a niche hobby even among us duckfans, but you blazed the trail!
So my timeline takes the pop culture references as they come, running to about 1961-62. We'll talk more about aging when we get there.
As we get into the thick of timelines, there's a question to be considered about dates. To what extent do we count them? I could say "every date that was featured in print counts", but then you hit on the problem that Rosa sometimes considers Barks stories to be set in the year they're written in. This is, at best, problematic. Rosa was actually told not to mention dates so as not to confuse casual readers (which is why he also grumbles about television sets being coloured in during the 1950s), and he does so very rarely in-story. Artwork is a different matter. Now, I consider cover art to be non-canon, as Rosa also did art for Barks and non-Barks stories, some of which he's explicitly ruled out as being 'canon' to his mind, and others which were clearly never meant to be. That said, we're all familiar with the portraits he made for the Life of Scrooge, which back up his ideas of when these stories are supposed to be set. We could ignore those, but there's no real reason to dismiss them just because it's all but said. Besides, if you've seen the hoops I've seen, you'll understand that I'm glad to hold on to any solid date. So fine, I have no trouble accepting the timeline for the Life of Scrooge series.
But that's not the only time Rosa confirms those dates in his artwork. There's also the beautiful art he did for the French Picsou Magazine, which includes this lovely collection of coins. There's references to the Life of Scrooge, references to Barks stories and... oh dear. I know what he was trying to do here, but if we take this as gospel then our timeline is going to run into some big problems. Two big problems:
The 1965 coin refers to North of the Yukon, in which the Duck family first meets Soapy Slick. Now, this story is hard enough to pin down as it is, since there's not a single mention of Goldie in it. But it also implies that Last Sled to Dawson is set even later, and Last Sled to Dawson is a story I prefer to set it early, due to the way it handles Scrooge's emotions. It feels like the intermediate stage between Back to the Klondike and the end of A Little Something Special (which we've now established is set in 1952). It also includes the line "We're going back to the Klondike again!" which is of course a reference to a fairly recent episode, as well as implying that they've been to the Klondike only once or twice before? With the way Dawson is looking, it certainly implies Back to the Klondike was their previous adventure up north and it wasn't too long ago. North of the Yukon would then have to be set even earlier. So 1965? More like 1950!
The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan! (1956), The Flying Dutchman (1959), and Crown of the Mayas (1963) are all referenced. We see these items on display in The Son of the Sun. The Son of the Sun simply cannot be set in 1963 or later due to it being one of the most deeply rooted of Rosa's stories. It's pretty conclusively the third time we meet Flintheart Glomgold, after The Second-Richest Duck and The Money Champ, and before any other of Rosa's Glomgold stories. These include Return to Plain Awful, the very next Glomgold story, which is a pretty direct sequel to Lost in the Andes!, which takes place while Donald works at the Duckburg Museum as in The Golden Helmet, which is pretty evidently a pre-Junior Woodchuck adventure... And that doesn't even take into account that the museum director doesn't seem the recognize Donald in The Son of the Sun, or the fact that Donald applies to work in the museum in The Duck Who Never Was, which is way at the very end of his character journey!
So that's a mess. These timelines are like mousetraps, once you touch something a whole string of them set off!
There's also other stuff like this poster or this one, that are clearly homages to Barks but which clearly contradict his own universe. Rosa refuses to use the characterization of early Scrooge, and outright ignores stuff like the magic hourglass. Also, the money bin poster somehow manages to reflect neither Rosa's conception of the money bin (which is that it was built in 1902-03) nor that of Barks (which varies wildly depending on the needs of the story, even after 1956).
So I'm going to ignore all that and only consider Rosa dating when he references his own stories. I think that's a conservative position. I also haven't checked every single piece of artwork he ever did, but I don't think he ever proposed dates for stories that aren't a part of the Life of Scrooge series.
As for my own dating. I'll try to be as precise as possible, but it is mostly guesses based on pop culture references in linked stories, so don't put too much weight on it. I will sketch our 'years' as we go along, although the concept of years is nebulous when I have to resort to a years 1960A and B. It makes sense in context, believe me.
Also, people who possess the later volumes of the Fantagraphics collection, I may have to call on you for sources sometimes... my inner completist can't justify buying a single volume, and those double-volume collections run out of stock fast!
You hit on a lot of good points. What's interesting is that Rosa seems to picture the early 1950s as his era, when Barks was at his height and all that... But he grew up reading his older sister's comics, and it shows. There's a lot of late '50s, early '60s pop culture references in his stories that's impossible to ignore. The latest date mentioned in an in-universe publication is August 31, 1953 (and I'll leave you nerds to figure out what story that's in), but there are some other publications that are easily dateable to later years and it's a slippery slope from there. I've decided to ignore the Island in the Sky approach and approach technology the same way I approach pop culture references, which puts stories with satellites (like the Sputnik from The Curse of Nostrildamus, or the satellite that sets Island at the Edge of the World in motion) past 1957 for instance. You could argue that the march of science is a slippery slope with Gyro around, but that just makes everything even messier and since the past is portrayed accurately, I don't see why that would change in the present. (Though you could approach the Rosa universe as being an alternate timeline, with the POD being 1947 or 1952 or whatever. I just don't see why you would want to.*)
I own copies of Fantagraphics' Don Rosa Library Volumes 9 and 10, so if I can be of any assistance, let me know. However, I do have a busy few weeks ahead of me, so I can't promise I'll see the requests right away or be able to respond as soon as I'd like.
As for the second emboldened point, I believe the story you're referring to is The Sharpie of the Culebra Cut, though I had always read it as August 21 instead of August 31. I doubt it makes a big difference in the timeline either way, though.
No matter what I say or do, know that Jesus loves you.
And that doesn't even take into account that the museum director doesn't seem the recognize Donald in The Son of the Sun, or the fact that Donald applies to work in the museum in The Duck Who Never Was, which is way at the very end of his character journey!
Unless memoyr deceives me, I believe The Duck Who Never Was represents a different stint by Donald as curator, as he seems moments away from mentioning "that adventure with that drakkar there" (e.g. The Golden Helmet, presumably) when something interrupts him, indicating this takes place post-Helmet.