Speculation

Speculation
   The practice presently known as "scalping" was earlier called "speculation." In towns and cities where a star was booked for a limited engagement of only a few performances, tickets could sell out quickly and the demand for tickets meant that they could be resold at inflated prices. Even more perniciously, bogus tickets might be sold on the street. The cost of bringing in a star of the magnitude of Edwin Booth for his April 1887 first appearance in Kansas City, for example, led Coates Opera House to increase its normal price of $1.50 for a reserved seat to $2.50, but then speculators were able to get as much as $35 for the $2.50 ticket. The theatre's advertisement stated that "the management reserves the right to refuse the sale of seats to speculators," and yet there was a frenzy of ticket speculation on that occasion. According to a report in the Kansas City Evening Star (28 April 1887), "License Inspector Caleb Huestis said: 'Every one of these Booth ticket speculators should be arrested, but unfortunately there is no ordinance to prohibit speculating and dealing in theatrical tickets.' One of the luckiest of the speculators was L. A. Jenkins, who runs the cigar stand in the Coates house. He secured forty-eight tickets and disposed of them at a sufficient advance to enable him to buy a good lot in Kenwood addition." The problem was endemic, for the Kansas City Star reported (15 April 1900) that Atlanta had actually enforced its law against theatre ticket speculators; the Atlanta man—who had four men wait in line to buy the limit of 10 tickets each for Richard Mansfield's engagement—had to pay a $100 fine (although the mayor remitted the 30-day jail sentence).

The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. .

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  • SPÉCULATION — Il n’est pas aisé de situer la spéculation dans l’ensemble des activités économiques. L’idée même de spéculation provoque la méfiance: les gains des spéculateurs s’apparentent toujours quelque peu à de l’escroquerie. Ensuite, parce qu’elle… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Speculation — Spéculation La spéculation est une activité humaine consistant à imaginer, à anticiper les réactions et activités d autrui, comme si nous étions à sa place, et à porter un regard sur notre propre activité, comme si nous étions un autre. C est… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Spéculation — est le terme employé à propos des prévisions, ou plutôt des conjectures, sur les marchés financiers. On cherche, en réfléchissant, à prévoir et à anticiper les quantités et les prix futurs, les réactions et activités d autrui, en se mettant à… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Speculation — • A term used with reference to business transactions to signify the investing of money at a risk of loss on the chance of unusual gain Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Speculation     Speculation …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • speculation — Speculation. s. f. v. Action de speculer, La speculation des astres. belle, profonde, continuelle speculation. il n a rien découvert de nouveau avec toutes ses speculations. Il signifie aussi, Les observations escrites par les speculateurs. J ay… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Speculation — Spec u*la tion, n. [L. speculatio a spying out, observation: cf. F. sp[ e]culation.] 1. The act of speculating. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) Examination by the eye; view. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] (b) Mental view of anything in its various… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • speculation — spec·u·la·tion /ˌspe kyə lā shən/ n: an act or instance of speculating: as a: assumption of unusual business risk in hopes of obtaining commensurate gain b: a transaction involving such speculation Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam… …   Law dictionary

  • Speculation — (v. lat.), 1) überhaupt Betrachtung, Beschauung, aber nicht die äußere, sinnliche, sondern die innere, geistige sammt der den Inhalt u. die Folgen dieser inneren Betrachtung entwickelnden u. anwendenden Thätigkeit des Denkens. Bes. 2) im… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • speculation — (n.) late 14c., contemplation, consideration, from O.Fr. speculation, from L.L. speculationem (nom. speculatio) contemplation, observation, from L. speculatus, pp. of speculari observe, from specere to look at, view (see SCOPE (Cf. scope) (1)).… …   Etymology dictionary

  • speculation — [n1] theory, guess belief, brainwork*, cerebration, cogitation, conjecture, consideration, contemplation, deliberation, excogitation, guesstimate*, guesswork, hunch, hypothesis, meditation, opinion, reflection, review, shot, shot in the dark*,… …   New thesaurus

  • Speculation — (vom latein. speculari, scharf nach etwas ausschauen, spähen, um sich blicken, erwägen), dann in der Philosophie das Streben nach und Erringen von eigentlichen Vernunfterkenntnissen d.h. von solchen, welche über die Erfahrung zu den ersten… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

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