Why Were the McCallisters so Rich? This ‘Home Alone’ Fan Theory Makes a Lot of Sense

The premise of Home Alone is pretty simple. The McCallisters plans a holiday vacation, only to leave one of their nine travelers behind. The left-behind traveler, 8-year-old Kevin McCallister, wages war against two burglars who had staked out the house before the family’s Paris trip while the family fights to find their way back to Chicago to get to Kevin. While the movie is a Christmas classic, fans still have questions. Most importantly, viewers have questioned what Peter McCallister did for a living since the movie debuted in 1990. Clearly, the McCallister family was wealthy. Between the house and the trip, it’s obvious. Still, Peter’s job was never mentioned. There have been several fan theories over the years, but one Home ALone fan theory, in particular, suggests Peter wasn’t the breadwinner at all. 

A ‘Home Alone’ fan theory suggests Kate McCallister brought home the bacon 

While most fan theories have simply assumed Peter McCallister was the primary breadwinner in the family, one fan suggests it’s equally plausible that Kate McCallister, Kevin’s mom, was the one with the fancier job. The fan theory, posted to Reddit, suggests Kate was employed in the fashion industry and was rather successful. The clues are pretty telling. 

The Redditor points out that Kevin managed to amass an army of mannequins seemingly out of nowhere during his plan to scare away the wet bandits. The forms were already in the house. The fact that there were so many suggests that Kate was not a casual seamstress but likely a fashion designer. That’s just one clue, though. 

The McCallister house also had several sewing machines and an ample amount of fabric lying around, both of which are heavily used by fashion designers. Kate was also incredibly well-dressed, and she was the one who paid for the pizza, not Frank McCallister or Peter. The simple, easily forgotten moment might have been a nod to her status as the family breadwinner. 

Would she have made enough to purchase all of those tickets to Paris? 

The McCallisters are headed to Paris to visit Peter’s brother in the flick. They purchased four first-class tickets for the adults and 11 tickets in economy for the kids. According to KCRA3, the tickets alone would have cost over $35,000. In Home Alone 2, the McCallisters pay for the entire family to go to Florida, again losing Kevin in the process. Those flights would have been costly, too, at around $10,000. 

So, could Kate swing it as a fashion designer? Probably. While there are fashion designers who make millions, someone in the film would have mentioned that somewhere along the way. For this purpose, we can assume the mother of five was high up in a large company but not a well-known name to the average shopper. She likely made over $200,000 in 1990, making the tickets to Paris attainable. 

What about Peter McCallister, though? 

While Home Alone never mentions what the parents do for a living, we should discuss Peter McCallister. While there is plenty of evidence to suggest Kate could be the primary breadwinner, Peter likely worked, too. Over the years, there have been plenty of Home Alone fan theories about his job.  

One fan theory posits that Peter McCallister worked at the same food company that Clark Griswold worked at in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Both films are set in the same area. Another fan suggests McCallister was a day trader, while another believes the father of five was a vice president for a major retail company like Walgreens. Each theory has merit, although there is still no definitive answer.