I'm not arguing for Jesus being old, just that there is the tradition in some denominations or amongst some individual Christians that he was and that this might explain the two different box fronts.
As regards the position of carpenters in the past, they were some of the most highly skilled craftsmen around, they were the mechanics of their time not just making furniture items or frameworks for buildings and roofs, but also gear wheels and cogs for wells and pumps and mills, as a result, they could, indeed, be independently wealthy and, of course, could employ other men to work for them.
Yeah, I know there is a tradition, but I don't see a historical basis for it. There are a number of nativity sets in general, not just Playmobil, that have an old Joseph.
I suppose a carpenter could be wealthy, but if he was, I would think the innkeepers would make more of a push to offer a room. I don't think they would shrug off a guy who could pay more than their current clients.
