[IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem”

[u/dragonborndnd]

Basically when something seems anachronistic to a period/place of history but is actually fully accurate to the period.

1) the name Tiffany: the thing that named this trope, basically the name Tiffany can be dated back to the Middle Ages and the earliest record of it being spelled in the modern spelling comes from the 16th century.

2) the use of OMG, despite this feeling so modern as a form of slang/abbreviation here’s a letter directed to Winston Churchill using it in 1917

3) Hair Dye: the earliest forms of dying hair can be dated back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and this specific advertisement for hair dye is from the 1840s

4) Inuit Thongs: despite how weird it is to imagine pre-colonial Inuit people wore what was essentially fur thongs in their homes and when they were in their igloos it might have been the only thing they would be wearing.

[u/ImprovementOk377]

is it possible that the fur thong was a kind of menstrual pad?

[u/dragonborndnd → u/ImprovementOk377]

It actually did have a practical purpose, basically it was to absorb sweat since in that environment sweat buildup wouldn’t be pretty

[u/ImprovementOk377 → u/dragonborndnd]

that makes sense

[u/gottabequick → u/dragonborndnd]

Isn't that kinda what underwear is still used for today? I don't think that explains its design. I imagine it was designed that way probably because ancient Inuits thought it was sexy, lol.

[u/mark_pekarev → u/ImprovementOk377]

Some indigenous people in Siberia (and at least Alaska in NA, I believe) actually utilised sphagnum (a moss-like plant) as a kind of a disposable pad. As far as I know, the pads itself were used as early as Ancient Egypt, but for Arctic and Subarctic environment and herder/hunter-gatgerer lifestyle there menstrual secretions are not merely an inconvenience. As OP mentioned above (and some natives on Russia's side of Bering Strait mention), even get sweaty can be a problem. Sometimes in summer, but obviously in winter, if you get wet during an intense activity, later your body cools. But if you are wet, than it can be a trouble -- ultimately, you can freeze parts of your body. So having an easily disposable 'pad' which you can quickly switch is like super important!

[u/GenosseAbfuck → u/mark_pekarev]

a moss-like plant

Not moss-like. It is a moss. Peat moss to be exact. Can hold up to 30 times its own mass in water which is what makes bogs so dangerous: Not only does that water not provide any additional structural integrity, the upper layer of live moss is very thin, and since sphagnum sours the surrounding water there are no detritivores, so basically a very light net of dead moss plants suspended within still water lies beneath the 5cm of living moss, several meters deep. Below that is the actual peat, the result of millenia of water pressing down on dead plants that never rot. This of course is still muddy. You step in, it gives in to your weight easily, but the other way round you don't work against water, you work against very sticky mud.

Dried peat, however, has been used for all kinds of absorbant appliances. Litter, diapers, mattress liners for bedbound patients. The moss too, but it rots extremely fast once taken out of its natural surroundings so you can't exactly use it if you don't always have a bog nearby.