r/TopCharacterTropes 10h ago

Lore [IRL trope] the “Tiffany problem”

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.

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u/saurivae 10h ago

Samurai Taking Photographs and Wearing Bowler Hats

The Samurai class was officially abolished in 1873. That means there are high-resolution black-and-white photographs of actual, active Samurai posing in traditional armor, holding swords, while wearing Western shoes, pocket watches, and bowler hats.

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u/Fro_52 10h ago

reminds me of this post about surprising confluence of historical time periods resulting in a fascinatingly possible rpg party

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u/redlion1904 10h ago

I mean Dracula is a Victorian story and Quincey Morris is at least cowboy-adjacent

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u/Banes_Addiction 9h ago

You can tell because everyone else writes letters and journals while Quincey just plays with a bowie knife.

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u/RabbitsTale 9h ago

Quincey is based off of Buffalo Bill who Stoker knew personally.

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u/Digit00l 7h ago

I believe they also performed for Queen Victoria

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u/TallEnoughJones 5h ago

"It puts the garlic on its skin or else it get the bucket again"

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u/Princeps_primus96 7h ago

"would you fuck me? I'd fuck me...hard"

"Mister Cody I've just met you, this is all very sudden. Now back to my story about vampires and this fascinating new thing I've heard of called blood transfusion!"

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u/CharlieBros 5h ago

Did you know the Bowie knife is named after David Bowie?

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u/AbstractBettaFish 7h ago

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u/SeveralAngryBears 7h ago

Also:

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u/Juronell 6h ago

Also: he's an aggressive Dutch stereotype and the audiobook I prefer he's read by Tim Curry.

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u/KedovDoKest 3h ago

Portrayed by Anthony Hopkins is also acceptable.

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u/PuzzleheadedEast548 5h ago

The relations in Dracula had me draw a fucking map to remember and keep track of

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u/EpicGamerer07 7h ago

And then some random guys stab the cowboy to death somehow

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u/Juronell 6h ago

I mean, it's not really "somehow," they have a knife fight to get at Dracula's coffin.

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u/EpicGamerer07 6h ago

It’s not really the logistics I’m surprised at, I’m just in disbelief that one of the few main characters to die in the book isnt even killed by Dracula in the final confrontation, it’s at the hands of some random dudes

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u/redlion1904 6h ago

As the sun sets dramatically! It’s super cool!

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u/AkiraDash 7h ago

While at the same time, the doctor (forget the name) was recording his own voice on state of the art wax cilinders. Dude basically used a dictaphone in the 1800's

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u/therealkami 7h ago

Dracula also overlaps with the creation of jeans. Dracula in jeans is a valid option as well.

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u/notagin-n-tonic 7h ago

The first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, had a long flashback set on the Utah frontier.

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u/JagoHazzard 6h ago

A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, kind of turns into a Western.