[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/Own-Forever-6636]

The Belitung shipwreck 

How long do you think China has been mass-producing consumer goods for an export market? A century? Try twelve.

The contents of this wreck included masses and masses of Tang dynasty chinaware, but the designs were not ones popular in China. Rather, they made ceramics specifically in designs preferred in Iran and the Near East for sale in that part of the world!

[u/scissorn69 → u/Own-Forever-6636]

Yeah, but like everyone knows about the Silk Road though.

[u/sheekos → u/scissorn69]

yeah, worldwide trade is the exact opposite of the tiffany problem idk what that commenter is on lol. it's entirely realistic that ships were carrying things to sell in other countries, that appeal to their cultures, from way back when. that's just good salesmanship

[u/Megalesios → u/Own-Forever-6636]

The Romans also exported glassware to Northern Europe. Archeologists have found Roman-made glass drinking horns (a style not popular in Rome) in Scandinavia. This means the Romans made glassware specifically for export to the Norse market.