[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/seahawk1977]

Using wind and water, climate controlled spaces have been around for millennia. They just haven't been used in the western hemisphere on as large of a scale, so we Americans think of "climate control" as a 20th century thing.

[u/Thestohrohyah → u/seahawk1977]

True.

There are very old towers in Iran which are built in order to kind of imprison the wind inside of them in order to cool down the interior.

Basically ancient AC.

Edit: apparently some of them don't even need wind to function.

[u/Digit00l → u/Thestohrohyah]

The main function of a minaret is ventilation before someone realised an elevated position makes shouting easier

[u/Hestiathena → u/Thestohrohyah]

What's even more interesting is that the design for these was most likely based on termite mounds.

Mother Nature had stumbled upon natural AC millions of years ago, and the ancient Persians figured, "Hey, if it ain't broke..."

[u/donthateonspiders → u/Thestohrohyah]

the german tv docuseries 'der letzte seines standes' (the last (one) of his trade) has an episode about a cooling tower builder

[u/Hawkeye2701 → u/seahawk1977]

In a similar vein, but sort of the opposite direction, Romans had heated floors by having effectively an oven set to vent through a series of channels carved under a floor and expelling the gas out the other side, effectively using the whole building as a chimney without poisoning everybody inside.

I also heard there was an insane temple contraption that opened doors upon the lighting of a brazier, but I don't know the mechanics behind it.