# 'The Tiffany Effect': False anachronisms **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267 "2026-08-10T13:12:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/81 "2026-08-12T19:00:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Heron’s invention was a toy, or an experiment. According to [Wonders of World Engineering,](https://wondersofworldengineering.com/steam_engine.html) it didn’t stay that way. > Hero’s engine seems to have been simply an experimental steam toy, probably designed to placate jealous priests who distrusted the philosopher’s experiments, but a modification of it appears to have been used for turning spits in monasteries during the Middle Ages. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/82 "2026-08-12T19:22:46Z")
Uwu-speak dates back at least to the Crimean War: [![](https://img.ifunny.co/images/f04643b56550e07fba12d4306e5bbbc25d623f29756f651c10e0ecb7cbf6d918_1.jpg) ](https://img.ifunny.co/images/f04643b56550e07fba12d4306e5bbbc25d623f29756f651c10e0ecb7cbf6d918_1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/83 "2026-08-12T19:34:36Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > According to [Wonders of World Engineering,](https://wondersofworldengineering.com/steam_engine.html) it didn’t stay that way. Interesting, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/84 "2026-08-12T23:47:04Z")
Heron also built a device that would open doors by converting heat from a fire into [mechanical work](https://web.archive.org/web/20120211223527/http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/section38.html) > As before, let a small temple stand upon a base, A B C D (fig. 38), on which is an altar, E. Let a tube, F G H, pass through the altar and be attached to a leathern bag, K, perfectly air-tight : beneath this let a small weight, L, hang, from which a chain is attached across a pulley to the chains round the hinges, so that, when the bag is folded together, the weight L preponderates and shuts the doors, and when fire is placed on the altar they are opened. For, as before, the air in the altar growing hot, and expanding, will pass through the tube F G H into the bag, and raise it up with the weight L; and then the doors will be opened. The doors will either open of themselves, as the doors of baths shut spontaneously, or they may have a counterbalancing weight to open them. When the sacrifice is extinguished, and the air which has entered the bag passes out, the weight, descending with the bag, will tighten the chains and close the doors. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/85 "2026-08-13T00:16:01Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Heron also built a device that would open doors by converting heat from a fire into [mechanical work](https://web.archive.org/web/20120211223527/http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/section38.html) Interesting, thank you. I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/86 "2026-08-13T00:26:03Z")
The humourist Stephen Leacock warned about gluten in a short story “How to live to be 200” circa 1910, though did not use the phrase “gluten-free.” Excerpt: Eat everything that you like until you can’t eat any more. The only test is, can you pay for it? If you can’t pay for it, don’t eat it. And listen—don’t worry as to whether your food contains starch, or albumen, or gluten, or nitrogen. If you are a damn fool enough to want these things, go and buy them and eat all you want of them. Go to a laundry and get a bag of starch, and eat your fill of it. Eat it, and take a good long drink of glue after it, and a spoonful of Portland cement. That will gluten you, good and solid. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/87 "2026-08-13T01:02:15Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > Have to remember that most Romans ate at thermopolia because unless you were rich Roman houses did not have kitchens. Most Romans ate food from thermopolia, but they didn’t necessarilly eat there. One member of the household could be sent out to get food for all and bring back for consumption at home, and catering to this was a large part of the business of thermopolia. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/88 "2026-08-13T03:50:08Z")
I had BBQ gluten for lunch the other day. It was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/89 "2026-08-13T03:58:35Z")
They must have had delivery of some kind as well. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/90 "2026-08-13T04:46:23Z")
OstiumDash ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/91 "2026-08-13T08:20:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > They must have had delivery of some kind as well. Not necessarily. Somebody would hve had to come to the shop to order the food — for obvious reasons, you couldn’t place an order by telephone or via an app — so that person would be available to bring it home. Food wasn’t cooked to order, like it might be at a burger joint nowadays. The thermopolium just cooked up a bunch of food during the day, and offered it for sale in the evening until it was all gone, or until nobody wanted to buy any more. This meant you had limited choice of food, but it also meant the food was immediately available; you didn’t have to wait around while the food you wanted was prepared. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/92 "2026-08-13T12:32:53Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > OstiumDash Vber Eats. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/93 "2026-08-13T13:43:05Z")
I could see people looking to make an As for themselves going from house to house, taking orders, going to the shop an bringing back the food, I have no idea if it happened but it would surprise me a lot if it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/94 "2026-08-13T13:45:19Z")
Including one lady in the top row with a modern-looking pair of exercise weights. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/95 "2026-08-13T13:49:07Z")
Someone could have a standing order. Someone could make an order earlier in the day. A runner could go through an area during the day and get orders that were written down to be delivered later that day or even a different day like the milkman decades ago. There are numerous ways to accomplish this. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/96 "2026-08-13T13:54:41Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > you couldn’t place an order by telephone or via an app Not quite: they did have the Appian Way ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/97 "2026-08-13T14:03:08Z")
Start crucifying him boys, I’ll fill out the paperwork later. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/98 "2026-08-13T14:48:03Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Someone could have a standing order. Someone could make an order earlier in the day. A runner could go through an area during the day and get orders that were written down to be delivered later that day or even a different day like the milkman decades ago. There are numerous ways to accomplish this. Yes. The question is whether many people would be willing to pay for this service. Remember, the cookshop has to be nearby. (You don’t want the food to arrive cold). So going there is not a big deal. Somebody has to go there in any event to pay for the food - you might be willing to send your own household slave to place the order and to give them cash to pay for it (in which case your own slave can bring the food home) but how willing are you to hand cash to someone you don’t know well? I suppose the thermopilium operator migh have slaves who go to homes in the neighbourhood, offering to take orders, take payment, and return with the food — once they were known as slaves of the thermopilium people might be willing to entrust their cash to them. But it’s likely that only relatively wealthy households would be willing to pay extra for the convenience of having the food brought to them, so I suspect the market segment would be slim - wealthy enough to pay for conveniences like that, but not quite wealthy enough to have a home with an oven or fireplace suitable for cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/99 "2026-08-13T14:50:48Z")
Grvbhvb ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/100 "2026-08-13T15:07:23Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > This meant you had limited choice of food, but it also meant the food was immediately available; you didn’t have to wait around while the food you wanted was prepared. Little Caesar’s Hot-n-Ready, the original. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267.md?page=6)