# '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:** 8
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/141 "2026-08-15T22:10:02Z")
I’ll add that since helium wasn’t commercially available yet balloons were inflated with either hydrogen or methane. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/142 "2026-08-16T01:44:00Z")
I’ll bet that most latex balloons were inflated with ordinary air. If you put them on a stick, you get a similar effect to having them lighter than air. HYdrogen was the gas of choice of early balloonists because it was easy to make – you mix metal filings into acid. That seems a bit complex for inflating kids’ balloons. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/143 "2026-08-16T13:42:47Z")
I’d wondered about that, but “held at the end of a thread, traveling in the air,” really sounds like they’re floating. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/144 "2026-08-16T17:04:51Z")
I’m always tickled by this comic book panel from 1964. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/05/90/59/059059563c5a2354c0268436da393b8e.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/05/90/59/059059563c5a2354c0268436da393b8e.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/145 "2026-08-16T17:49:13Z")
I was surprised to find out the modern credit card was invented in the 1920’s. A type of “charge card” made of metal can be traced back to the late 1800’s. The first “hard boiled” detective was Nick Carter. whose adventures were published in the early 1900’s ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/146 "2026-08-16T18:11:05Z")
I remember one of the ‘Our Gang’ silents with a title card that, referring to a cop, said “He’s hard-boiled. He’s been cooking since the 1860s.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/147 "2026-08-16T19:19:17Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > the modern credit card was invented in the 1920’s I believe those were issued by the stores that accepted them. Independent agencies that brokered transactions on credit between stores and customers date to 1950. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/148 "2026-08-16T19:21:16Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Independent agencies that brokered transactions on credit between stores and customers date to 1950. Diners Club. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/149 "2026-08-16T21:27:56Z")
Lee used the phrase “sloppy seconds” in several comics with the connotation of beating up whatever’s left over from the first beating. Whether he slipped a dirty phrase past the censors or that was the current meaning I can’t find out. The term is dated to a 1953 newspaper article but nobody bothers to quote the sentence it appeared in. C’mon, dictionaries - that’s your job. I did see that the Sloppy Joe by that name dates to 1961. That was a type of poor man’s special meal, usually broken up ground beef (often called loose meat, which is giggity on its own) with a heavy sauce that dripped through and past the bun and spotted your shirt. Those were a big deal in the 60s. (Manwich made a canned sauce starting in 1969. “A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal.”) Kids loved them, as much for the mess they made as the good-tasting sauce. Wouldn’t be surprised if that gave birth to lots of other uses. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/150 "2026-08-16T21:49:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I did see that the Sloppy Joe by that name dates to 1961 We used to have “Disheveled Josephs” for lunch. ---
**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 16, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/151 "2026-08-16T22:35:17Z")
Willaim Goldman had a big argument about this line in Butch Cassidy: “Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocal,” which other folks reviewing the script thought was anachronistic - but of course bifocals go way back ---
**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 16, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/152 "2026-08-16T22:49:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The term is dated to a 1953 newspaper article but nobody bothers to quote the sentence it appeared in. The OED has the quote: > > Most of the filmed half-hour shows are poor beyond reproach and it is hard enough to see them the first time without having them pop up for seconds. It is sloppy seconds at best. > > _Berkshire Evening Eagle_ (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) 21 July 4/2 The OED says the meaning is either from the meaning of “seconds” as “A quality (of bricks, flour, etc.) second and inferior to the best.” or from “A second helping of food at a meal; occasionally the second or sweet course”. Its first quotation of “sloppy seconds” in the sexual sense is from 1965. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/153 "2026-08-16T23:59:32Z")
Thanks. I don’t pay for the OED, so I don’t get to see that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/154 "2026-08-17T00:21:20Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > but of course bifocals go way back Ben Franklin in 1784. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/155 "2026-08-17T11:19:19Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I did see that the Sloppy Joe by that name dates to 1961. That was a type of poor man’s special meal, usually broken up ground beef (often called loose meat, which is giggity on its own) with a heavy sauce that dripped through and past the bun and spotted your shirt. Those were a big deal in the 60s. (Manwich made a canned sauce starting in 1969. “A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal.”) Kids loved them, as much for the mess they made as the good-tasting sauce. Wouldn’t be surprised if that gave birth to lots of other uses. It’s been asserted that the Sloppy Joe owes its name to the bar SLoppy Joe’s. I thought it was the one in Key West (opened in 1933 under that name), but apparently it probably comes from the one in Havana Cuba (like the one in Key West, freqynted by Hemingway). This web page makes a strong case: > **[Sloppy Joe : the Truth Behind its Origins](https://theawkwardtraveller.com/sloppy-joe-the-truth-behind-its-origins/)** > > My top five American dishes : Hamburgers, Pizza (American), Chicken wings, Succotash, and Sloppy Joe sandwiches. I could literally eat each one every single day and not get tired of it. They are embedded in In any event, Google N-gram Viewer has Slopy Joe sporadically showing up earlier, but really starting circa 1920. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/156 "2026-08-17T14:04:49Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > “This wenche **thikke** and wel ygrowen was,” “With kamus nose and eyen greye as glas, With buttokes brode and brestes rounde and hye.” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/157 "2026-08-17T14:16:13Z")
So, Sir Mix-a-Lot, he followed Chaucer’s footsteps… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/158 "2026-08-17T14:40:30Z")
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, used to ask the princess Elizabeth I “if her great buttocks had grown any less.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/159 "2026-08-17T14:58:04Z")
Quite the charmer, that one 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267/160 "2026-08-17T15:14:42Z")
Sounds like a career-limiting decision for the Duke. I know I would not want ER1 royally pissed at me about some ill-considered slight from her princessing days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tiffany-effect-false-anachronisms/1032267.md?page=9)