Meme Accuses Tiffany & Co Of Copying Slave Collar If you’ve been poking around on social media today, you’ve probably run across a Facebook post that looks like this: Some believe that Tiffany made luxe slave collars for rich women to place on their main hand-maiden house slaves, then shifted the style to the mainstream once slavery was abolished. Others say it was the slave collar that inspired the style of the new chains. Either way…it sparked discussion and of course led to tons of people renouncing the brand, vowing to sell all their Tiffany jewelry, flooding Tiffany’s twitter account…and making memes like these: So has Tiffany been selling nouveau slave chains with a pricey tag all this time??? Have black women wearing these been tricked into branding themselves as slaves??? As it turns out…that’s not QUITE the case. But it’s up for a bit of debate. Although this pic has probably been floating around your feed masquerading as part of an exhibit featured in the brand new National Museum of African American History and Culture …that’s false. In fact, there’s no such slave collar featured in the museum at all, nor is there any mention of Tiffany & Co. creating the collar NOR of the jeweler modeling their “Return To Tiffany” collection after the collar. Now, according to Snopes.com , The photo ACTUALLY comes from The Lest We Forget Black Holocaust Museum of Philadelphia (LWFSM), and instead of being taken yesterday, it was actually taken last May. The caption in the photo reads: This 18th Century Brass Slave Collar with an engraved name (Patterson), fancy etchings and heart shaped pendant was favored by wealthy, white slave mistresses. However, it was not worn by them; instead it was used on her female slave. The collar was fitted around a negro slave’s neck and attached to a leash as her [indecipherable] … her around like a pet. Years later, famed [indecipherable, Charles] Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & [Co. Jewelers] used this infamous collar as a prototype to design his best-selling, choker necklace which [indecipherable] has a heart-shaped pendant attached. The necklace remains very popular today. So Tiffany definitely did not make or manufacture luxury slave collars for anyone. The company was founded in 1837, and the collar in the exhibit is from the 1700’s. BUT the collar still may have served as inspiration for the new choker necklaces… According to this exhibit, Tiffany’s founder Charles Lewis Tiffany was indeed directly inspired by the style of the collar and personally modeled the pendants in question after it. HOWEVER this also remains up for heavy debate, since the collar itself is from the 18th century, Charles Lewis Tiffany died in 1902, but the heart-shaped “Return To Tiffany” pendant necklaces weren’t introduced until around 1969. You can be the judge. It’s possible but not necessarily proven. Now what IS 100% true…Tiffany was largely started with $1000 ($15,000 by today’s inflation) that Charles gained through the cotton trade. Naturally, the use of slave labor is what even made the original seed money for the jewelry brand available. But truthfully…what US company wasn’t launched with the help of slave labor? So…do YOU feel compelled to toss your Tiffany out of the window after seeing these stories about the company’s most popular style? Facebook/Instagram
Considering how horrific the Josh Duggar sex scandals were, it’s pretty surprising that it was so easy for the Duggar kids to land their own 19 Kids and Counting spin-off. Sure they had to promise that Josh Duggar would never appear on their new series, but they were never forced to issue a public apology, and yet many of their fans proved surprisingly quick to forgive and forget. But the family was never able to re-capture the semi-mainstream appeal that it enjoyed with 19 Kids , and Counting On continues to struggle in the ratings. Even worse (at least for the network execs who will soon decide if the show deserved to be brought back for a third season) the Duggars are scaring off advertisers left and right. In fact, several major corporations have not only pulled their spots from Counting On, but announced that they will no longer advertise on TLC at all . In short, the future’s not looking bright for a show that probably never should’ve existed at all. Perhaps that’s why the Duggar kids are rumored to be seeking out a graceful way to make an exit from the series that was supposed to rebuild their reputations. At least that’s our best guess at why (according to Life & Style ) the kids would be interested in abandoning the only source of income most of them have ever known: Thus far, that cover is all we have to go on. The tabloid is (perhaps wisely) saving the good stuff for its print edition But short of TLC offering the Duggars the chance to make it looks as though they’re walking away of their own accord, why would the kids (several of whom now have kids to raise) choose to part ways with the network that made them famous? Well, there is one other explanation we can think of: It’s possible that yet another scandal has befallen the family, but given how poorly they’ve covered up their recent indiscretions, and how brazenly they’ve attempted to resurrect their careers, we doubt there’s any controversy that could send this family running from the airwaves. Sure they managed to conceal Josh’s sex crimes for over a decade, and it’s unlikely they would’ve been able to sweep it under the rug if they were under the type of public scrutiny they receive these days. View Slideshow: The 11 Biggest Duggar Family Scandals of 2015 No, if this rumor is a true (a big if, to be sure), our best guess is that the Duggars bailed before they were given the forcible heave-ho. Just don’t be surprised if TLC forgets about all of this and gives them another show in two months. They seem to have pretty short memories over there.
Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace spoke out against Top Shop when the retailer started selling a leather jacket bearing the name of the band without permission.
Breaking Sports Video
