The 7 Weirdest Things That People Once Used As Status Symbols

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1. Rotting PineapplesPineapples were a big sign of wealth in the 17th and 18th centuries. For example, a local pineapple was worth £5,000 today, so any fruit that wasn't eaten was

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2. Tulip ManiaThe fad that nearly bankrupted a country. 17th century Holland went absolutely crazy for the flower. As the center of the East Indies trade, the nation’s merchants

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3. Board GamesWe play board games to pass the time now, but when they first came out, they were a sign of wealth. Mark Hall is a historian at the Perth Museum & Art Gallery and

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4. Long Pointed ShoesThe Crackowe (or poulaine, the name of the pointed tip) was a long pointed shoe popular in the late Middle Ages. The tip was anywhere from six to twenty-four i

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5. Massive Displays Of SugarHuge sugar displays came to Europe from Africa and the Middle East. They were a way to show off wealth and power by eating in public. Sugar was hard to

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6. TeethIn Victorian times, people would blacken their teeth to show that they could buy the tooth-destroying material. This was related to the sugar habit. Changing teeth as a sig

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7. Ornamental Hermits and FolliesEnglish and German lords thought that no farm was complete without a retreat. This is something we've talked about before, but it's worth saying ag