12 Strange Symbols of Wealth from the Past

There’s a reason it’s called “the king’s disease.” Nowadays, it’s more likely to strike someone whose food pyramid is held up by a foundation of cheap beer and barbecue, but it comes from overindulgence in general. Overindulgence, in the old days meant that you had the money to overeat and overdrink, by nature putting you in the upper class. 

At least they got some appreciative nods for their foot pain back then.

These days, it’s not like any color is particularly more expensive than another to produce. The choice between a purple shirt and a white one is more a decision of how many people at a wedding you want looking at you. In the old days, though, with natural dyes, purple was very expensive to produce. If you had even a couple sections of purple cloth on, people knew you'd paid out the nose for it.

For a time in America, the preferred pet of the upper crust was the squirrel. Maybe because it implied that you had maids or a cleaning staff to clean up the absolute chaos I would assume a pet squirrel creates 24/7.

If you’re looking at this shoe and wondering how the hell you were supposed to go about your day wearing it, that was the whole point. Inconveniently long, pointed shoes called crakows were a signifier of wealth because the owner clearly never had to do anything that involved physical strength or walking more than about eight feet.

The polar opposite of the omnipresent caps that are cemented into every celebrity’s mouth nowadays. In 16th century Japan, wealthy women would color their teeth black. Why? Well, back then, sugar was expensive, so having a mouth straight out of hell meant you were rich. Nowadays, we have Mountain Dew.

Again, Mountain Dew hadn’t hit the scene yet. So, becoming overweight took actual effort, and more importantly, a bankroll. If you were obese, you were clearly eating good.

When the X-ray first emerged, it was not only a medical tool but a fascination for the rich. Given that they were expensive (and still are), the wealthy would have them done, sometimes for no medical purpose at all, and hang them in their home. Interest in repeated, unnecessary X-rays understandably faded with research into radiation poisoning. 

Funnily enough, the same thing’s cropping up now with full-body MRIs.

There’s still some debate about the unpleasant morals of displaying human remains in museums to ogle over. What’s no longer up for debate is doing the same thing in your parlor room. Rich Europeans used to have “unwrapping parties” where the centerpiece was a real, dead, exhumed Egyptian. 

In the 1700s, the pineapple was a completely unknown fruit to Western civilization, which quickly made them, along with their presentation-worthy appearance, one of the most expensive fruits of all time. A pineapple could run you multiple thousands of dollars, and people would even rent them.

If you were walking someone’s grounds and came upon the abandoned ruins of an ancient castle, it would probably instill you with respect and awe for the long history of the home. Sometimes, though, those ruins were purpose-built, just to make that same estate seem a bit more historic. These structures were called “follies,” and they still dot the English landscape.

Those who wanted to go the extra mile in making their follies feel mysterious would actually hire hermits to live in them. Honestly, not a bad gig if you’re an introvert.

Okay, the idea of a very expensive toy being a status symbol isn’t that weird. Porcelain dolls, however, are incredibly weird as an object. You might as well be buying a ghost holder.