I would venture to say 99 and 9/10ths of the populace have no clue as
to how, when, or who creates the rumors that are spread the
worldwide. As it happens … I do know how and who and when the rumor
about this particular jewelry designer began.
The year: Circa 1951. Alfred Philippe had just finished designing
the first part of a series of costume jewelry brooches for Trifari.
The climate outside was lousy. The pieces–even if he had to say so
himself–were stunning … one of his better endeavors. They were
made with smooth and faceted glass … pav�’d with rhinestones and
set with baguette shaped stones. He gazed at them lovingly under shop
lights.
The radio spoke of nothing but the weather. Hurricanes. Winds.
Overflowing rivers. He had heard of people who had lived in the
Mississippi delta too close to the river. Some had lost their homes
… their life savings.
Our designer worried about damage to his new creations. He was
creative and he was adept. He would form a water-proof casing in
which to hold the items in order to prevent water damage should the
worst case scenario occur. He was working–in his mind–against the
clock. The casing had to be large enough to hold all the brooches. It
had to have insulating compartments in order to avoid the jewelry
from kraashing one into the other --in case of weather-induced
turbulence–and causing irreparable harm. He had put in too many
hours to take risks. And most of all … the casing had to be
water-proof.
He began. He first sketched out a schematic with exact measurements.
He worked at night because he didn’t want to cause his employer to
suffer any losses due to his fears. Trifari was major name in
costume jewelry and production had to be maintained.
Our designer bought a light-weight but strong wood and began his
chores. He used a water-proof glue and rust-proof hinges. He sealed
all the cracks with water-proof putty. What if the waters overflowed
the embankments and began rising in the streets? Utter nonsense?
Why? Had it not happened before in the south and Midwest? Cars
underwater? Boats roaming the streets of a once bustling city?
When a mind becomes obsessed with a direction … there is often no
turning it back. And so it was with the jewelry designer. When he
finished the casing–he did it all in less than a third of a day–he
took it home to test in his bath tub. He closed the casing and
submerged it and let it go. It popped back up to the surface. Again
and again he submerged the casing and again and again it popped up.
He opened it. It was dry. He was ready. He went back to the shop
that very night and lined the casing with straw-like material and
placed the brooches inside. They would not kraash into each other.
The brooches upon which he had worked so laboriously and so
meticulously … were safe. He could continue the collection with
peace-of-mind. Out of sentimental urgings … he named the casing:
No Kraash … as a symbol of it’s protective qualities in securing
his brooches against harm. Cryptologists would work on the name in
later years trying to unscramble and re-form the letters. Of course
… the most important part of the rumor that had been spread about
our jewelry and his casing was this: What did the brooches that he
had so diligently worked on to protect look like? Anyone out there
have any idea. The answer–of course–is contained in the rumor
itself. Perhaps it should be re-read before proceeding to the image.
Let me know if you figured it out or not.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits Graphics … and then click on the link that says: No Kraash
… where you’ll see an image of the contents of the rumored casing.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
-- http://www.tyler-adam.com --