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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 a major name in costume jewelry and production had to be maintained.
Our designer bought 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 its 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 jeweler 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
And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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