The Most Valuable Status Symbols in the History of Conspicuous Consumption

Over the centuries, monarchies have risen and fallen, and wealthy people have risen to prominence. Instead of hiding their wealth, most of these historical figures have decided to let the world know how much money they have. The best way to show off how much money you have, is through status symbols. These symbols, depending on the era the person was wealthy in, tend to indicate what was considered a luxury item.

A Pet Squirrel

Pets are pretty common around the world, although people tend to favor animals like dogs and cats. However, in the 1700s a certain woodland creature was the favored pet. Anyone who could afford a pet, decided to tame a squirrel and keep it in their homes.

Benjamin Franklin had a beloved squirrel named Mungo, who he took with him everywhere. People don’t keep squirrels as pets anymore, but they do keep rodents like hamsters and guinea pigs.

Aluminum Cutlery

Cutlery is one of those things that people of all income levels own in one form or another. In France during the 19th century, a new metal was discovered which became a popular cutlery material. Aluminum was found to be a versatile metal that could easily be moulded into the shape of spoons, knives, and forks.

Only the wealthiest of citizens could afford this metal. Napoleon III liked to ‘wow’ his dinner guests with his ornamental aluminum cutlery. What the French didn’t know was that ingesting aluminum even in small amounts, is very bad for your health. That’s why cutlery is now made from stainless steel or traditional silver.

Gout

Gout is a form of arthritis caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood which can cause swelling in the joints, usually starting in the big toe.

But a few centuries ago in Europe, it was considered fashionable because it meant that you have a wealthy person’s diet of meat, alcohol and seafood. It meant you could afford to eat well.

Sugar

If you look at the ingredient list on just about any packaged food, there is a bit of sugar listed. Sugar was not as easy to comeby back in the 11th century. It was very expensive to ship back to Europe from Africa and Asia, which meant that kings and queens would use it as a status symbol.

Giant displays of sugar would be placed around the nobility, to show their subjects that they were wealthy.