Otto and the night of the contest

I really enjoy game shows and I love going to game nights. Like most of us, I get the $ 54,000 question well, but I stumble along the way. This is a quiz night that I went to a few years ago.

There were the usual questions about movies and movie stars, about sports and athletes, about geography and history and, of course, about current affairs. But one question always stuck in my memory. It was a true or false question and it went something like this. Otto Titzlinger was a German migrant who invented the women’s bra, right or wrong? I will give you the resulting answer to this question shortly.

Otto Titzlinger was a German migrant living in New York in the 1920s. He was in a relationship with an aspiring opera singer, one Miss Olafsen. Miss Olafsen was a lady of great proportions who constantly complained about the corset that was the ladies’ undergarment at the time. The corset was uncomfortable and did not provide lift or support. The intrepid Otto set out to create a garment that would give Miss Olafsen the comfort she desired and would undoubtedly put Otto in her favor.

She was successful and dedicated herself to producing her creation for all women. Enter Philippe de Brassiere. Phillipe saw a good opportunity and set about conquering the world of women’s bra production. Poor Otto hadn’t thought of patenting his creation, and no court litigation got him a verdict on Philippe. Philippe made a fortune. I suppose by now you will have discovered how the name of bra, abbreviated as bra, came to be. When we read or hear stories like this one, we rightly feel that Otto has tried very hard. Philippe was a seasoned activist and poor Otto was a naive migrant who had no chance.

Go back to the question of the questionnaire. All the people at our table and at the other tables thought it was a trick question, although not very well disguised. There were too many ironic references in the name, so our table unanimously decided the answer was false. Having read the concise story as described above, what do you think?

The contest master said the answer was true !!

I started looking for Otto Titzlinger on the Internet. Otto was a fictional character in a book written by a Canadian named Wallace Reyburn as was Philippe de Brassiere. The title of the book cleverly started with the words Bust Up … Perhaps the proof master should have checked it too.