Ask a Kinda-Black Dude: What's up with Gold Teeth?
this entry brought to you by nirvana, "pennyroyal tea"
Believe it or not, the origin of the urban black person and gold teeth, or for that matter, teeth accessories at all, did not start with hip-hop. It actually started much, much earlier than that, in the first quarter of the 20th century, when blacks were segregated from whites. Back then, blacks didn't really have a chance at even approaching the kind of income the average white could, but obviously, having a status symbol that could raise you above other blacks was desirable. Having gold teeth, obviously costing more than normal false teeth, was a way to have a status symbol to show off that was still within their price range. Imagine if you lived in an inner-city slum in a time before something as common as central heating didn't even exist, when your friend showed up to work one day with solid gold in his face, imagine how impressed you would be. Suddenly, Lil' Jon's golden grill makes sense. It's still stupid, but it makes sense. Or at least it would have in 1920's Harlem.
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with love from CRS @ 6:56 PM
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Believe it or not, the origin of the urban black person and gold teeth, or for that matter, teeth accessories at all, did not start with hip-hop. It actually started much, much earlier than that, in the first quarter of the 20th century, when blacks were segregated from whites. Back then, blacks didn't really have a chance at even approaching the kind of income the average white could, but obviously, having a status symbol that could raise you above other blacks was desirable. Having gold teeth, obviously costing more than normal false teeth, was a way to have a status symbol to show off that was still within their price range. Imagine if you lived in an inner-city slum in a time before something as common as central heating didn't even exist, when your friend showed up to work one day with solid gold in his face, imagine how impressed you would be. Suddenly, Lil' Jon's golden grill makes sense. It's still stupid, but it makes sense. Or at least it would have in 1920's Harlem.
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