Otto Titzling

Otto Titzling is a fictional character who is apocryphally described as the inventor of the brassiere in the 1971 book Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto Titzling, published by Macdonald in London, and by Prentice-Hall in the USA.

The name, a pun on "a two-tit sling," was invented by humorist Wallace Reyburn in the 1970s. Since then, the name has appeared in the game Trivial Pursuit (the makers of the game fell for the hoax, and listed "Otto Titzling" as the "correct answer" to the question of who invented the brassiere), the 1988 movie Beaches (featuring a song named "Otto Titsling" sung by Bette Midler), the comic strip Luann by Greg Evans,[1] and has appeared in practice questions sent out to prospective teams by the BBC 2 show University Challenge.

Peter Cook references Otto Titsling as the inventor of the brassiere, during a Pete and Dud skit with Dudley Moore, in their West End stage show, “Beyond the Fringe.” The show was first broadcast on BBC2 in 1974, and was the final public performance of Cook and Moore as a double act.

A similar situation exists with Thomas Crapper, who was a real plumber but did not invent the flushing lavatory. Reyburn popularised this myth in "Flushed With Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper".

Footnotes
  1. Evans, Greg (March 14, 1999). "Luann Comic Strip, March 14, 1999". Luann. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
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