Is It a Titzling, or a Brassiere

Have you heard of either Otto Titzling, or Philippe de Brassiere? No, well did you know that there is a curious historical battle between the two supposed inventors of the modern day bra.

Sit back and listen to the tale of a German immigrant, Otto Titzling, living in New York around 1912 and working at a factory making women’s undergarments.

The story goes that he met one Swanhilda Olafsen, a large, female opera singer who had all the usual physical attributes. She complained that women’s current undergarments, or more particularly corsets, just did not offer her the support that she required.

So, Titzling and his faithful servant Hans Delving invented what was the basis of the modern bra, although it was first called the Chest Halter. Now that invention might have netted Titzling and Delving a fortune, but the problem was, they forget to issue a patent and as it became a stunning commercial success, rivals were already in the wings.

Up steps Philippe de Brassiere (boo) who spent the 1930s stealing Titzling’s ideas and making a fortune for himself.

So incensed was Titzling, that a court battle ensued and over four years the two protagonists battled it out legally. Titzling sued de Brassiere for patent infringement and in a dramatic showdown case, the two paraded their various wares on models walking up and down the courtroom. Unfortunately for Titzling, de Brassiere was a master of self promotion, won the case and his name was forever associated with the brassiere, or bra.

And the story has been immortalised in a Bette Midler song, in which the first verse goes something like this:

"This next story is a true story.
It concerns two of my favourite subjects:
industrial theft . . . and-a t-ts!
Mmm, what a combo! This is the story . . .
The inventor of the modern foundation garment
that we women wear today was a German scientist
and opera lover by the name of Otto Titzling!
This is a true story.
His name was Otto Titzling.
What happened to Otto Titzling shouldn't happen to a schnauzer.
It's a very sad story. I feel I have to share it with you."

It goes on in much the same fashion and ends with:

“The result of this swindle is pointedly clear:
Do you buy a Titzling or do you buy a brassiere?
Ohhh! Thank you!"

And what of Titzling; no remembers him and he died flat broke?

Quite a tale and all untrue of course. The first hint that it’s a piece of fiction comes in the names. Titzling is a pun for tit-sling; Hans Delving, hands delving; and, Philippe de Brassiere, fill-up the brassiere. 

And it’s all the work of one Wallace Reyburn, an author who in 1972 wrote the satirical history of the bra and called it Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto Titzling and the Development of the Bra.
The true history of the bra is slightly less exciting of course. The word brassiere actually comes from the word braciere which means, in the strictest sense, arm guard. People think the word was first used in 1907.

And the first bra dates back to 1893 when a breast supporter patent was registered by a Marie Tucek who invented a garment that consisted of material and straps designed for the female chest.

But the name brasserie wasn’t actually patented until 1913, when New York socialite Mary Phelps Jacob in effect invented the backless bra.

A few years later the patent was sold by Jacob to the Warner brothers Corset Company who are still manufacturing and selling bras and numerous other kinds of garments.

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