Chips on a Sandwich | no. 24 | TORTOISE SHELL
testudinal: of, relating to, or resembling a tortoise or tortoise shell.
creep: a group of tortoises.
DARWIN'S TORTOISE: The story goes that Charles Darwin brought back 3 live tortoises from his historic 1835 voyage to the Galapagos (or something like that). Reportedly the size of "dinner plates" once he loaded them into his ship-- Beagle-- their journey from there on out was not well documented. The Natural Historic Museum in London claims to have discovered one of Darwin's pet tortoise preserved in the Zoology Dry Storeroom No. 1 in 2009. But, 3 years earlier the famous Irwin couple (Crocodile Hunter) claim that Darwin's 176-year-old tortoise Harriet passed away at their Queensland-based zoo. There's no proof that 300+ pound Harriet indeed belonged to Darwin. But the old girl is impressive, nonetheless.
REAL TORTOISE SHELL: The scales on a tortoise's shell are called scutes and they're made up of keratin (same as fingernails). Each scute has growth rings which can be counted to estimate a wild tortoise's age. Also, tortoise shells have nerve endings so they can feel every pet or scratch.
FAKE TORTOISE SHELL: Eye glass frames made from real tortoise shell were all the rage in the 1920s and 30s. Thankfully genuine tortoise shell was banned in the 70s. Today tortoise shell motif is made from plastic: several colors are chopped up, melted together and rolled out into a sheet resulting in that mottled design. I love that no two tortoise frames (or tortoise anything) are the same.
1930s tortoise shell sunglasses
TORTOISE SHELL NAILS: I LOVE the colors used to make this tortoise shell nail art. There's also nail appliques.
AND ACCESSORIES: This article from The Strategist is full of gift ideas for tortoise shell lovers. I'm partial to the toothbrush.
POLL: The tortoise or the hare? Why?