In every industry where profits are made there are fakes for the industry. We often think about fakes in the fashion industry, because most people have an idea of the brand but not specific details which makes the brand the brand worth paying for, this allows people who buy fakes to show them off as real. In the world of fakes, there are lawyers that are armed with copywrites and trademarks that spend time working with the police to try to shut down the manufacturers of the fake items. However fakes have a big advantage, the price is less, much less and the owner can believe or aspire to be the real thing which means fakes will continue.

One book which was written about the phony things is Genuine Fakes by Lydia Pyne pubished by Bloomsbury Sigma, London, UK, 2019. Ms. Pyne’s take on the world of fakes is to ask the question what happens when a fake becomes more famous than its orginal? If we really examine the world around us, genuine fakes are a lot closer to us than the art or fashion world.

Each of us tends to try to eat 3 meals a day or something similar. When we eating whatever food we enjoy the reality is a healthy portion of the enjoyment is how does it smell? If it smells good, then our taste buds help accent the food and we enjoy the food even more.

One food you may have eaten is bananas. Do you know the history? The banana was introduced during the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876 which attracted over 10 million visitors. After the event bananas became a staple in people’s diets and by 1929 bananas accounted for 50% of the exports from Central America. In helped that one company controlled the market and for years it was on the best dividend producing company lists – United Fruit. The story continues, in the 1860’s people were used to an artificial flavor of banana flavored foods. However in 1876, the banana tasted like a banana and not the artificial flavor one. Food scientists through the chemical companies began to market isoamyl acetate compound as banana flavor which meant when consumers ate bananas they tasted the isoamyl acetate and all was good. The yellow bananas of Gros Michels and Cavendishes which we eat reflect the taste of long ago.

There is a company called International Flavors & Fragrances Inc which supplies the food industry to whatever flavor and smell consumers desire which will help them buy the products. If you wish to go to local store and see what flavors of Jelly Beans come in and you will know about the trends in the industry.

Collectors will pay for rare books and some of them are in museums. A rare book is the Grolier Codex which is a book that allows people to read and understand Maya civilization. There were 3 books in existence till a 4th was discovered. Was it real or fake? When the Spanish took control of the Mexico and countries in South America, they were looking for gold and silver, but the other aspect was to convert people to Christianity. For the Spanish bishops, it meant ensuring that the world was seen from an European standpoint and not from the hundreds of years the Mayan’s ruled the area. To understand the thinking, the Catholic bishops believed that God could only be reached through the Catholic Church and they had to bring the heathens to the correct message. The Bishops used the Spanish army to destroy the writings of the Mayan because it conflicted with their message. Maybe the heathen were not really heathen, maybe they knew just as much or more than the Bishops? The Spanish Bishops won the power struggle and Codexes were destroyed. A Mayan codex was found, was it good or fake? When the Spanish were sending items including gold and silver to Spain they were also sending back fakes because the artisans started making fakes for the Spanish who were unsophisticated buyers. (If you are interested in collecting books, the Grolier Club is the private society of bibliophiles with dedicated interests in the history of bookbinding, book printing, and books in general.) After 40 years of testing and debating, the 4th Codex was determine not to be fake but real.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, one thing that is never fake is whether a company can pay a dividend or not, if they can and the dividend goes into your account, then it is a real as it gets. In investing there are many fakes or possible fakes and there is an entire group ready to take your money to pump and dump stocks. Whenever there is a hot market, there are companies pushing their possibilities, their maybes, but generally they will not amount to much. One of the most important rules on the stock market is try not to lose money, buying profitable companies that pay dividends helps you do this. You can admire the fakes at the museum, not in your house.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.