Skull. Tiger. Feathers.

Falling Down Another Rabbit Hold

So, a patron stopped by the library today wearing this shirt, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out which band this was. I mention that it’s a band shirt because he said his son was into a lot of music and had many band shirts. His son no longer fit the shirt so he gave it to his dad.

Well, I took a picture and promised to let him know what I found when he came back.

Sidenote: Remember, libraries aren’t just dusty book warehouses. We traffic in information gathering, so this would be part of the job!

Anyway, I had nothing to go by so instead of doing a strait up Google Image Search I messed around with a few possibilities such as “Tiger Skull” or “Skull Head Dress Feathers.” I finally figured it out through, of all places, Pinterest, which sent me to an on-line household goods store called RedBubble.

RedBubble, of all things, was selling throw pillows with this design, which they called “Aztec Skull Warrior Tiger Headdress Pillow.” Twenty bucks by the way. Unclear why anyone would want this as a throw pillow, OR maybe it’s the best throw pillow ever.

Anyway, that was the key to discovering that this wasn’t a band at all, but rather a very commonly used image of the Aztec Jaguar Warrior Skull. Punch that name into Google and you get thousands of t-shirts, stickers, patches etc.

The jaguar warriors were an elite Aztec military unit, like Seal Team 6 or the Knights of the Round Table only they used clubs studded with volcanic glass blades. And also you know, sacrificed prisoners. So, pretty fierce and scary stuff.

I looked hard for a metal band connection, but alas could only find an obscure metal band from the early 2000s called Eagle Warrior. So, next time I see my patron, we’ll hook him up with some Aztec mythology and symbolism and send him on his way.

You never know where the rabbit hole will take us. Thanks for occasionally falling down it with me!