Few rock stars know how to build mystique like Jack White—from playing super obscure vintage guitars to color-coding his various musical projects. The coolest example dates back to 2004, when he recorded a single, pressed 100 vinyl copies, and hid them all inside random pieces of furniture.
Before we dive in, let’s tackle some backstory. Prior to his music career, White worked as a professional upholsterer in his native Detroit—first as a teenage apprentice, assisting friend and future bandmate Brian Muldoon. White opened his own shop, Third Man Upholstery, at age 21 and made enough money to pay the bills. But he also turned that business into a kind of art project, likely alienating potential repeat customers with his unique style.
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"I was so strange with it," he recalled during an interview on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. "I was doing sculpture as well. Everything became an art form with me—I was filling the inside of the furniture with poetry, and the bills I was writing in crayon. It would be yellow paper with black crayon: 'You owe me $300.' I would present it to them, and I’d deliver the piece in a yellow-and-black uniform in a yellow van that was an old Detroit fire-department van. People were like…"What?’"
Speaking to NPR in 2011, White said that he and Muldoon even started passing along notes to fellow upholsterers inside the pieces. "We’re the only ones who see the insides of this furniture," he said. "'We should have so many inside jokes and things we could write.’ You know, 'This guy was a jerk. He wouldn't pay for this.' We should be telling each other what was the story on these couches."
He and Muldoon formed the fittingly named garage-punk duo The Upholsterers in 2000 and released one official single, "Makers of High Grade Suites," that year (it’s since become a major collector’s item: As of this writing, record-resale site Discogs lists a price range of $250 to $1,500, with a median of $1,066.65). But that wasn’t the band's only recording: The Upholsterers reportedly celebrated the 25th anniversary of Muldoon’s shop by recording those 100 copies of a second single and stuffing the vinyl into furniture.
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"We even made it on clear vinyl with transparency covers—we thought you couldn't even X-ray it to see if it was in there," he told NPR. "I’m talking about—really, you could rip open a couch and think it's not there 'cause it's inside the foam—sliced inside the foam and slid in there. I mean, we really went to great lengths to make sure possibly no one would ever hear our record! But it's there. It's so great. It's there. There's [100] pieces of furniture out there that have those records, and maybe one day someone will find them."
According to White’s Third Man Records label, that miracle long-shot came true in 2014, when two people claimed they’d found separate copies of Your Furniture Was Always Dead … I Was Just Afraid To Tell You.
After White’s music career took off via The White Stripes—followed by his solo work, along with The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather—he wasn’t able to focus as much on upholstery. But he’s never quit that pursuit. "While White may have stopped doing upholstery as a 'job' he’s never stopped his actual practice of the trade," reads a note on the Jack White Art and Design site. "In the intervening 20+ years Jack has always kept an operational upholstery shop in his house or on his property. Third Man Upholstery is now located in Nashville, TN."
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That skill has been a big part of his life in recent years, including in the early pandemic year of 2020, when, as he told O’Brien, he "worked on nothing but furniture, really." As he explained on the podcast, he even offered to redo the comedian’s furniture back when he launched Conan in 2010.
"I don’t have a lot of regrets in life," O’Brien said, "[but] one is: When we were doing our show at TBS, you contacted me, and I had no idea you were serious. You said, 'I’d like to do the upholstery. I’d like to make you your talk-show couch.' I was like, 'That’s so hilarious, man. That’s great.’ Later on, you were like, 'No, no, I was serious!'…I felt like it was such a lost opportunity to have a talk show where Jack White made my talk-show couch."
This article originally appeared in May.
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21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.