To understand what I will be discussing here it is required to know what a a 'Mandela Effect' is. A Mandela Effect is a phenomenon where it is discovered that a well known, global fact has apparently changed for a large group of people. The effect & name refers to people remembering Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s, when he actually survived long after his release.
There are many examples, some more prominent and 'powerful' than others. Here is a list of MEs and brief explanations:
-Dolly had braces in the James Bond "Moonraker" movie, right? No. If you go back and watch it, she does not.
-The early to mid 90s movie 'Shazaam' staring Sinbad does not exist. Apart from the people's memories, there is no record or evidence of it ever existing.
-In Forest Gump, the famous line is not "Life is like a box of chocolates." it is actually "Life was like a box of chocolates."
-C3PO from Star Wars is not entirely gold, he has a SILVER LEG.
-In all of the hundreds of episodes of Judge Judy, she never once strikes a gavel.
-There we 6 people total riding in the car JFK was shot in.
Now most of these examples have very plausible explanations of mis-remembering or a case of our brain filling in the information that is most likely to make sense. The way our mind and memory works, it can be deduced how the things we believe to be one way are, in reality, different.
Now for the topic of this section. There is one particular Mandela Effect that exists without a clear explanation. A memory that a very large amount of people share of a something that no longer exists and apparently never existed. I'm referring to the Fruit of the Loom Logo Mandela Effect. This Mandela Effect is summarized by the following sentence:
There is no proof that there was ever a cornucopia in the Fruit of the Loom Logo.
Although very many people remember the logo as an assortment of fruit in the foreground of a large cornucopia, evidence suggests that this cornucopia simply never existed. So many people were perturbed by this idea that the FOTL website created a page that specifically outlines previous iterations of the logo, none of which feature any clear semblance of a cornucopia.
Online forums of people comparing their thoughts on this Mandela Effect are filled with admissions of shock and bafflement. A surprising amount of people corroborated being in a similar situation in their childhood. They would ask their parents about the appearance of the logo: "What is the thing behind the fruit, is it a loom?" After laughing, their parents would explain to them that it was a 'cornucopia' or 'horn of plenty', a symbol of abundance. The commenters would explain: "It's impossible that it never existed! The Fruit of the Loom logo was the source of my initial learning of what a cornucopia was!"
One user (ceramicsaturn) made a post on the subject of the FOTL logo that quickly gained popularity. In the body of the post, he explains that his father worked for Fruit of The Loom in the era in which the logo supposedly contained the cornucopia. Learning of this Mandela Effect, he contacted his father:
I texted him the logo with the cornucopia in it, and said "You worked there. Do you not remember this as their logo?". The response I got was, "I did and do remember it". I then called him, and he asked why we were talking about something like this. I told him how I was watching the X Games this weekend, which was sponsored by them, and noticing the logo had it removed. After going on the internet to realize it apparently never had the cornucopia in it. He got very defensive immediately, as if someone was calling him a liar, and said, "What do you mean it wasn't in the logo? I have things in storage with that logo stitched on it. I know I saw that thing every day for years." ... the logo thing got him very worked up.
If you google the logo right now at this moment, you will see the variant with the cornucopia. This is because people have used photoshop to create renditions of what they remember the logo looking like. Clicking on the links will lead you to image hosting sites and threads discussing this Mandela Effect, nothing producing information about a legitimate cornucopia including logo.
There are ideas on why people might have imagined or placed the cornucopia with the fruit in their memory. There are certainly cultural examples of a horn of plenty being paired with fruits or vegetables. Icons and representations of Halloween and thanksgiving often use this imagery. There are previous variations of the logo that have brown leaves in the background, leaves that may appear match to the color and shape of a horn of plenty. When you combine these postulations with the content of the testimonies from people who swear to have seen the cornucopia logo, you start to wonder how this popular of a false memory could have ever occurred. Surely, it is impossible that this large of a population made this visual error?
One user (MyThought2UrThoughts) found trademark details for Fruit of The Loom from 1973 that mentions the word cornucopia under 'Design Searches':
"Berries. Grapes (alone or in bunches). Apples. Baskets, bowls, and other containers of fruits, including cornucopia (horn of plenty)."
This is the only written record associating a cornucopia with Fruit of the Loom designs, but its authenticity can be challenged since it is simply found on a private website that catalogs patents and trademarks.
There are posts upon posts of people telling their own stories, others trying to find any record or proof of an official inclusion, but so far there has been nothing definitive. After poring over the evidence, any rational person would accept that this variation of the logo likely never existed. There is an expectation that someone will eventually find an old piece of clothing that contains the cornucopia logo, finally showing the world that it did indeed exist. But after countless forum posts and amateur investigations, it is seeming more a fantasy that will never come to fruition.