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Household Items Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Household Items Quizzes, Trivia

Social History of Household Items Trivia

Social History of Household Items Trivia Quizzes

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Fun Trivia
16 quizzes and 160 trivia questions.
1.
  I Will Dry Them All editor best quiz    
Ordering Quiz
 10 Qns
Ten helpful drying inventions
The ways we dry ourselves and our possessions have evolved over time. Sort the time and place of adoption of these drying tools in chronological order, oldest to newest.
Difficult, 10 Qns, Catreona, Dec 04 23
Difficult
Catreona gold member
Dec 04 23
335 plays
2.
  Banned   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Household Objects
"Hey, I don't see these things around anymore!" That might just be because they've been banned. Sometimes a thing is deemed too dangerous after it's been released to the public. But were these things really so harmful? You decide.
Average, 10 Qns, lordprescott, Feb 12 24
Average
lordprescott
Feb 12 24
691 plays
3.
  From a Calligrapher's Pen   great trivia quiz  
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Can you match up these various forms of writing implements used throughout time by various societies?
Easier, 10 Qns, Creedy, Oct 30 17
Easier
Creedy gold member
703 plays
4.
  Pinot Egregious   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Welcome to a history of wine, aptly made by the team 'We'd Rather Have Wine'.
Easier, 10 Qns, pagea, Sep 17 13
Easier
pagea
1664 plays
5.
Grandpas PEDs
  Grandpa's PEDs    
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
PEDs = Personal Electronic Devices. Here are ten your grandpa, pa or maybe even YOU used "back in the day".
Average, 10 Qns, wjames, Oct 01 16
Average
wjames gold member
538 plays
6.
  The Wrong Trousers: Clothing Through the Ages   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Clothing provides more than protection from the weather. Given that the human form has changed little over the millenia, it is not surprising that trousers (or pants in the USA) have been around since prehistoric times.
Average, 10 Qns, windrush, Nov 11 18
Average
windrush gold member
Nov 11 18
556 plays
7.
  The Chair Gang    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Would you willingly take a quiz on the history of chair design? Thought not. But did you, initially, read the title and think of FunTrivia's band of pirates? Well, never fear! I'm making the questions sufficiently easy as to be even pirate friendly.
Average, 10 Qns, glendathecat, Jul 27 12
Average
glendathecat
610 plays
8.
  Toilet Non-Humor    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
It's not a joke. Really. Stop laughing. What do you *really* know about the history of the toilet?
Tough, 10 Qns, reedy, Feb 14 12
Tough
reedy gold member
539 plays
9.
  The Glove Has Been Thrown   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Duelling was once regarded as the gentlemanly way to settle differences. It had a formal code of conduct, as well as some fascinating stories.
Average, 10 Qns, StarStruck60, Oct 07 09
Average
StarStruck60
721 plays
10.
  Under The Umbrella   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
How much do you know about this simple device? Test your knowledge by answering the following ten questions.
Tough, 10 Qns, nmerr, Mar 08 15
Tough
nmerr gold member
470 plays
11.
  The Secret Ingredient is Salt   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The secret ingredient in the history of the world is salt! See if you can identify some historically salty subjects.
Average, 10 Qns, Helene61, Nov 28 13
Average
Helene61
623 plays
12.
  Things You Never Knew About Umbrellas    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Come and learn fascinating facts about the umbrella.
Average, 10 Qns, emmco, Oct 01 16
Average
emmco
688 plays
13.
  A Brief History of the Napkin    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Yes, it's a quiz about the history of napkins and napkin folding. All information was taken from the books "Fancy Folds" by Linda Hetzer and "Beautiful Napkins" by Margaret Caselton.
Average, 10 Qns, Caseena, Dec 07 10
Average
Caseena
348 plays
14.
  History of Dining Utensils   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Have you ever noticed the dining utensils you use everyday? See how much you know about how some of these items evolved.
Difficult, 10 Qns, pshelton, May 01 08
Difficult
pshelton gold member
879 plays
15.
  Baby Stroller Trivia On Board!    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Facts and history, and trivia, about baby strollers.
Average, 10 Qns, Billkozy, Oct 14 20
Average
Billkozy
Oct 14 20
192 plays
16.
  Sunglasses through the years    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Nearly all of us wear them, but do you know when and how the many variants came to be?
Very Difficult, 10 Qns, maggotbrain, Apr 12 14
Very Difficult
maggotbrain
485 plays

Social History of Household Items Trivia Questions

1. This baby contraption has been around since at least the 15th century, but in Canada since 2004 you can spend up to 6 months in jail just for owning one. What wheeled device is this?

From Quiz
Banned

Answer: Baby walker

Baby walkers originated in Europe in the 15th century. Today, they usually take the form of a handle with or without a seat, surrounded by wheels, which babies and toddlers can grip while walking. However, baby walkers can cause injuries or even deaths due to bumping and falling. While using the walkers, babies can fall into pools or down stairs. While parents are warned against using baby walkers in the United States, they were outright banned in Canada in 2004. This included not just selling them, but possessing them as well; violators can be jailed for up to 6 months or fined $100,000.00 Canadian dollars. So: killing trap or justifiable transportation device? You decide.

2. Prior to the invention of baby strollers as we know them today, how were the first baby carriages designed to mobilize?

From Quiz Baby Stroller Trivia On Board!

Answer: pulled by dogs or Shetland ponies

Those first baby carriages, pulled by dogs or Shetland ponies, were too large and bulky and proved clearly that streamlining was needed. They really weren't an improvement over the Native American method of using a cradleboard, covered in cloth, held in by laces running across the cloth. The cradleboard was then strapped to the parent's back. Shawls and slings have probably always been used, even nets as the people of Papua New Guinea used.

3. The word "umbrella" comes from the Latin word "umbra." What does the word mean in English?

From Quiz Under The Umbrella

Answer: shadow

The umbrella dates back to ancient civilizations. It was originally used for protection from the sun and can still be used for that purpose.

4. In what year did sunglasses first become commercially available?

From Quiz Sunglasses through the years

Answer: 1929

Although coloured quartz crystals were apparently used by Chinese judges at least as early as the 12th century to help conceal facial expressions, and tinted lenses in England in the 18th century to correct visual impairments, the first commercially available non-corrective sunglasses were sold by Sam Foster in Atlantic City in 1929.

5. Once human beings discovered this use for salt, migrations began to increase across the planet.

From Quiz The Secret Ingredient is Salt

Answer: Salt could preserve food

Salt was first used to preserve meat and fish c. 6050 B.C.E. As a result, people could carry foodstuffs with them on longer journeys and thus more easily migrate to areas around rivers where the early civilizations began and flourished.

6. Thought to be dated at around 4,100 BC, the world's oldest winery is found at the Areni-1 cave complex along the Arpa river in which Western Asian country?

From Quiz Pinot Egregious

Answer: Armenia

The winery was discovered in 2007 and includes fermentation vats, an early wine press and shards of pottery proposed to have been used for both storage and serving. It predates the world's second oldest winery, found in the West Bank, by around 1,000 years. The cave system is also known for the Areni-1 shoe, an extremely well preserved leather shoe found in the same cave in 2008.

7. Which society is most commonly believed to have invented the napkin?

From Quiz A Brief History of the Napkin

Answer: Ancient Romans

When they were used, one napkin was tied around the neck; slaves used another to clean the eaters' hands. Cloths were spread on the couches where Romans reclined to eat. Spartans and Romans would also use dough or bread to wipe their hands. (Taken from "Beautiful Napkins")

8. The main protagonists in a duel always had a friend to assist them. What were these people called?

From Quiz The Glove Has Been Thrown

Answer: Seconds

The two seconds would try to get the duellists to settle matters without fighting, but if this were not possible they would then deal with the selection of weapons, time and date of the duel, finding a suitable location, checking the weapons and making sure a doctor was standing by. They also dealt with the aftermath of the duel, which could include arranging for an undertaker.

9. Spoons were among the earliest of eating utensils and the Romans commonly used two types of spoons. The ligula was for soup, but how was the second spoon, cochleare, used?

From Quiz History of Dining Utensils

Answer: Eating shellfish and eggs

The spoon is the first utensil that was designed to put food in the mouth and has been found in Paleolithic sites. The spoon in England resembled the early Roman spoons, likely due to the Roman occupation of the island. The term cochleare amplum still appears as a medical term denoting a tablespoon full.

10. British landscape architect William Kent devised the first baby stroller in 1733. He made it for the Duke of Devonshire, a title held by members of what family in English Peerage?

From Quiz Baby Stroller Trivia On Board!

Answer: Cavendish

Though all these are types of bananas, only Cavendish is a name in British royalty, and William Kent crafted the baby stroller out of wood, wicker, and brass for the Duke of Devonshire to play with his children. By the middle of the 19th-century, the stroller design began to see some additions and tweaks: brakes, foldability, and accessories like parasols and umbrellas.

11. Trousers were first recorded in rock carvings and artworks dating from at least the 6th century BC. Which civilisation(s) thought they looked laughable, calling them "sacks" and "barbaric"?

From Quiz The Wrong Trousers: Clothing Through the Ages

Answer: The ancient Greeks and early Romans

The trousered nomadic horsemen (and women) from Eurasia were first recorded on the artworks found in ancient Persepolis. Also it is known that various peoples living in what is now Iran also wore trousers. Ancient Greeks ridiculed the clothing, and called them "sacks" in their common slang, while patricians of Republican Rome (i.e. before the Roman Empire)thought them a mark of an uncivilised people. There is a beautiful Attic vase dated at 470 BC in the British Museum, which shows an Amazon clad in black trousers which look exactly like modern women's clothing. All the wrong alternatives are recorded as wearing trousers. Can you imagine riding for hours without them?

12. The first umbrella shop opened in 1830 and it is still in business today. In which rainy city is it located?

From Quiz Under The Umbrella

Answer: London

"James Smith and Sons" is located on New Oxford Street in London and looks pretty much like it did in the 1800s. Besides selling umbrellas for ladies and gents, the shop also sells canes and walking sticks.

13. Who first invented the technology to produce polarized sunglasses?

From Quiz Sunglasses through the years

Answer: Edwin Land

Although Edwin Land clearly did not invent polarization itself, he did spend years of his life developing the technology that went towards creating the polarization technique used in sunglasses. He patented his 'Polaroid' material in 1929.

14. Salt was so valuable that this empire even paid its soldiers in rations of salt.

From Quiz The Secret Ingredient is Salt

Answer: The Roman Empire

A Roman soldier was lucky if he proved to be 'worth his salt'. Payment or a 'salary' in salt was popular during the Roman Empire. We get the word 'salary' from this ancient practice.

15. In the Middle Ages, before the napkin became commonplace on tables, what did diners often use to clean their hands at meals?

From Quiz A Brief History of the Napkin

Answer: The tablecloth

They might also have used their clothes and the backs of their hands. Tablecloths were changed several times during the meal, which could last for hours. This change of cloth is the origin of the cover charge in restaurants. ("Beautiful Napkins" and "Fancy Folds")

16. What were umbrellas originally used to protect people from?

From Quiz Things You Never Knew About Umbrellas

Answer: Sun

People have been using umbrellas for thousands of years to protect them from the sun and its heat and only a few hundred years for rain protection.

17. Curule, Dante and Savonarola are all designs of folding chair that might remind a pirate of their ship's flag. How?

From Quiz The Chair Gang

Answer: They are X-shaped like the crossed bones.

The curule seat is particularly associated with the Roman Empire. It was usually made from ivory, and its use denoted status as it was reserved for those with "imperium". The Dante and Savonarola chairs date from fifteenth century Italy and bear the names, respectively, of Dante Alighieri and Girolamo Savonarola. A German version is named after Martin Luther.

18. At what time of day did many duels take place?

From Quiz The Glove Has Been Thrown

Answer: Dawn

Many duels took place at dawn for various reasons. There was less likelihood of law enforcement agents stopping the duel if it happened early in the day, and in the case of pistols being used it was harder to both see your opponent and to be seen clearly yourself in early dawn light. Also, there was little of likelihood of a crowd of spectators at dawn.

19. In the early middle ages, most people ate with their fingers, though the upper class found a way to differentiate themselves from the general populace. What was their affectation?

From Quiz History of Dining Utensils

Answer: They ate only with the first three fingers

At that time, eating with the first three fingers was considered more refined.

20. This popular backyard game began to be manufactured in the 1950s. By 1989, however, this seemingly-innocent toy set had been banned in both Canada and the United States. Point taken. What sharp game was it?

From Quiz Banned

Answer: Lawn darts

Lawn darts have an incredible history, stretching back to around 500 B.C. After they were manufactured commercially starting in the 1950s, however, their reputation for being a little lethal began. Lawn darts usually consist of a set of large darts that players throw across their yard, with various amount of points given depending on how close to the target the dart lands. Unfortunately, however, the darts had metal tips that could very easily pierce unsuspecting onlookers. A campaign to ban the toys in the United States in 1970 was unsuccessful, but after several deaths, usually those of children who had been hit in the head with the darts, they were finally banned in 1988. Canada followed suit in 1989. The darts continued to be available in Europe, however, and soft-tipped lawn dart variants became available in the United States in 2020. So: innocent outdoor game or lethal weapon? You decide.

21. In the 1880s what did William Richardson invent that eased the state of mind of a baby in the stroller?

From Quiz Baby Stroller Trivia On Board!

Answer: reversible seat

William Richardson fashioned a stroller with a reversible seat so that the baby could then be positioned facing the parent or whoever was pushing the carriage. This is especially helpful when the baby is younger. Richardson also designed the stroller's wheels to roll and pivot individually, making them easier to manoeuver.

22. In 1964 a French musical film made it to the big screen. It starred Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo in a bittersweet love story. What is the name of this film?

From Quiz Under The Umbrella

Answer: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

This movie is unusual in that there is no dialogue, just singing. What makes the movie so memorable is the director's use of vibrant colors and the hauntingly beautiful music. The umbrellas of the title feature prominently in the film. (French title: "Les parapluies de Cherbourg).

23. In what year were the famous Ray-Ban aviators first given to pilots?

From Quiz Sunglasses through the years

Answer: 1936

Initially given to pilots to help reduce glare in 1936, these became commercially available in 1937. Developed by optical firm Bausch and Lomb with green lenses, the new 'Ray-ban' was born.

24. The value of salt is demonstrated in this beautiful object created by Benevenuto Cellini.

From Quiz The Secret Ingredient is Salt

Answer: A gold salt cellar

"La Salaria' was created by Cellini for Francis I of France. It is an ornate gold salt cellar and famous not only for its design but for its association with the great Renaissance goldsmith, Cellini.

25. Many early civilizations had toilet systems that involved water drainage, but the earliest known *flushing* toilet was part of which culture?

From Quiz Toilet Non-Humor

Answer: Minoan

A well-organized drainage system was found in the Minoan city of Knossos, including lavatories, sinks, pipes and stone drainage channels. The toilets were not simply holes allowing waste to fall into a water system, but they had a flushing system. This used water held in cisterns that then flowed through conduits built into the wall. The Minoan pipe system for removing waste was sophisticated for its time, with burnt-clay pipes well fitted at joins and buried below the surface. Of course, the naturally steep landscape made all this gravity-based drainage possible.

26. In the 16th century, Flanders was a center of the linen business. They made napkins the size of an ell and a half. What is the length of ell? (And I've got to hand it to you, most napkins aren't this size anymore.)

From Quiz A Brief History of the Napkin

Answer: Elbow to the end of the middle finger

That's quite a large napkin. Napkins became smaller over time, with dinner napkins always being the largest. Flanders became a central linen trade site after the Hundred Years' War. ("Fancy Folds")

27. Why might a pirate feel uneasy about an Adirondack chair?

From Quiz The Chair Gang

Answer: Because it's also known as a plank chair

The Adirondack chair was designed by American, Thomas Lee, in the early twentieth century. It is so named because Lee's motivation was a chair he could use outdoors when vacationing in the Adirondack mountains of New York state. The first examples were manufactured locally at Westport by carpenter, Harry Bunnell, and bore the name of the town. In Canada it is known as a Muskoka chair.

28. How did one person challenge another to a duel?

From Quiz The Glove Has Been Thrown

Answer: Throwing down a glove

When someone felt they or their honour had been insulted they would issue a challenge verbally and accompany this by throwing down a glove. If the other party picked up the glove then the challenge had been accepted. Not picking up the glove was a sign of cowardice. This probably goes back to knights challenging each other when they threw down a gauntlet. It was of course not a gentlemanly thing to issue a challenge to a social inferior, and if this did happen the person challenged was under no obligation to accept.

29. Which culture was the first to use a fork to bring food to the mouth?

From Quiz History of Dining Utensils

Answer: Ancient Greeks

By the 7th century C.E. forks were common in the Middle East and by the 13th century they were popular with the wealthy Byzantine upper class. The fork was a serving implement much earlier with mention of it in the Book of Samuel in the Bible.

30. Peter the Great issued a decree in 1701, ordering that upper-class men were to wear lower clothing and underwear of what Teutonic type and style?

From Quiz The Wrong Trousers: Clothing Through the Ages

Answer: German

In the 17th century, Russia was considered a bit of a backwater of civilisation, so in 1701, as part of his campaign to bring Russia into European society, Peter the Great decreed that the male members of the gentry should conform to his guidelines: "... The upper dress shall be of French or Saxon cut, and the lower dress and underwear - waistcoat, trousers, boots shoes and hats - shall be of the German type". Women were also commanded to wear only Western dress - all members of the upper-classes had to abandon their traditional Russian dress, and Peter even put a tax on beards!

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