Patchwork Quilt Trivia Quiz

Answer: To remember how to make beer

Beer is one of the oldest beverages in the world. The manufacture of same is thought to date way back to 9,500 BC. This occurred at the same time that man began to first cultivate cereals. Some historians even believe that beer may have had a direct link with the formation of civilisations because of the trade it instigated.

It was considered so valuable, in fact, that workers in ancient Iraq and Egypt were paid in beer as wages every day. Beer back then contained more produce that that manufactured today - different fruits and other nourishing foods etc - so it not only provided necessary fluids but also nourishment as well. Early Mesopotamia writings reveal that the goddess Ninkasi was the goddess of procreation and alcohol in that area of the world.

A hymn dedicated to this figure has survived down through the ages that shows it was written out in a form of beer making recipe, so that the art wouldn't be lost by a largely illiterate people. They relied on its repetitive words to fix the words in their memories instead.

Answer: Postage stamps

After postage stamps were introduced into the United States in 1847, postal workers were required to deface each one on posting so that they couldn't be illegally used again. There was no set overall regulation as to how this should be done, so each post office had a different method. Several areas eventually settled on a cork dipped in ink to carry out the task. Because this usually blacked out the entire stamp, thus preventing the denomination from being seen, postal clerks began carving a groove across the face of the cork to allow clarity. Pretty soon, various clerks across the country started carving more and more elaborate patterns on their corks - and this sparked off a positive orgy of cork stamp cancellation designs.

These were known as "fancy cancels", and they continued to be created until 1890, when the Post Office Department standardised the cancellation of postage stamps throughout the nation.

Answer: Three years

Made in Scotland, single malt whisky has several stern regulations regarding its manufacturing process. It has to be made at a single distillery only, and must be made from malted grain alone, with the only grain allowed in its manufacture being barley.

It must also be made in a pot still. Then it has to be matured in oak casks only for at least three years. The two words "malt" and "single" on the bottle are indications that the whisky has indeed been made at a single distillery and that it has been made from a malted grain, ie, barley. Hoot mon, woe betide anyone contravening these regulations.

Answer: False

The only connection that gunpowder tea has to real gunpowder is that it looks a little like that product because of the way the leaves are rolled and prepared. These are first withered, steamed, rolled (each leaf was once rolled by hand) and then dried. Today most gunpowder tea is rolled by machines, but some very expensive brands can still be obtained that have been made by hand.

Another unique feature about this tea is that it is served three times. The strongest serving of course is the first break and is consumed unsweetened.

In the second serving the same leaves are boiled again and to this some sugar is added. The third time gunpowder tea is served, a lot more sugar comes with it. Another interesting fact about tea, it that the higher up from the cup it is poured, the more the flavour alters. Tea has been consumed in this way in many African countries for years.

When this method of serving a cuppa spread east to Asia, condensed milk was added to the tea. Yum! The tea today is now rapidly poured from varying heights from one cup to another as well until a lovely rich head forms.

Answer: Flyposting

Flyposting has been described as guerrilla marketing tactics because this form of advertising often appears overnight and not always where it is legally permitted to be displayed. Most flyposters in the 15th century were of small to medium size and were often described as wheatpaste posters because the glue that adhered them to building facades and alleyways was made of that product.

This form of advertising is unsightly, a nuisance, and has been banned in several countries, but is apparently unstoppable.

It can apparently be dangerous as well. In 2007 in Boston, electronic signposting caused a major scare - and cost quite a lot of money - when it was put up without approval. It sent the Boston Police Bomb Squad screeching around everywhere in alarm when it was mistaken for explosive devices.

Answer: Toilets

Selfridge's is the second largest store in the UK, but the largest on Oxford Street. Twice voted the best department store in the world, Harry Selfridge (1858-1947) devoted time and care to his female customers right from the very beginning, even going so far to support them in their struggle for the vote, and flying their flag above his store in spite of their campaign of bombing (they never bombed his store though). His was the first store to provide toilet facilities for the ladies as well. Prior to this, women had to return home half way through their shopping day for this necessity. Now they could stay in town and shop all day instead. Interestingly the unique Mr Selfridge also came up with the expressions, "The customer is always right", and "Only ___ shopping days left until Christmas", and paid his employees high enough wages to allow them to live away from the store. Prior to this, as was the case with many places, staff members lived over their stores as well as working there.

Other new methods introduced by Selfridge's store were allowing customers to handle the merchandise, advertising heavily, introducing gimmicks, installing elegant restaurants, a library, soothing and lovely rest rooms, and being the first store to have a working TV on display. That was in 1925. He also allowed customers to sample his wines before they purchased them, and had the largest women's shoes section in the world. This amazing, driven man's life went a bit pear-shaped towards its close however, particularly after the death of his wife. Never one to do things by half, he commenced an affair with two sisters at the same time. He spent money like it was going out of fashion on them, on gambling, and on assorted show girls, going through his fortune so quickly that finally he was removed from his own business in 1941. He was destitute when he died from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 89 in 1947. How sad that seems.

Answer: Handing the pens used to people who helped push the bill through

Since at least the days of President Truman, when American presidents sign through Bills, it has become a tradition for them to hand the pen or pens used to do so to a person or person who helped pushed the Bill through. I for one did not know this and recently when I saw on television President Trump signing accordingly, and then handing his pen to Vice-President Pence to put away, I thought he was treating the Vice-President like a lackey. Perhaps they should let more people know of this tradition. Many presidential pens used to sign important documents are kept in the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Two of the most famous are one of the ones used by President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Civil Rights Act (he used multiple pens for that), and the pen used by President Gerald Ford to pardon President Nixon.

Just in passing, during a recent photo opportunity for President Trump to pose for the media while signing through a new Executive Order on trade, he actually forgot to sign anything at all. Pence had to stop the president at the door on the way out to tell him, and then had to scamper back to the Resolute Desk to collect the papers for him.

(With thanks to FT Member Paulmallon for the information for this question)

Answer: Wigwag

Wigwags were known as such because of the pendulum-like motion the lights gave out, when signalling the approach of a train at a railway crossing, for pedestrians and motorists. Several methods of warning people of a train's approach had been tried prior to the invention of the wigwag, but none were fool proof, and many stations resorted to a crossing guard manually waving a red lantern instead to alert the public.

In 1909, however, a mechanical engineer, Albert Hunt, at Southern California's Pacific Electric interurban streetcar railroad, invented a safe and reliable automatic signal for this task.

These became popularly known as "wigwags", and, though more than one hundred years later, they are gradually all being replaced by other methods, there are still a surprising numbers of wigwags in operation in the United States.

Answer: Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse was a very important position during the Roman Republic (509-27C). Appointed by the Roman Dictator himself, and known as the Magister Equitum in the Roman language, this person was the ruling Dictator's main lieutenant. If the dictator was away dealing with other issues in the Republic, the Master of the horse was his representative until his return, and exercised the same powers that the dictator held during this period. The most famous gentleman to hold this rank during the Republic was Mark Antony. After the rise of the Roman Empire in 27 BC under Augustus (Caesar was his great-uncle), the office of both Dictator and Magister Equitum fell into disuse, with the latter being revived later in the Empire under Constantine I. He made it a position of great military importance. Today in various countries throughout Europe and Asia, the Master of the Horse is still considered an important rank in royal houses. It is, however, largely ceremonial in some.

In the United Kingdom, for example, all matters relating to the monarch's horses, hounds, stables, coach horses, stud, mews and kennels are under the jurisdiction of the Master of the Horse. He is the third dignitary of the court and is always on hand during state occasions and when the monarch appears on horseback.

Answer: Constructed when racial segregation laws were in place

The US Pentagon, HQ of the US Department of Defence, located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac river from Washington DC, was constructed between 1941 and 1943, during a time in the States when parts of that nation were still operating under the legal constrictions of racial segregation. So whether they liked it or not, the building had to be designed with separate eating and toilet facilities for black and white people. In obedience to the Commonwealth of Virginia's racial laws, each floor therefore had to have separate toilet facilities for both gender AND race. This resulted in the Pentagon having twice as many toilet as needed for a building its size.

You'll be pleased to hear that when President Roosevelt, who had previously demanded that racial segregation be ended in the US military, visited the Pentagon before its official dedication, and spotted these extra loos, he immediately ordered that the "Whites Only" signs be removed. What a champion. Until 1965 then, the Pentagon was the only building in racially divided Virginia where it didn't matter in the slightest what colour your bum was when you sat on the loo.