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Quiz about Buggy Whips  Other Bygones  2
Quiz about Buggy Whips  Other Bygones  2

Buggy Whips & Other Bygones : 2 Quiz


Unless you are over 45 year old, you may have difficulties with these questions about common things of yesteryear.

A multiple-choice quiz by rblayer. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
rblayer
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
225,839
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
8294
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: 21okie (9/10), Liz5050 (10/10), Guest 73 (9/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. What was a party line? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What type of product did 'Speedy' advertise? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. A common sight in American convenience stores and drug stores during the 50s and 60s was a do-it-yourself testing machine. What could you test in these contraptions? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. American highways used to be dotted with groupings of little red signs. What product was being advertised? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. What was 'Hai Karate'? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What was a "duck tail"? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Who or what was Elsie? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Before the invention of pantyhose, what could one purchase in a plastic egg? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. What was the name of the doll that was able to wet herself? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. On or to what would one apply Butch Wax? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 26 2024 : 21okie: 9/10
Mar 18 2024 : Liz5050: 10/10
Mar 17 2024 : Guest 73: 9/10
Mar 17 2024 : Guest 174: 9/10
Mar 16 2024 : dennisbn: 9/10
Mar 16 2024 : Gatsby91606: 9/10
Mar 16 2024 : GoodwinPD: 10/10
Mar 16 2024 : teachdpo: 7/10
Mar 16 2024 : Guest 131: 8/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What was a party line?

Answer: Telephone service

With the widespread availability of inexpensive cellular phones, it may be hard to believe that in the past not everyone could afford a telephone line to their home. Many families shared a telephone line with as many as a dozen others. Each home had a distinctive ringing pattern for incoming calls. Busy signals and 'party line' arguments were common.
2. What type of product did 'Speedy' advertise?

Answer: Drugs

Speedy, whose body and hat were "Alka-Seltzer" tablets, pitched the headache and indigestion remedy of the rapidly dissolving tablets that formed an effervescent solution when added to water. The catchy jingle "Plop plop fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is," was also used to advertise the popular over-the-counter drug.
3. A common sight in American convenience stores and drug stores during the 50s and 60s was a do-it-yourself testing machine. What could you test in these contraptions?

Answer: Vacuum tubes

Back in the days before portable televisions, a family TV was usually a large, heavy wooden cabinet filled with glowing glass vacuum tubes. Since a house-call by a television repairman was expensive, people could fill a box with an assortment of tubes and visit the tube-testing machine at a local store. Solid-state technology eliminated the need for the testing machines, but left space for the yet-to-be-invented ATM machines.
4. American highways used to be dotted with groupings of little red signs. What product was being advertised?

Answer: Shaving cream

Burma-Shave was a brushless shaving cream. At one time, there were more than 7,000 Burma-Shave signs dotting American roadsides. The white on red signs were usually in groups of four, five or six, and carried clever messages in segments, with the punchline on the last sign. The last sign was put up in 1963.
5. What was 'Hai Karate'?

Answer: After shave

No self-respecting male "baby boomer" would go out without a heavy application of a men's' fragrance. Macho sport figure and legendary lady's man "Broadway" Joe Namath pitched "Brut" while other television commercials inundated the public with snazzy cologne promotions aimed at young males.

When a beautiful model purred, "all my men wear English Leather, or they wear nothing at all", guys flocked to the cologne counter.
6. What was a "duck tail"?

Answer: Hair style

The "duck tail" hair style remains a lasting symbol of the 1950s. Many 'beat' generation youths combed their longish hair back on the sides, forming 'duck tails'. In the days before electric hair dryers, the use of large quantities of grease was necessary to maintain the 'tails'.
7. Who or what was Elsie?

Answer: Cow

Elsie the Cow was the animal mascot of the Borden Company since a 1938 ad campaign. In 1952 she beat out actor Van Johnson and U.S. Senator Robert Taft in an American recognition poll. She 'retired' in the 1970s, but was brought back for a 1990s TV ad campaign. Her husband, Elmer, is famous as the mascot for Borden's glue products.
8. Before the invention of pantyhose, what could one purchase in a plastic egg?

Answer: Silly Putty

Researchers attempting to develop synthetic rubber during World War II, accidentally created what at the time was a useless substance that was fun to play with. Initially called "nutty putty" it later became known as "Silly Putty" because the main ingredient was silicone.

It was packaged in a plastic egg and marketed as a toy. Many other practical uses have been discovered, including the use by the Apollo 8 crew to secure tools in zero gravity.
9. What was the name of the doll that was able to wet herself?

Answer: Betsy

Betsy Wetsy was first manufactured in the 1930s by the Ideal Toy Corporation. A small opening in her mouth allowed her to be 'fed' from a tiny baby bottle, and, as her name implied, she later wet her diaper. Another doll of the era was Tiny Tears, who, as you may surmise, shed 'real' tears.
10. On or to what would one apply Butch Wax?

Answer: Hair

In the 1950s, the opposite of a duck tail haircut was the flat top. The only way to insure the short hair would stand up straight was the application of a dab of Butch Wax to mold the hair into shape.
Source: Author rblayer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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