History Test Answers
Get a pencil, choose your answer.
1. In the 1940s, where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
a. On the floor shift knob.
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch.
c. Next to the horn.
(b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late '60's to catch on.
2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs.
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
c. Large salt shaker.
(b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. Why was having milk delivered a problem in northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze, expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.
(c) Cold weather cause d the milk to freeze and expand, popping the bottle top.
4. What was the popular chewing gum named for
a game of chance?
(a) Blackjack Gum.
5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during WW II.
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks
(b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
b. Nash Metro
(a) 1946 Studebaker.
7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a. Strips of dried peanut butter.
b. Chocolate licorice bars.
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.
(c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.
8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.
(a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key.
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
c. Long pieces of twine.
(a) With clamps , tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your neck.
10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts.
b. Ask Mom.
11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
(c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.
12. "I'll be down to get you i n a __ ______, Honey"
(b) Taxi Better be ready by half-past eight!
13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
a. Old Blue
14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
c. Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
(c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajawea
c. Princess Moonshadow
(a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.
16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?
a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink, as this was believed to get you high.
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid their failure.
(a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.
17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?
a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum.
b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items.
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.
(b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.
18. Praise the Lord, and pass the _________?
(c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.
19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song "Ca bdri ver" a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires
(a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.
20. Who left his heart in San Francisco?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin
17- 20 correct:
You are older than dirt, and obviously gifted with mental abilities
Now if you could only find your glasses.
Definitely someone who should share your wisdom!
12 -16 correct :
Not quite dirt yet, but you're getting there.
0 -11 correct :
You are not old enough to share the wisdom of your experiences.