Archive for the ‘retro trivia’ Tag

03/10/2026 1980’S Trivia   Leave a comment

Here’s the fifth and last installment of the retro trivia series. I hope you’ve had as much fun with them as I had putting them together. The answers will be listed below. See how you do.

  • What craze included terms like “handglide” and backslide”?
  • Whose visit to South Korea in May, 1984, promoted the tightest security in that nations history?
  • What brand of sweetener did G.D. Searle & Company put on the market in 1983?
  • The U.S. mining of what nation’s harbors caused a congressional uproar in April, 1984?
  • What was the name of Jesse Jackson’s hoped for coalition?

  • What was the bug that caused havoc in California?
  • Who was shot and killed at the airport in Manila in 1983?
  • What group in 1981 was compensated $5,000.00 per person for their unusual stint overseas?
  • Seven people died after popping these cyanide-spiked pills?
  • In what nation did a Soviet submarine find itself beached in 1981?

BONUS QUESTION

What celebrated figures were married in St. Paul’s Cathedral?

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Answers

Breakdancing, Pope John Paul II, NutraSweet, Nicaragua, The Rainbow Coalition, Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Benigno Aguino, The Iranian Hostages, Extra Strength Tylenol, Sweden, BONUS-Prince Charles & Lady Diana Spencer,

TA! DA!

03/07/2026 1970’s Trivia   Leave a comment

Here is the fourth installment of retro trivia from the decade of the 1970’s. These questions should be a little easier than the last three decades. As always the answers are listed below.

  • Who was court-martialed in 1971 for atrocities committed in Southeast Asia?
  • What became the capital of the reunited North and South Vietnam?
  • What was the name of the Russian spacecraft that linked with an Apollo module in 1975?
  • In 1974 what building became the tallest in the world?
  • What woman won the Nobel Prize in 1979?

  • What nation tried “The Gang of Four”?
  • Name the senator that presided over the Watergate hearings?
  • Where was the Queen Elizabeth when it caught fire and sank in 1972?
  • Who was the first native American to be canonized by the Catholic church?
  • Name the war hero who quit the Israeli cabinet in 1979?

BONUS QUESTION

What caused Iceland and England to sever diplomatic relations in 1976?

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Answers

Lt. William Calley, Hanoi, Soyuz, The Sears Tower, Mother Teresa, China, Sam Ervin, Hong Kong, Mother Seton, Moshe Dayan, BONUS-Cod Fishing Rights

COMING NEXT-1980’S

03/05/2026 1960’s Trivia   Leave a comment

The 60’s were an interesting and drug filled decade. I lived through it and thoroughly enjoyed almost all of it, How much do you know or remember? Put on your bell bottoms and crappy sandals, drop some acid, and go for a walk on the street to chat with strangers. I dare you!

Lets step back into the 1960’s. As always the answers are listed below.

  • What was the name of the “doorway” between the divided Berlins?
  • In what city was the 1968 Democratic Convention held?
  • Name of the Rockefeller that never returned from New Guinea?
  • Who were the first astronauts to fly the two-occupant Gemini capsule?
  • What was the first Apollo mission to carry a color TV camera to the moon?

  • In what European city was Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin apprehended?
  • In what area of the Dallas policed station was Lee Harvey Oswald shot by Jack Ruby?
  • What popular tranquilizer was introduced in 1963?
  • In 1968 which nation became the fifth to have “the bomb”?
  • How was the Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann put to death?

BONUS QUESTION

What two nations combined to form Tanzania?

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Answers

Checkpoint Charlie, Chicago, Michael, Gus Grissom & John Young, Apollo XII, London, The Garage, Valium, France, He was Hanged, BONUS-Tanganyika & Zanzibar

NEXT UP – THE 1970’S

03/03/2026 1950’s Trivia   Leave a comment

Here is the next installment of more retro trivia facts from the 1950’s. Lets see if you can improve on your score from the 1940’s quiz. As always the answers will be listed below. Have fun!

  • How man presidents were elected in the 1950’s?
  • Name the pope elected in 1958.
  • Who did George Jorgensen become?
  • Name the first atomic submarine.
  • What lamp reached it’s height of popularity in the 1950’s?

  • What British king died in 1952?
  • The Ford Motor Company has never lived down the failure of what car, introduced in the 50’s?
  • Name the political group that was established in 1950 by H.N. Arrowsmith, Jr,
  • Established in 1953, NASA stands for what?
  • What Russian word, popularized in the late 1950’s , means “fellow wayfarer”?

BONUS Question

Where did the unoccupied Soviet spacecraft Lunik journey?

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Answers

One, John XXIII, Christine Jorgensen, The Nautilus, Pole Lamp, King George VI, The Edsel, The American Nazi Party, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Sputnik, BONUS- To the Moon,

THE 1960’S ARE NEXT

07/24/2025 “POP CULTURE”   Leave a comment

Today is a good day for a little innocent and harmless pop culture trivia. Whenever I find something odd or strange that catches my interest I make note of it and today is the day that I’m going to publish some of those notes. Some are interesting and some not so much. You decide.

  • Although Sean Connery played Harrison Ford’s father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Connery is just 12 years older than Ford.
  • Among the actors who auditioned for the Han Solo role in the original Star Wars were Kurt Russell, Robert Englund, and even Sylvester Stallone.
  • The state of Maine is really a popular state for fictional murders. It has been used as the setting for a surprising number of mysteries and thrillers by Stephen King.
  • According to legend, hard rocking band Alice Cooper chose their name after using a Ouija board to communicate with a spirit named Alice Cooper.
  • Yoda from Star Wars, the cookie monster from Sesame Street, and Miss Piggy from the Muppet Show were all voiced by the same person, Frank Oz.

  • Sir Paul McCartney once released an album under the name Thrills Thrillington.
  • Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings because he didn’t understand the script.
  • In the Wizard of Oz movie, the dog playing Toto was paid an actual salary of $125 a week. Ironically this was more money than many of the film actors were paid.
  • The first interracial kiss in television history happened on Star Trek.

And last but not least . . . .

  • Actor Nicolas Cage was named after the comic book hero Luke Cage. Oddly enough my youngest grandson was named Cage after Nicolas Cage.

POP GOES THE WEASEL

02/22/2024 “For Celebrity Lovers”   Leave a comment

Why is it that everybody seems to love celebrities. It’s something that’s puzzled me for many years and I still don’t understand the fascination. During my lifetime I’ve met a number of celebrities and after short conversations very few of them were interesting. Underneath all the glitz and glamour and the famous roles that they’ve played, it’s still just a regular old human being playing dress up like they did when they were kids. They have the same problems and issues as all the rest of us except for the fact that a few problems they have are exacerbated by their fame and celebrity. Their worst problem is primarily the use and abuse of drugs as reflected by the endless list of OD fatalities. I dug into my archives again today and picked up a few trivia items concerning celebrities from the early Hollywood years. For those of you that love celebrities and can’t live without TMZ and the effing Kardashian clan, you have my sympathies. You should stop reading now and go have a cup of coffee or a stiff drink. That’s what’s I’m going to do.

  • An old-time actress, Ethel Barrymore, was the first actress to have a theater named after her.
  • A great actor James Cagney made his first stage appearance as a chorus girl in a show called Every Sailor.
  • In the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho, the blood in the famous shower scene was actually chocolate syrup.
  • Child actress Shirley Temple appeared in her first film, The Red-Haired Alibi, at the age of three.
  • Yule Brenner was famous for his shiny bald head but most people who watched his movies had no idea his real hair was actually a dark brown.

  • Jimmy Durante of the famous gravelly voice and large nose insured his nose at Lloyd’s of London.
  • In the 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the out-of-control computer HAL, is taught to sing the song, A Bicycle Built for Two.
  • Dolly Parton and her two wonderfully round and soft friends once had the name, Booby Trap as a CB handle.
  • Famous leading man Sean Connery represented Scotland in the 1952 Mr. Universe contest.
  • Elizabeth Taylor’s film career started at the age of 10 in a low-brow comedy called There’s One Born Every Minute, which also featured former Our Gang star, Carl (Alfalfa) Switzer.

As you can see most of the celebrity gossip from the good old days isn’t nearly as juicy as what we’re dealing with today. I just wish I had the power to bundle up all of the Kardashians (including big Daddy/Mommy Jenner), all of their associates and children and lovers and ex-lovers and husbands and ex-husbands, and dump them all back into the 1920’s. If only wishing made it so.

WHERE’S BUTT-HEAD KANYE WEST WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

12/17/2022 🚗Retro Bumper Stickers🚗   Leave a comment

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I’ve never been one to load up the bumpers of my vehicles with the pearls of wisdom contained on bumper stickers. I’ve had more vehicles than I can remember and the only bumper sticker I ever put on one of my cars was in 1975. It read, HONK IF YOUR HORNY, on the back of my beautiful orange Gremlin. That being said I still love reading them on the cars of others. Here are a few that decorated vehicles during the late 20th century.

CAUTION, I DRIVE JUST LIKE YOU

SORRY, I DON’T DATE OUTSIDE MY SPECIES

NOT ALL DUMBS ARE BLOND

I DON’T BRAKE FOR PEDESTRIANS

IF YOU LIVED IN YOUR CAR, YOU’D BE HOME BY NOW

LEARN FROM YOUR PARENTS’ MISTAKES, USE BIRTH CONT ROL

EAT WELL, STAY FIT, DIE ANYWAY

MY WIFES OTHER CAR IS A BROOM

INSTANT ASSHOLE, JUST ADD ALCOHOL

BEER ISN’T JUST FOR BREAKFAST

HE WHO LAUGHS LAST, THINKS SLOWEST

BE CAREFUL – 90 PERCENT OF PEOPLE ARE CAUSED BY ACCIDENTS

DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE – YOU MIGHT SPILL SOME

I’M NOT A COMPLETE IDIOT – SOME PARTS ARE MISSING

HONK IF YOU’VE BEEN MARRIED TO ELIZABETH TAYLOR

SEVEN SHOPPING DAYS LEFT

06/16/2022 🥸Retro Trivia🥸   Leave a comment

Everyone seems to love old TV shows, old movies, and any and all celebrities. Here’s a collection of film and TV trivia items from the past. Enjoy them if you can. Call an older family member or friend for help if necessary.

  • The waist size of bus driver Ralph Kramden’s uniform on the hit show, The Honeymooners, was 49 1/4 inches.
  • Do you remember that the TV characters, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, were married on the show at the Byram River Beagle Club in Greenwich, Connecticut?
  • During his 30-year run as the host of the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson delivered 4531 monologues.
  • The Clampett family from the Beverly Hillbillies TV show originated from a home in the Ozarks called Hooterville. It also served as the setting for two spinoff series, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres.
  • Bob Clampett who created the Bugs Bunny cartoon character was inspired when he saw an actor munching a carrot in a movie. That actor was Clark Gable.
  • Groucho Marx’s real first name was Julius.
  • The 14th screen Tarzan, former LA Rams linebacker Mike Henry, sued for physical and mental injury following his third and final film when he was bitten by Dinky the Chimp.
  • Lucille Ball became an official redhead at age 30, after 12 years as a platinum blonde and 18 as a natural brunette.
  • The 1955 movie, King Kong with Fay Wray, was the first Hollywood film shown on television after the US movie industry ended its ban.
  • One of our favorite actresses, Farrah Fawcett, had a plumbing fixture named after her. It was a gold plated “Farrah Faucet”.

HOWDY FOLKS