[ Your humble list writer took the test and I am sad to report that I indeed
qualify as ... "Older Than Dirt". ... Conrad ]
1. In the 1940's, where were automobile headlight high beam switches
located?
a. On the floor shift knob
b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch
c. Next to the horn
2. What would you do with an old soda bottle with holes the bottle cap?
a. Capture lightning bugs
b. Sprinkle clothes before ironing
c. Shaker for sea salt
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.
4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?
a. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps!
5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings
when none were available due to rationing during W.W.II?
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks
6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you
couldn't tell whether it was coming or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker
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
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
9. Before in-line 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
10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts
b. Ask Mom
c. Eeny-meeny-miney- mo
11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940's-50's
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio
12. "I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey"
a. Station wagon
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar
13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pet pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c. Macaroni
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. How you prepared for an A-bomb attack
15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?
a. Princess Summerfallwinterspr ing
b. Princess Sacajawea
c. Princess Moonshadow
16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests
were handed out in school?
a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top, to avoid looking bad when they
flunked
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
18. Praise the Lord, and pass the _________?
a. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition
19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song
"Cabdriver" a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires
20. Who left his heart in San Francisco?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin
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ANSWERS
1. 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. b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand, popping the
bottle top.
4. a) Blackjack Gum.
5. b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the
back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. a) 1946 Studebaker.
7. c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water. They were
called "Nik-L-Nip"
8 a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. a) With clamps, tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a
shoestring around your neck.
10. c) Eeny-meeny-miney- mo.
11. 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. b) Taxi. Better be ready by half-past eight!
13. c) Macaroni.
14. c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in
an A-bomb drill.
15. a) Princess Summerfallwinterspr ing. She was another puppet.
16. a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.
17. b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household
items at the Green Stamp store.
18. c) Ammunition, and we'll all be free.
19. a) The widely famous 50's group: The Inkspots.
20. a) Tony Bennett, and he sounds just as good today..
SCORING
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: Not even close to dirty. Listen to the wisdom of your elders'
experiences. Over and over again. And remind them to turn off their turn signal.
