|
|
December 11
|
Toy Myths Quiz
Toy trivia ace!
You got 9/10 correct.
|
|
1
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| A
| True
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
| Lincoln Logs were invented in 1916 by John Lloyd Wright, the son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. John Lloyd Wright was inspired by the earthquake-proof foundation of his father's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, which was constructed of interlocking notched beams. |
|
2
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| A
| True
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
 The teddy bear was inspired by a 1902 political cartoon depicting then-president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt sparing the life of a bear on a hunting expedition. The bear became a mascot for Roosevelt's reelection campaign and sales of stuffed bear toys surged. A toymaker sent one to the president, asking if he could name it the "teddy bear" in his honor, and Roosevelt agreed. |
|
3
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| B
| False
|
| Your answer:
| B
| False |
|
| The "Pleistocene Barbie" letter has been circulating on the Internet for more than a decade and, while humorous, it is entirely fictional, as are the author and recipient. In addition to the ridiculous premise of the letter--that a person would send an old, chewed-up doll head to a prominent museum for analysis and in turn get a response--a number of details suggest that the letter was a fake. The return address does not belong to any of the Smithsonian museums and says "Smithsonian Institute" rather than "Institution." The author's title, "Curator of Antiquities," does not exist (nor does the author himself) at the Smithsonian nor would that be an appropriate title for a paleoanthropologist. |
|
4
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| A
| True
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
| In 2002 a representative of Toys for Tots asked to place a toy-donation box in a Wal-Mart store in Colorado. The store agreed to participate and the box filled up with donations during the busy holiday shopping season. However, when the representative returned in December to pick up the toys, the box was empty. Due to a communication error, no one had notified customers to wrap toys intended for donation in Wal-Mart bags to indicate that they had been purchased. Since the store had no way to tell whether the items in the donation bin had been properly paid for or merely swiped from store's shelves, everything was returned to the shelves. Wal-Mart made a cash donation to Toys for Tots to make up for the embarrassing episode. |
|
5
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| B
| False
|
| Your answer:
| B
| False |
|
 The M-16 assault rifle, used by thousands of soldiers in the Vietnam War, was designed to be small and lightweight. Manufactured by the Colt Firearms Corporation of plastics and alloys, it developed a reputation for being unreliable and inaccurate and was often compared to a cheap child's toy. This led to rumors that it was, indeed, a toy, manufactured by the most popular toy company at the time, Mattel. It didn't help that Mattel did in fact make a remarkably similar toy version of the M-16 in the mid-1960s. |
|
6
|
Incorrect
| The correct answer:
| B
| False
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
| The yo-yo is thought to be one of the world's oldest toys. Legend has it that the yo-yo originated with hunters in the Philippines, who would use a rock on a string to strike their prey and then quickly retract the weapon in order to unleash another blow. However, while the yo-yo was a toy in that part of the world for hundreds of years, it is unlikely it was ever used as a weapon. By the time it reached the end of the string, the rock would not have enough momentum to do much damage, and once it struck something, it would be nearly impossible to retract. The story was likely an invention of the Duncan Toy Company in the 1930s to help sell more yo-yos. |
|
7
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| A
| True
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
 Depending on the method of calculation, a real-life Barbie would stand between 5'8" and 7' tall and weigh 100 to 110 pounds. She would have 33- to 35-inch hips, an 18- to 21-inch waist, and a 38- to 40-inch bust. Her feet would be too small to walk properly and her neck would be twice as long as a normal person's. Yikes! Of course, the same could be said for any number of dolls. Imagine a life-size Bratz doll, with enormous feet and a skinny little neck that probably couldn't support its giant head. |
|
8
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| A
| True
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
| Play-Doh was invented by Kutol Products, a Cincinnati soap company, as a compound used to clean soot off wallpaper. By the 1950s, homes had switched from coal to gas or oil heat and wallpaper was made from easier-to-clean vinyl, so there was no longer a need for such a product. Joseph McVicker, a Kutol employee, learned from a teacher that younger children had trouble manipulating modeling clay, so he sent a few cans of the nontoxic, pliant compound to the school. It was such a big hit with kids and teachers alike that he supplied it to every school in Cincinnati. In 1956 he and his uncle, Noah McVicker, created the Rainbow Crafts Company to sell this new clay, which they dubbed "Play-Doh." A limited-edition Play-Doh-scented cologne was released in May 2006, in honor of the product's 50th birthday. |
|
9
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| B
| False
|
| Your answer:
| B
| False |
|
| In April 1997 an article appeared in Games magazine about Davis Merran, a 35-year-old ceramics engineer who had created a new type of automotive windshield glass (dubbed "Sunglass") that reduced glare and improved visibility to the point that the glass itself was virtually invisible. While not commercially viable, he used the glass to design a spherical puzzle, called "Orion's Crystal," destined to become the next Rubik's Cube. The article claimed that Bill Clinton and Bill Gates both owned one and that FAO Schwarz toy stores could barely keep them on the shelves. The story was subsequently covered by CBS News and the New York Times. Hundreds of people called FAO Schwarz asking if they had Orion's Crystal in stock, only to be told that no such thing existed. It turned out the article was a hoax, commissioned by Games as one of their annual April Fools' jokes. |
|
10
|
Correct!
| The correct answer:
| A
| True
|
| Your answer:
| A
| True |
|
| In February 2005 a statement was posted on a Web site that frequently carried messages from Iraqi militants. It claimed that they had taken an American soldier hostage and that he would be killed in 72 hours if the United States did not agree to release Iraqi prisoners. The accompanying photo showed what appeared to be an African-American man in desert fatigues sitting on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back. On closer examination, the "soldier" bore a remarkable resemblance to the "Cody" Special Ops Action Figure manufactured by Dragon Models USA. Sure enough, the next day a message was circulated confessing the whole thing was a hoax and the captured soldier was just a toy.
Try more Encarta quizzes!
|
|
|
|
|
Tools 
Send a private message
Subscribe to RSS feed
Tell a friend
Add to My MSN
Add to your network
Sign up for alerts
