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Quiz about All The Cool People Are Doing It
Quiz about All The Cool People Are Doing It

All The Cool People Are Doing It Quiz


Fads come and go. This quiz covers some from the last 200 years, reminding us that our grandparents were just as silly as we are sometimes.

A multiple-choice quiz by littlepup. Estimated time: 3 mins.
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Author
littlepup
Time
3 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
384,110
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Very Easy
Avg Score
9 / 10
Plays
905
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Kiwikaz (9/10), Guest 142 (9/10), Guest 86 (8/10).
Question 1 of 10
1. Gary Dahl became a millionaire in 1975-1976, selling pets from Mexico to lonely Americans, avoiding quarantine requirements and health paperwork. What did he sell? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly started a fad in 1924 that lasted until the Great Depression gave people more to worry about. It required endurance and, well, more endurance. What was it? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The Bayside Boys did an English-language remix of this song by Los del Río (you've heard of all of them, right?), and an amazing record-breaking song and dance craze was born out of nowhere in 1996. It was pretty much over by 1997, but still hangs on as one of those dances everyone knows. What was it? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. What singer, nicknamed The Swedish Nightingale, toured America in 1850-52 and started a mania of naming things after her, from kittens to boats? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. People in the 1920s and 1930s made an enjoyable activity into humiliation and torture, and sold the sight to sadistic audiences. What did people do for dozens, sometimes thousands of hours straight, literally dropping from exhaustion? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Invented in 1974, this little puzzle peaked as a fad in the 1980s, but is still played today. Speedsolvers compete for time, but beginners just want the colors to cooperate. What is this toy, named after its inventor? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This dance craze started in 1959, was a symbol of that evil, raunchy rock and roll, and died out in the early 1960s when it became more acceptable. If I say one name, I may give it away, even though he wasn't first: Chubby Checker. Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. What hat, a fad from 1947 to the 1950s, made kids look like they could fly? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This fad peaked nationally in 1974, though it has happened occasionally before and since. "Don't look, Ethel!" Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In 1959, a fad peaked for stuffing as many people as possible into this object, which is rarely seen anymore, except around Dr. Who fans. What were people shoving each other into? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Oct 24 2024 : Kiwikaz: 9/10
Oct 13 2024 : Guest 142: 9/10
Oct 01 2024 : Guest 86: 8/10
Sep 30 2024 : Guest 71: 10/10
Sep 29 2024 : Guest 174: 10/10
Sep 17 2024 : Guest 74: 9/10
Sep 03 2024 : HumblePie7: 10/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Gary Dahl became a millionaire in 1975-1976, selling pets from Mexico to lonely Americans, avoiding quarantine requirements and health paperwork. What did he sell?

Answer: pet rocks

Dahl thought up the idea in a bar in April 1975. Who wouldn't want a pet that required no care? The naturally smooth, rounded rocks came from Rosarito Beach in Baja California. By the following spring, people were starting to figure out that their pets were difficult to train and, like most pets from the wild, could become dangerous if thrown.

The fad was over, but Dahl was a millionaire and invested the money in his own bar.
2. Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly started a fad in 1924 that lasted until the Great Depression gave people more to worry about. It required endurance and, well, more endurance. What was it?

Answer: flagpole sitting

The pole generally had a small platform. Food, water, and other necessities were allowed. It was all about sitting. Kelly began the fad with 13 hours and 13 minutes atop a pole, but by 1930, imitators managed weeks. By then, though, interest was declining in such stunts, when people's endurance was tested standing in employment lines and bread lines.
3. The Bayside Boys did an English-language remix of this song by Los del Río (you've heard of all of them, right?), and an amazing record-breaking song and dance craze was born out of nowhere in 1996. It was pretty much over by 1997, but still hangs on as one of those dances everyone knows. What was it?

Answer: Macarena

The happy song with its simple dance makes even awkward dancers look graceful. The song peaked during the 1996 Democratic convention in August, and C-span captured the delegates performing it. Miss Piggy sang her version in the film Muppets Most Wanted. Delegates and muppets--surely that's proof of a song hitting the big-time.
4. What singer, nicknamed The Swedish Nightingale, toured America in 1850-52 and started a mania of naming things after her, from kittens to boats?

Answer: Jenny Lind

Swedish singer Jenny Lind (1820-1877) toured the U.S. in 1850-1852. Her tour was managed by P. T. Barnum--yes, THE Barnum--and he conducted it with so much hype that people started to believe she was really as good as he said she was, and her tour became a sensation. But it didn't end there. A fad of naming things after her began. You may have heard of Jenny Lind beds, but there's also:

--In Mammoth Cave, KY, a natural rock formation, "Jenny Lind's Armchair"
--A green-fleshed melon
--A building style in KY and WV, with no studs in the walls
--The town of Jenny Lind in Calaveras County, CA
--A stone tower built in North Truro, MA.
--A type of locomotive, the first one admittedly named before her U.S. tour, the rest afterward
--A ship, the Nightingale, named after her nickname Swedish Nightingale. The Boston owners offered an international race challenge in the 1850s, England to China and back, 10,000 pounds, with no takers
--Jenny Lind Polka, music as a tribute to her
--Lind-Bohannan neighborhood of St. Paul, MN, where she shares billing with a local develope.
--A steam ferry across San Francisco Bay, CA, which tragically exploded with great loss of life
--Jenny Lind potatoes, no longer of interest to gardeners
--Jenny Lind cake, a plain sort of white cake
--A song, "Jenny Lind Mania," itself cashing in on the mania, listed more things: bonnets, collars, sugar, cocoa, pipes, tobacco...
You get the idea.
5. People in the 1920s and 1930s made an enjoyable activity into humiliation and torture, and sold the sight to sadistic audiences. What did people do for dozens, sometimes thousands of hours straight, literally dropping from exhaustion?

Answer: dance

Dance marathons offered free meals and maybe a chance at a rigged prize to Depression era couples who didn't mind dragging themselves through endless dancing, plus sadistic races and other "games" in peak audience hours. Audiences enjoyed watching the contestants fail, but other groups complained about the danger to health and morals.

By the 1940s, Americans had a war to worry about, and the fad intensity of the entertainment ended.
6. Invented in 1974, this little puzzle peaked as a fad in the 1980s, but is still played today. Speedsolvers compete for time, but beginners just want the colors to cooperate. What is this toy, named after its inventor?

Answer: Rubik's cube

The fascinating and frustrating puzzle had everyone rotating sides of a cube and learning algorithms on the way to matching all the colors, even that stubborn last one in the corner. The cube has come down from fad level, but still has many faithful fans, working for speed or other challenges.
7. This dance craze started in 1959, was a symbol of that evil, raunchy rock and roll, and died out in the early 1960s when it became more acceptable. If I say one name, I may give it away, even though he wasn't first: Chubby Checker.

Answer: the twist

Hank Ballard wrote "The Twist" in 1959 after seeing some Florida teenagers already twisting. Dick Clark, popular for "American Bandstand" and "The Dick Clark Show" on TV, saw potential but wanted a more wholesome artist. He got Chubby Checker to record it the same year, popularized it, and the rest is a few years of history.

The dance had two combined elements that made its popularity soar: It was easy to do (just swivel your hips) and it looked sexy enough to upset old fogies.
8. What hat, a fad from 1947 to the 1950s, made kids look like they could fly?

Answer: beanie with propeller on top

Ray Faraday Nelson of Cadillac, Michigan added a propeller to the top of a beanie as a science fiction symbol, while still in 10th grade. Science fiction fans and kids in general loved the idea of the hat that looked like it could fly away with them. Adding to its popularity, the puppet star on the popular TV show "Time for Beany" wore one. Ads sold them in the backs of magazines.

They were offered cheap at fairs and carnivals, and they continued to look cool into the 1950s. Then they didn't, and people moved on to other fads.
9. This fad peaked nationally in 1974, though it has happened occasionally before and since. "Don't look, Ethel!"

Answer: streaking

Supposedly, a reporter at a 1973 planned nude run by over 500 University of Maryland students said on air, "They are streaking past me right now," and a new meaning of the word "streak" was born. Ethel comes from Ray Stevens' song "The Streak," which appeared at the height of the worldwide fad, in the spring of 1974.

The idea was to run naked in a public location, a watching crowd and live TV coverage being ideal. Sporting events were most popular, though the Academy Awards had a streaker too. The shock value and novelty have faded, and in the US, public nudity comes with a risk of the lifelong stigma of a sex offense, though some places look the other way, like Ethel, and still let college students have fun with non-disruptive streaks.
10. In 1959, a fad peaked for stuffing as many people as possible into this object, which is rarely seen anymore, except around Dr. Who fans. What were people shoving each other into?

Answer: telephone booths

Students in South Africa announced in the spring of 1959 that they had squeezed 25 young men into a phone booth. The challenge was on, and students from England to Canada to the US started planning their stuffing strategies and arguing over rules. Other items were used for stuffing too, most notably cars, and probably even some of the wrong choices above, but in 1959, phone booths were where people were at.
Source: Author littlepup

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