Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In an age when toy safety was of little concern (the 1960s), this one was GREAT! Let a 9 year old create his own plastic toys using hard plastic molds, thin sheets of softer meltable plastic, and an exposed hot plate. Just place the sheet of plastic in the attached hinged frame, heat it up on the hot metal surface, then flip the frame holding the near-molten plastic over and press it onto the mold. Then manually operate (without tipping) the vacuum pump handle and it would suck the hot soft plastic down tightly over the mold and cool the plastic. After letting it cool down, get some good, sharp scissors - or a razor blade - and cut off the excess plastic. Now you have a toy or parts to assemble into a toy. Use of model glue and paint is optional but advised and there were neat decals included as well. What was this marvelous toy called?
2. In 1937, a carpenter from Richfield, Utah with a penchant for aerodynamics named Fred Morrison designed a "flying" toy based on the cake pans that he and his fiance (Lucille Nay) would toss back and forth for fun. In 1946, he came up with the design for a flying disk to be molded from plastic and, in 1948, began selling his "Flyin'-Saucer". In 1955, he redesigned the disk again and, in 1957, sold the rights to the Wham-O Toys company, who marketed it as the "Pluto Platter". In 1958, they further modified the toy and trademarked the name "Frisbee". Where did the name "Frisbee" come from?
3. They may be the perfect boy toy. Standing around 2 inches tall, this seemingly indestructible icon first appeared made out of good old American plastic in 1938 as painted figures. After World War II, mostly unpainted and sold by the bag-full, they became a "must-have" toy and spread throughout bedrooms, living rooms, and sand boxes across the U.S. Nowadays, you'll even find them as heroes in video games and movies. What is all the fuss about?
4. She was born to George and Margaret Roberts of Willows, Wisconsin on March 9, 1959. Her younger siblings include her sister Skipper, twins Todd and Stacie (aka Tutti), Kelly, and Krissy. She loves animals, the color pink, collects clothes, cars and homes, and is an unfocused, albeit very successful, career woman who has at one time or another been, among other things, a fashion model, hair stylist, entertainer, astronaut, nurse, doctor, flight attendant, pilot, and a Nascar driver - obvious proof that a woman can accomplish whatever she seeks to achieve in life. By what single name is this can-do iconic woman best known?
5. The problem: Michelle Khine of the University of California was experimenting with microfluidics in an attempt to create a biochip that would utilize tiny liquid-filled channels which could be used in clinical pathology and applied to the immediate point-of-care diagnosis of diseases. However, in order to continue her pursuit, she was in need of the specialized equipment used to make microfluidic chips and that equipment has a cost of more than $100,000, money that her new lab did not have available. Solution: She turned to a childhood toy and found something that made microfluidic devices better, faster, and cheaper than a hundred thousand dollar high-tech machine ever could. We know that plastic toy as what?
6. Simply put, this company is the world's largest manufacturer of scale models. Their model kits run the gamut from airplanes to automobiles to ships to Universal Studios' monsters to spaceships to Star Wars figures and beyond. Just buy the kit, glue the pieces together, paint, and add decals where necessary and - Voila! You have your own personal plastic museum piece. What company has been the leader in replica plastic kits since 1945?
7. This deceptively simple toy was all the rage beginning in the late 1950s but its origin is basically unknown. It has been supposed that, over 3000 years ago, Egyptian children used dried grape vines to create its earliest version and that the ancient Greeks utilized this toy as a form of exercise to lose weight. In the 1400's it became popular in England until the British began to blame heart attacks and back disorders on its use and playing with the toy became discouraged. It has been made from every sort of material from vines to wood to metal and, in the late 1950s, its colorful plastic version created by the Wham-O Toy Company triggered a fad that would last well into the 1960s, with over twenty million sold in the first 6 months of production. What is this ancient but thoroughly modern toy?
8. Boys don't play with dolls - they have "action figures"! And this one is the biggest, baddest of them all. Inspired by real-life World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York, Hasbro's creation of this icon in 1964 directly lead to the term "action figure" with 12" jointed figures of "Action Soldier", "Action Sailor", "Action Pilot", and "Action Marine". Great Britain's "Action Man" followed in 1970, licensed by Hasbro to Palitoy. Anti-miltary and anti-war sentiments couldn't stop these guys any more than the threats to international peace that they were charged with halting and, by the 1980s, cartoons, comic books, animated and live action movies, 3.75" scale action team set, video games, and even pro wrestlers became part of the phenomenal franchise. What name was given to this fantastic plastic toy?
9. "We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow." [Led Zeppelin ~ "The Immigrant Song"]...or, at least, from Denmark. In 1932, carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen was making wooden toys in his Billund, Denmark wood shop, little realizing that he was on the verge of creating a multi-billion dollar empire built out of little pieces of cellulose acetate! In 1934, he founded his toy company, using a play on the Danish phrase "play well" for its name. In 1940, the little wooden toy company introduced multi-colored plastic versions of a traditional wooden stacking block. Hard to believe but it was not a story of instant success as the toys were not well-received but instead considered to be an inferior product to the original wooden ones. In 1958, under the guidance of Christiansen's son Godtfred, the plastic pieces were improved upon, given their modern design, and patented. By 1963, their composition was reformulated to a sturdier material and the building boom began. The name of this plastic take on wooden tradition is now known worldwide as ____?
10. How much fun could you possibly have with a length of hose that has a bunch of holes running down its length and a sheet of plastic? Well, I guess you can roll it out on the back lawn and let the kids play with it.
Wow, what toy did you just invent?
Source: Author
bigsouthern
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
WesleyCrusher before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
