Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. They could have gone to the movies. Although "Gentleman's Agreement" won the Oscar for Best Picture in the 1948 Academy Awards presentation, a movie I like better won just as many Oscars (3), including Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle. Which delightful film was this, which, despite its theme, was released in May of 1947?
2. They probably listened to music. A song by Dinah Shore held the top spot on "Billboard Magazine's Top 100 Hits" for the last eight weeks of 1948. Which of these songs is it that includes the lyrics, "I'll love you in buckskin / Or skirts that I've homespun / But I'll love ya' longer, stronger where / Yer friends don't tote a gun."?
3. They may have enjoyed baseball, America's pastime. The 1948 World Series was the first to be televised on a national network. The teams were the same as those in the 1995 Series, but the outcome was reversed. For the losing Boston Braves, it was their last World Series in Beantown before moving to Milwaukee in 1953. For the winners, Satchel Paige became the first Black pitcher in a World Series. Which team won the six-game series?
4. Speaking of TV, 1948 was a breakthrough year, including Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis appearing on the debut of a Sunday-night variety series called "Toast of the Town". More often referred to by the name of its host, the show would officially change its name in 1955, continuing by that moniker until 1971. Who was this columnist-turned-TV-host, whose shows included historic appearances by Elvis Presley in 1956 and The Beatles in 1964?
5. They probably played board games. In 1948 James Brunot bought the rights to manufacture a game he was already part owner in called "Criss-Crosswords". Which of the following board game with tiles do we still enjoy today?
6. No doubt they listened to the radio. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" was the introduction to one of the top-rated daytime radio shows in 1948. Frank Readick, Jr., voiced this question on what radio drama?
7. After three and a half weeks off Broadway, this musical just got onto Broadway in 1948, opening on December 30. Which musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, was a modern-day musical version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and the only Cole Porter musical to run for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway?
8. A play that opened on Broadway in February of 1948 was named Best Play in the second annual Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theater, held in March of that same year. Henry Fonda won for Best Actor and Joshua Logan for Best Director in the naval-themed story that saw Fonda also take the title role in a 1955 movie of the same name. Which play and movie was this that prominently featured a prized (and twice abused) palm tree?
9. Making its debut as a comic strip in 1948 was a gem by Walt Kelly featuring such characters as Albert Alligator, Churchy LaFemme, and Howland Owl. The title character, a philosophical opossum, was once famously shown in a panel looking over a polluted portion of his beloved Okefenokee Swamp and saying "We have met the enemy and he is us." Who was this iconic critter?
10. For our last 1948 Entertainment question, I'm going back to sports, specifically college football. Due to a no-repeat rule in the Big Ten (known as the Big Nine in '48) regarding the Rose Bowl, the 1948 National Champion as voted by the AP did not play in a bowl game. Instead, Northwestern beat California, 20-14 in the "Granddaddy of Them All." So which undefeated eleven finished above the Wildcats in the Big Ten and also was crowned National Champion?
Source: Author
shvdotr
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
