Bells (Belles) on Their Toes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cheaper By The Dozen

One of the most entertaining movies of the past was "Cheaper by the Dozen", which followed the madcap craziness of raising a family of 12 children in the early part of the 20th century. Frank & Lillian Gilbreth were efficiency experts (he's actually the one who suggested there should be a surgical nurse to hand the proper instruments to a surgeon during operations!)

"Belles on Their Toes" was a continuation of the family's story following the death of Frank in the 1920s, as Lillian Gilbreth struggled to raise her family alone. Although it is difficult to find a specific source for the title, "Belles on Their Toes" can be construed as efficient behavior, and also is a play on the line from the nursery rhyme "Banbury Cross" - "with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes"...

Interestingly, the star of the film remake of "Father of the Bride", Steve Martin, also starred in a movie called "Cheaper By The Dozen", but the title is all it really had in common with the first movie.

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

This is part of the poem "The Bells", by Poe. It is suggested that he may have "invented" the word "tintinnabulation" to describe the sound of ringing bells. It does come from Latin roots for the sound of ringing.

Clement C. Moore was, of course, the author of "The Night Before Christmas", which always brings to mind the image of jingle bells.

Answer: James Stewart, Kim Novak

This play was the story of a witch who disliked her neighbor's fiancé, so she enchanted him to fall in love with her instead. Ultimately, she ended up falling in love with him as well. Be careful what you wish for!

James Stewart and Donna Reed, were, of course, in the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life".

John Wayne and Donna Reed were in a couple of movies together, including "They Were Expendable".

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, were in more than one film together, including "The Quiet Man" and "McClintock".

Answer: Pulitzer

The story of an American officer's attempts to help a Sicilian town during World War 2 won the 1945 Pulitzer prize for its author, John Hersey. The title referred to the officer's determination to replace the town's bell, which had been melted down by the Fascist government to make bullets.

Answer: Belle Starr

Born Myra Belle Shirley in 1848, she lived in the lap of luxury. Even though she was well brought up and educated, she enjoyed the outdoors, and had learned to shoot a gun from her brother Bud. Somewhere along the line, she met up with Jesse and Frank James, and the Younger Brothers, while they were on the run.

She became enamoured of Cole Younger, and became a member of the James gang. Even though she was involved in many illegal activities, her demise came in an ambush, for which no one was ever implicated.

Answer: False

A diving bell is a bell-shaped chamber, open at the bottom, under which several divers could descend into the ocean. Until the hyperbaric chamber was constructed, it was the primary instrument used for exploration. The hyperbaric chamber, being a sealed system, meant that divers could return to the surface with less risk of developing the bends, a sometimes fatal, and extremely painful condition where too much nitrogen is in the diver's bloodstream.

Answer: It was removed to a safe hiding place.

In fact, it was pretty well expected that enemy forces would commandeer materials such as bells to melt down to make ammunition. So, weeks before the anticipated invasion, all the city's bells were removed and taken by wagon to safer havens. The Liberty Bell, as well as others, was hidden in a chamber under the floorboards of the Zion Reformed Church in Northampton, now part of Allentown, PA. Once the British withdrew, the bells were returned to their proper places.

Answer: All of these.

Always eager to learn, and to try, Bell was actively involved in his own inventions, and the ideas and inventions of others. Although Thomas Alva Edison is the undisputed inventor of the phonograph, Bell's tweaking ultimately helped the phonograph become commercially viable. Bell was also involved from a young age, along with other members of his family, in studies of the auditory sense. Both his mother and wife were deaf, and the development of the telephone was an extension of this interest. Among his friends were Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, her tutor.

He also developed a photophone in 1880, by which he made sound pass using light. Although additional inventions by others were necessary to bring this to becoming viable, it was a beginning of the future of fibre-optics.

Answer: Sylvia Plath

The 1963 novel was semi-autobiographical, about a woman wanting to be a writer, whose life descended into mental illness. She had been married to British poet Ted Hughes, and during this time she developed her poetic style. They had two children. The marriage began to collapse, (intimated to be caused by Hughes' infidelity), and she committed suicide by gas with the kitchen stove in 1963, about a month before the book was published.

She was 30 years old.

Answer: a sailor

This little ditty from 1953 chronicled her sadness because he was "sailing somewhere on the sea". My, but lyrics were so much simpler then...

Teresa Brewer was one of the top pop singers of that era. Additional hits she sang included "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now", "Let Me Go, Lover", "Music, Music, Music", "Copenhagen", "Ricochet", and "'Til I Waltz Again With You". In all, she recorded around 600 songs.

Answer: Tennessee

John Bell's farm, where the events are purported to have begun over 200 years ago, is in Adams, Tennessee. There are different stories as to what started the phenomena, from John Bell shooting at a strange animal with the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit that then disappeared, to the witch being a neighbor, Kate Batts, with whom he had been carrying on a feud. It is said he died due to being poisoned by a strange substance. The disembodied voice of the witch took the credit for having done the deed.

Part of the purported history of the Bell Witch includes a visit to the Bell Farm by General Andrew Jackson and several soldiers. It is said that as they approached the farm, they were suddenly stopped in their tracks, and could not proceed until a disembodied voice told them they could. Apparently no mention of this episode was ever found in any of Jackson's letters, journals or other writings.

The phenomena continue even to this day, mainly centering on a cave on the old farm site. The Bell Witch Cave can actually be visited, and tour guides will take you through the cave, and through a reproduction of the old Bell farmhouse. I've not had the opportunity to visit, but if anyone happens to be traveling through Adams, Tennessee, feel free to check it out!

Maryland is the home of the "Blair Witch", based on the fictional movie. It is likely based on the Bell Witch legend.

Massachusetts and North Carolina both seem to have their share of witches and hauntings as well...

Answer: False

Ma Bell was the nickname for the huge conglomerate of American Telephone and Telegraph (AT & T) before its divestiture in 1982 into smaller local companies such as BellSouth, Pacific Bell - known as "Baby Bells".

Answer: It is fatal.

Often occurring after a viral infection, it is characterized by a weakening of muscles to the face. Imagine how your face feels after you've been to the dentist and had a shot of Novocaine. It is a temporary condition, and except in severe cases, patients often go on to full recovery.

Answer: Bell curve

A distribution of specific statistical data can be laid out into a visual plot, which resembles the shape of a bell, thus the name. An example of such statistics would be the distribution of grades within a group of students - thus the term, "grading on the curve".

The assumption is that most students will achieve a certain level on a test (the center of the curve), some will be below, and some will be above (the sides of the curve). The center is often assumed to be C, the left side below the curve is assumed to be an F grade, and the right side below the curve is assumed to be an A.

Answer: False

Heheheh! It was an April Fool's joke, set up when the company took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to state that they had purchased the nation's symbol to help reduce the nation's debt. Amazing how many people didn't get it, and totally freaked out! People, it was a JOKE!