It's Not Doris Day Trivia Quiz

Answer: The M.T.A.

The original version of "M.T.A." was written in 1949 by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes as a campaign song for a candidate for mayor of Boston. It was so much a part of Boston culture that when the Boston Transit Authority developed an electronic fare card, they called it the "Charlie card." In 1964 the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority replaced the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Answer: Sunny Day

"Sunny day, Sweeping the clouds away, On my way to where the air is sweet. Can you tell me how to get, How to get to Sesame Street?" Written by Joe Reposo, Jon Stone, and Bruce Hart, the song is registered with ASCAP as "Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street."

In 1946 Doris Day did make a recording of "Day By Day" with Les Brown, however.

Answer: A manta ray

"The Glass Bottom Boat" was a 1966 romantic comedy starring, who else?, Doris Day. However, it was set on Catalina Island, not Hawaii. Nonetheless, the manta ray is the most logical object to be seen through the glass of a glass bottom boat.

The larger species of mantas can reach over 20 feet (7 meters) from "wingtip to wingtip."

Answer: Mice at play

One online source attributes the proverb "When the cat's away, the mice will play" to early 14th Century France and claims it first appeared in English in 1470. The same source says Shakespeare used the expression in 1599 in "Henry the Fifth." However, that is not verbatim, since what Westmoreland actually says in the play is, "...the weasel Scot...sucks her (England's) princely eggs / Playing the mouse in absence of the cat."

The Internet Movie Data Base notes that the only time Doris Day did Shakespeare was in the 1967 film "Caprice" where she and co-star Richard Harris recite Hamlet's soliloquy together. In her autobiography she says this was one of her least favorite films.

Answer: A Basque beret

The beret is a favorite accessory to military uniforms around the world. Wikipedia lists over 100 nations and international military units using the beret in one of their uniform options. Beret-style headgear has been worn in Europe since the Bronze Age.

The Basque-style was first used by shepherds of Aragon and Navarre, especially in the Pyrenees.

Doris Day can be seen wearing berets in 1959's "Pillow Talk" and 1961's "Lover Come Back." (but not in "April in Paris"?? whaaaat?)

Answer: Coup-fourré

The card game Mille Bournes uses four types of cards: Distance cards, Hazards, Remedies, and Safeties. When a player wishes to prevent his opponent from rolling blithely down the road toward victory, he can use one of the Hazard cards (Accident, Out of Gas, Flat Tire, Stop, and Speed Limit) to slow down his foe.

However, should the foe have one of the Remedies (Repair, Gasoline, Spare Tire, Go/Roll, and End of Limit), he can counter the Hazard card immediately, shouting "Coup-fourré!" That's the fun part! Like the name of a 1949 Doris Day film, "It's a Great Feeling."

Answer: Cassius Clay

After Ali defeated Sonny Liston in 1964 for the heavyweight title, he changed his name to Cassius X, becoming a member of the Nation of Islam. Shortly thereafter he took the name Muhammad Ali.

Answer: Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray gives credit to her Sicilian (her mother was Italian) and Cajun (her father was French, Scottish, and Welsh) ancestry for her style of cooking. She favors simple recipes without a lot of detailed measuring, which she feels takes away from creative food preparation. She also claims to have no formal education in cooking, saying, "I'm not a chef."

Answer: Dennis Day

Although he started singing as a small boy, Dennis never sang professionally until his first appearance on Jack Benny's show in 1950.

He was also a veteran of World War II, serving as a lieutenant from 1944 to 1946.

Since Doris' name was actually Kappelhoff and Dennis' was McNulty, they are obviously not related. But they were active in the same era, although I can't find any evidence that they ever appeared together. But, with Dennis being so closely connected to Jack Benny, here's the best that I can do: on 6 January, 1949, Doris did appear with Jack on Bob Hope's radio show!

Answer: Creme Brulee

One can also serve the dish with a flaming style called creme brulee flambee. Other names for the dessert are crema catalana in Spain, and Trinity cream and Cambridge Burnt Cream in Britain.

Do you suppose Doris Day ever ate creme brulee with a Chardonnay on Bastille Day near Biscayne Bay with Danny Kaye, Aldo Ray, and Martha Raye wearing a gray toupee? No? However, she did do two movies with Gordon McRae called "Tea For Two" and "On Moonlight Bay," as well as a sequel to the latter, called "By the Light of the Silvery Moon."