Let Me Pick Your Brain Trivia Quiz

Answer: In your fireplace

Andirons are a pair of metal frames used to support wood in a fireplace. This photo is of a very elaborate andiron of the type that would have been found in a palace or mansion. Andirons were usually simple affairs that kept the burning logs off of the floor and helped provide oxygen all around the fire to help keep it burning.

Answer: Velocipede

The term 'velocipede' is the term for any wheeled land vehicle that is human- powered. The term is usually used for any of the early models of bicycles that were seen in the 19th century. The earliest models were made entirely of wood, but advancements in metal-working and rubber production led to velocipedes being made of metal with rubber wheels.

This type of bicycle was difficult to ride and affordable only to the well-to-do.

Answer: Mix cake batter

This is an old-fashion rotary beater. It was used to mix ingredients for baking. Often called an egg beater or a hand mixer, the first patent for this type of device was issued in 1856. It was only a couple of decades later that the first electric mixer was patented. Despite the availability of the electric mixer, the hand mixer was still in use a century later.

Answer: Hanging from a housekeepers waist

A chatelaine can be a name for the woman in charge of a household or for the decorative chain that hung from her waist. Objects commonly found hanging from a chatelaine include keys, small scissors, and possibly a watch. The fancier the chatelaine the higher the status of the wearer.

Answer: Carpenter

This is a type of hand drill. The wooden handle could be unscrewed and was used to store the different bits used in the drill. Carpenters used these drill for centuries as they made a nice round hole without splitting the wood that was being used. The hand tools were so well made, that many of them still function well today.

Answer: Negative pressure ventilator

The iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator. It saved thousands of lives through the polio epidemics of the 20th century. It is basically a metal tank that encloses all of the patient's body except his head and forces the lungs to inhale and exhale through the use of changes in negative air pressure. Early models were extremely heavy and very expensive.

As new innovations made the apparatus easier to transport and use, their use skyrocketed. There have been a couple of patients who have lived inside an iron lung for over 60 years.

Answer: Men's shoe buckles

Shoe buckles were found only on the shoes of the wealthy. Because they were made of metal and required quite a lot of skill to make them, they were not permanently attached to a pair of shoes. They were made so that they could be attached to many different pairs of shoes and were mainly a matter of decoration. Buckles were used by both men and women of this period, before industrialization changed the value of many things that were once thought to be out of reach of the common man.

Answer: African camel saddle

This unusual looking item is a camel saddle from northern Africa. Cultures who spend long periods of time on their camels use saddles to protect themselves as well as to protect their valuable camel. Most camel saddles are made from a combination of wood and leather and are often passed down from generation to generation.

Many saddle makers display their cultural identities through the decorations added to the saddle.

Answer: Carpet cleaning

The Electrolux company, founded in 1918, is a Swedish company that has been selling large and small household appliances for almost a century. The model 30 was one of their most popular carpet vacuum cleaners for decades. It was not until the upright models came out in the 1960s, that this type of canister vacuum went out of style.

Answer: Sewing

Elias Howe was an American inventor who pioneered the first sewing machine that used a locking stitch and an automatic feed. This is the sewing machine for which he was granted a patent in 1846. He was also the first inventor to realize that the eye of the needle needed to be place at the bottom near the point, the exact opposite of a hand needle.

His device earned him millions before his death, but his name is often left out of history books, in spite of the importance of his invention.