Back to the 1930s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iceman

Ice boxes varied depending on features. There was a compartment lined with zinc or tin and some type of insulating material such as cork. The first ones received blocks of ice harvested from frozen lakes, rivers, and ponds during the winter and stored for warm weather use in ice houses. In the early 1900s, refrigeration replaced the harvesting and produced a less polluted product but it was not yet practical for home use. Ice trucks delivered block ice for home use. More expensive models had spigots to drain the ice melts; basic models required daily disposal of the melted water. Some ice boxes were intricately designed pieces of furniture.

People would check their ice boxes and see how much ice had melted. Using the card, if they needed a 75 pound block, they would make sure the 75 was at the top and visible from the street to alert the iceman.

Historically the modern mechanical refrigerator did not become prominent in homes until after World War Two.

Answer: Inkwell

Holes known as inkwells are a common feature of old school desks, and would have held a small container with the student's ink. With the invention of the fountain pen replacing the dip pen and with ball point pens, the inkwell became obsolete.

Adventurous boys often used a pellet that they called 'carbide'. If dropped into an inkwell, it would foam all over the desk and probably the floor beneath. It was great fun until one got caught.

Answer: Arrange to have your ashes hauled

Truth is that there's not much one could do with ashes and clinkers. Handymen could be hired to haul them away to a trash dump or you could do it yourself.

Legend has it that when a single/widowed/divorced female accumulated ashes, a kindly male neighbor would help out, often looked upon with amused suspicion by neighbors. Thus 'getting one's ashes hauled' developed a sexual connotation. Lyrics to blues genre music has a number of examples of this phrase.

Answer: Telephone booth

For many years they were a welcome sight when an emergency phone call had to be made. Now what few that are left are grim reminders of the pace of technology, computers, and digitalization has changed our lives. Cell phones in particular have changed the landscape of communications.

Phone booths required exact change so many call were made collect. Only much later were credit cards accepted.

Answer: Gasoline

The gasoline washer came into being in the mid 1920s and they were in popular use for three decades. Rural electrification came slowly to many areas so for my Aunt Ruth it was cutting edge technology as the house still needed chimney-type kerosene lamps. Also, water had to be heated and brought to the washing machine.

The engine was not dissimilar to the engines on modern lawnmowers or snow blowers.

Answer: Rotogravure

Actually, rotogravure refers to a rotary printing press with cylinders, running at high speed for long runs of magazines and specialty items. But in many places it was part of a weekly process to highlight in sepia local events and happenings. Remember Fred Astaire in "Easter Parade"(1948) wanted to get his trophy girl friend in the rotogravure? Thus the term rotogravure became an elitist domain.

Answer: Chamber pots

Many children giggle when the topic of human bodily functions is mentioned. However, chamber pots have been a part of many cultures for hundreds if not thousands of years. Historically, chamber pots were a female convenience enabling them to be used for nighttime urination. Generally they had a lid or an improvised one and were part of the bedroom ensemble.

Some were quite ornate and were hand painted while others were simply a galvanized bucket. With the advent of indoor plumbing, they were slowly phased out in progressive countries by the mid 1950s.

Answer: To grab slivers of ice

Ice chips were enviable because the ice man had to use his ice pick to carve his delivery into specifications. The chips had no practical use so the loss of them was not important. However, children in the street and the fact that safety issues were evident, meant that ice men discouraged the practice.

Some ice men would hand children chips but it would slow down their deliveries. But on a hot summer day the chips were paradise.

Answer: Pre-code

Pre-code films were produced after the silent era in Hollywood until the advent of formal screen censorship in roughly 1935. These films often had fallen women, a peek at lingerie, adult storylines and the most daring even hinted at sexual ambiguity.

Conservative film goers were often shocked by the escapades of Hollywood actors in the headlines. Also, the plots were often related to social issues. Fallen women and colorful criminals were not always punished for their transgressions. Locally, censorship boards were set up to review the 'worthiness' of films for the community. This created a hodgepodge of issues that film producers and directors had to contend with. "Banned in Boston" summaries the situation.

The Hayes Office, headed by Joseph Breen, set forth a list of restrictions on film makers that had an impact on the industry until the early 1950s. Eighty some years later many seem silly, such as a gentleman must have at least one foot on the ground or floor if he is kissing his love or married couples must always have twin beds.

Answer: Dick and Jane

A whole new world opened for children like me when I first met Dick and Jane. It was a reading system based on word recognition. Its fatal weakness was not supporting the system with a strong phonic program and later critics would decry 'why Johnny can't read'. Nonetheless it served its purpose well in perspective and many in my generation still look back with nostalgia on Dick, Jane, Sally, and Spot.