Big Girls Blouse Trivia Quiz

Answer: Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha was born as Agatha Miller on September 15, 1890 in Torquay. She died on January 12, 1976, and at the end of her live she was quite well proportioned. Her crime mysteries are still liked and sell exceedingly well.

The first literary murder she committed was through a poisoned beverage in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", the last one published - but not written by her - was "Sleeping Murder" in 1975.

She loved to drink rich cream and ate Devonshire clotted cream with a spoon - not the way to lose weight! But delicious, if you add some strawberries.

Answer: Wilhelmina der Nederlanden

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was born on August 31, 1880 and died on November, 28 in 1962.

She was Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, when she handed the crown over to her daughter Juliana. Already widowed, she had to flee to Britain in 1940 after the German invasion. Wilhelmina wasn't lazy while living in the UK, she headed the Dutch government-in-exile and broadcast to her occupied country. She was a headstrong person with an ample figure. Her subjects gave her a warm welcome when she came back in 1945.

I read somewhere that the Queen liked porridge. And you can buy Wilhelmina peppermints. Well, at least I can, living not that far away from the border.

Answer: Elisabeth Domitien

Elisabeth Domitien lived from 1925 until 2005. She was the prime minister of the Central African Republic after being appointed by President Bokassa in 1975, until her cabinet was dismissed by him in 1976. She had dared to oppose Bokassa in his ambition to be emperor, instead of just a humble president. She was the first and - at least in her century and country - the only woman to hold the position of prime minister.

When Bokassa was overthrown in 1979 she had to serve a brief spell in prison and was put on trial. Later in life she received compensation for that. She had a state funeral in 2005.

I couldn't find anything about her favorite food, but she might have liked a chicken and cumin stew, one thing you can get in her part of the world.

Answer: Bertha von Suttner

Bertha Felicitas Sophie Freifrau von Suttner lived from June 1843 to June 1914.
She was a born Countess Kinsky from Bohemia, nowadays a part of the Czech Republic, then a part of the Austrian Empire. Before her marriage she worked for a short time as a secretary and housekeeper for Alfred Nobel. She married in 1876, and did her bit to augment the family income with translations and journalistic work.

In 1889 Suttner became a leading figure in the peace movement with the publishing of her pacifist novel, "Die Waffen nieder!" -"Lay Down Your Arms!". She stayed active for the cause of peace the years that followed.

In 1905 the Nobel Prize for peace was bestowed on her. She was the second woman after Marie Curie to get a Nobel Prize, the first being Marie Curie. But in opposite to Marie, she had it all to herself. And she was the first from Austria to be honored with a Nobel prize.

Von Suttner died in June 1914.
World War I started in November 1914.

I don't know what she loved to eat, but Bohemian cuisine includes massive dumplings, roast pork and strudel. And on her photographs she looks like she was a hearty eater.

Answer: Venus of Willendorf

That little carved limestone figurine was discovered by excavations in the year 1908 near the Austrian village of Willendorf. Hence her name, the Venus of Willendorf. Nowadays she is in the Natural history museum in Vienna. The lady is quite old- somewhere between about 28,000 and 25,000 BC and with some 11 cm a good deal shorter than a Barbie doll. Venus looks like a highly pregnant woman with no feet - she can't stand on her own - and breasts that would be lead to suspicions of silicon nowadays!

An object of decoration or adoration or for some ritual? Take your pick.
If the experts got the time right, the creator of this lady roasted animals like glyptodons, for example, and munched berries. Live was harsh and short - and if a woman was fat, it was most likely a pregnancy and not to over eating.

Answer: Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel was born in 1895 in Kansas and died in 1952.

She was the 13th child of her parents. Next to being an actress, who acted in over 300 films, she was also a songwriter. She also worked on radio. As payment wasn't always enough to live from, she worked at times as a cook or maid. A good training for her best known role.

To her more important roles was the one of "Queenie" in 1936 movie "Showboat" and "Saratoga" in 1937. Then, in 1939, she played "Mammy" in "Gone With the Wind". Which earned her the "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress" in 1940. The first Oscar an African American did receive.

Hattie McDaniel married five times, but never had any children.

Her own words about diets:
"As for those grapefruit and buttermilk diets, I'll take roast chicken and dumplings"

I love to eat fried chicken, too. But with a greedy cat around, this is difficult to eat.

Answer: Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin, born in 1942, started singing gospel while she was still a child.

Her first single was released in 1960, one of many.
One of her greatest hits was "Respect". She performed at the inauguration of President Obama in 2009.

1987 she became the first woman to be inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Since then she also has been honored with a star on the "Hollywood Walk of Fame" and the "Presidential Medal of Freedom".

Fighting with weight problems for quite some time didn't stop her being a success. She also announced at the beginning of 2016 a line of food products.
Online research of her name revealed a recipe for a peach cobbler.

Respect, Mrs. Franklin!

Answer: Montserrat Caballé

Montserrat Caballé was born in 1933 in Spain and made her professional debut in 1956, performing as Mimě in Puccini's "La Bohčme". Since then she performed all around the world, be it the Met or the Arena di Verona.

In 1992 the Summer Olympic games returnedo her hometown of Barcelona in Spain. Together with another diva, Freddie Mercury from "Queen", she had recorded in 1987 a song called "Barcelona". Quite naturally, it made it comeback when the Olympics were held there. Sadly Mercury had died in 1991 and missed this. The song even reached #2 in the UK, having ended up at #8 in 1987.

She has been married since 1964 to opera colleague Bernabé Martí, they have two children.

Montserrat Caballé is said to be a vegetarian. Yes, you can be of a more solid figure with vegetarian food! Crema Catalan isn't slimming food - but strictly vegetarian (not vegan).

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

Actress/model Liz Hurley commented in 2005: "I'd kill myself if I was as fat as Marilyn Monroe." I suspect this would be less newsworthy than the death of Marilyn Monroe was in 1962.

Marilyn lived from 1926-1962. Her movies included stuff like "Some Like it Hot" and "Niagara". In her movies she showed that she could do comedy and drama, and her singing wasn't too bad, either. Sadly she was never really lucky with her choice of men.

In the eyes of overly slim people like Liz Hurley, she might have been
"fat", from a doctor's point of view she was never overweight. Her weight and measurement are well reported, like a 35-22-35, which is close to model size.

The September 1952 edition of Pageant magazine highlighted the Marilyn Monroe diet. For breakfast, she drank a glass of warm milk, with two raw eggs whipped into it. Nothing more up to dinner, which might have been a steak, some liver or lamb chops with raw carrots. On her way home from evening drama classes she liked to indulge into an ice cream sundae.

I like the idea of the ice cream sundae as part of a diet. The raw eggs, though...

Answer: Meghan Trainor

From the lyrics:

"No, I'm just playing, I know you think you're fat
But I'm here to tell you...
Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top".

Meghan Trainor was born in 1993. "All About That Bass" was her first single as a lead artist and a worldwide success, a number one in the British charts and the US billboard top 100.

Since then she has done quite well with the follow-ups.

What does she like to eat? Google didn't help. But in the video to her 2015 song "Dear Future Husband" she grabs the pizza delivery man in the end. That" might be a clue ...