By Tom Scanlan

I recently had a discussion with a couple of our members who are entering middle age in which I learned that they had never heard an un-popped kernel of popcorn called an Old Maid, nor knew the same term was used for a never-married woman (although not to her face). How times change.

Even more recently, I received an email with the subject “A Test for Old Kids.” So here is that test for our seniors to see if they are old enough to remember these things but not so old as to forget them.

By the way, I got all but one right. The answers are listed after the items.

1. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, “Who was that masked man?” Invariably, someone would answer, ‘I don't know, but he left this behind.” What did he leave behind?

2. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. in early 1964, we all watched them on the _______________ Show.

3. “Get your kicks __________________.”

04. “The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to ___________________.”

5. “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ________________.”

6. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we “danced” under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called _____________.

7. “Nestle's makes the very best _______________.”

8. Satchmo was America's “Ambassador of Goodwill.” Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was _________________.

9. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking?

10. Red Skeleton's hobo character was named __________________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, “Good Night, and ________________.”

11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their______________.

12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW. What other two names did it go by?

 

13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, “the day the music died.” This was a tribute to ___________________.

14. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called __________________.

15. One of the big fads of the late ‘50s and ‘60s was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the ________________.

ANSWERS:

1. A silver bullet.

2. The Ed Sullivan Show

3. on Route 66

4. to protect the innocent.

5. The Lion Sleeps Tonight

6. The limbo

7. Chocolate

8. Louis Armstrong

9. The Timex watch

10. Freddy the Freeloader and “Good Night and God Bless.”

11. Draft cards (Bras were also burned. Not flags, as some have guessed)

12. Beetle or Bug

13. Buddy Holly

14. Sputnik

15. Hoola-hoop