I’m always looking for fun games to play at our family reunions- especially pencil and paper games, so I was quite excited when a friend of mine sent me the following game.  I have to admit, however, that I was a little disappointed to find out that I am actually “older than dirt”!  How about you-

“Are YOU Older Than Dirt?"

1. In the 1940’s, where were automobile headlight high beam switches located?

a. On the floor shift knob

b. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch

c. Next to the horn

2. What would you do with an old soda bottle with holes the bottle cap?

a. Capture lightning bugs

b. Sprinkle clothes before ironing

c. Shaker for sea salt

3. In the 50’s what cost 20 cents?

a. Gallon of gas

b. Postage stamp

c. Loaf of bread

4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?

a. Blackjack

b. Gin

c. Craps!

5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during W.W.II?

a. Suntan

b. Leg painting

c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn’t tell whether it was coming or going?

a. Studebaker

b. Nash Metro

c. Tucker

7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?

a. Strips of dried peanut butter

b. Chocolate licorice bars

c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside

8. How was Butch wax used?

a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up

b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing

c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust

9. Before in-line skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?

a. With clamps, tightened by a skate key

b. Woven straps that crossed the foot

c. Long pieces of twine

10. As a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?

a. Consider all the facts

b. Ask Mom

c. Eeny-meeny-miney- mo

11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940’s-50’s

a. Smallpox

b. AIDS

c. Polio

12. "I’ll be down to get you in a ________, Honey"

a. Station wagon

b. Taxi

c. Streetcar

13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy’s pet pony?

a. Old Blue

b. Paint

c. Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?

a. Part of the game of hide and seek

b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores

c. How you prepared for an A-bomb attack

15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?

a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring

b. Princess Sacajawea

c. Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?

a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink

b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window

c. Wrote another pupil’s name on the top, to avoid looking bad when they flunked

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?

a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum

b. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items

c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos

18. Praise the Lord, and pass the _________?

a. Meatballs

b. Dames

c. Ammunition

19. 1930’s college fad

a. Swallowing goldfish

b. Collecting bottle caps

c. Streaking

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco?

a. Tony Bennett

b. Xavier Cugat

c. George Gershwin

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ANSWERS

1. b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late ’60’s to catch on.

2. b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?

3. a) Gallon of gas- 20 cents, stamp- 3 cents, bread- 14 cents

4. a) Blackjack Gum.

5. b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.

6. a) 1946 Studebaker.

7. c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water. They were called "Nik-L-Nip"

8 a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.

9. a) With clamps, tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your neck.

10. c) Eeny-meeny-miney- mo.

11. c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.

12. b) Taxi. Better be ready by half-past eight!

13. c) Macaroni.

14. c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.

15. a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.

16. a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink.

17. b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.

18. c) Ammunition, and we’ll all be free.

19. a) Swallowing goldfish

20. a) Tony Bennett

SCORING

18-20 correct: You are older than dirt!

12-18 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you’re getting there.

0-11 correct: You are just a young “whippersnapper” and if you don’t know what that is ask someone that is “older than dirt”.

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