Companies that started selling something completely different
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Companies That Started Selling Something Completely Different — Daily trivia Friday, September 4, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01Which seashell is the logo of Shell, the oil company named for its founding family's seashell trade?
- AConch
- BScallop
- CNautilus
- DCowrie
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Scallop
Scallop. Marcus Samuel's father imported and sold seashells in London, so his sons' oil firm took the name Shell, and a scallop shell has shaped its pecten logo since 1904.
Q 02Which phone company's first business was a wood-pulp mill?
- AMotorola
- BEricsson
- CBlackBerry
- DNokia
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Nokia
Nokia. Fredrik Idestam opened his first pulp mill in 1865, the company took its name from the Finnish town by his second mill, and it made rubber and cables before phones.
Q 03Which electronics giant was first a small trading company dealing in dried fish and noodles?
- ALG
- BSamsung
- CSony
- DPanasonic
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Samsung
Samsung. Lee Byung-chul founded it in Daegu in 1938 as a trading company dealing in dried fish, groceries and noodles, and its name means 'three stars'.
Q 04Which chewing-gum maker first gave its gum away free with cans of baking powder?
- ABazooka
- BTrident
- CWrigley's
- DDentyne
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Wrigley's
Wrigley's. William Wrigley Jr. gave two packs of gum with each can of baking powder he sold, found customers wanted the gum more, and switched to making it.
Q 05Which beauty company's founder sold books before switching to perfume?
- ARevlon
- BMary Kay
- CEstée Lauder
- DAvon
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Avon
Avon. David McConnell sold books door to door before switching to perfume in 1886, and his California Perfume Company later became Avon Products.
Q 06Which hotel chain grew from a nine-stool A&W root beer stand in Washington, D.C.?
- AHilton
- BMarriott
- CHyatt
- DHoliday Inn
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Marriott
Marriott. J. Willard Marriott's 1927 stand grew into the Hot Shoppes restaurant chain, and the company opened its first hotel, in Arlington, Virginia, only in 1957.
Q 07Which jeweller began as a stationery and fancy-goods shop?
- ACartier
- BHarry Winston
- CTiffany & Co.
- DVan Cleef & Arpels
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Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. Charles Tiffany and John B. Young opened it in New York in 1837, and half a century later the firm bought some of the French Crown Jewels.
Q 08Which carmaker was founded in Hiroshima as a cork-making factory?
- AToyota
- BMazda
- CSuzuki
- DHonda
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Mazda
Mazda. Toyo Cork Kogyo made artificial cork until that market dried up, moved into tools, and built its first vehicle, the Mazda-Go three-wheeler, in 1931.
Q 09Which toy company began as brothers selling textile remnants, then pencil cases?
- AMattel
- BMilton Bradley
- CFisher-Price
- DHasbro
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Hasbro
Hasbro. The name shortens Hassenfeld Brothers, founded in 1923 to sell textile remnants, and its 1952 hit, Mr Potato Head, was the first toy advertised on television.
Q 10Which French carmaker's family firm made saws, coffee grinders and pepper grinders before cars?
- APeugeot
- BRenault
- CCitroën
- DBugatti
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Peugeot
Peugeot. The family's 1810 steel foundry turned out saws, coffee grinders and pepper grinders, then bicycles and cars, and Peugeot pepper mills are still made in France.
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