Q 01/05

In the 1950s, which comic strip made its debut and went on to run until its creator's death in 2000?

A) Garfield

B) Calvin and Hobbes

C) Peanuts

D) Doonesbury

Answer · why

C) Peanuts

Charles Schulz hated the name Peanuts, which United Feature Syndicate imposed on him, and grumbled about it for the rest of his life.

Q 02/05

Which company's brand of frozen 'TV Dinner', launched in 1953, came in a compartmented aluminum tray?

A) Stouffer's

B) Swanson

C) Birds Eye

D) Banquet

Answer · why

B) Swanson

The first one was a Thanksgiving plate of turkey, cornbread stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes, sold for 98 cents.

Q 03/05

A 1954-55 Disney TV serial set off a nationwide craze for coonskin caps. Which frontiersman did it dramatize?

A) Daniel Boone

B) Davy Crockett

C) Kit Carson

D) Jim Bowie

Answer · why

B) Davy Crockett

By the end of 1955 Americans had bought more than $300 million of tie-in merchandise, and Fess Parker became a star.

Q 04/05

'Rock Around the Clock' became a hit after opening which 1955 film?

A) Jailhouse Rock

B) The Wild One

C) Blackboard Jungle

D) Rebel Without a Cause

Answer · why

C) Blackboard Jungle

The record had first come out in 1954 as a B-side to 'Thirteen Women' and was regarded as a commercial disappointment.

Q 05/05

Who hosted Elvis Presley's first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1956 in Sullivan's absence?

A) Milton Berle

B) Jack Paar

C) Charles Laughton

D) Steve Allen

Answer · why

C) Charles Laughton

Sullivan was recovering from a car accident, so the British actor introduced Elvis from New York while Presley performed from Los Angeles.