How much do you really know about Silly Putty, Lincoln Logs, and Barbie? Take our test and find out!
Introduction
1. What popular kids’ action figure came with its body parts but no body until 1964?
a) Kermit the Frog
b) Mr. Potato Head
c) G.I. Joe
d)Barbie
2. In 1966, little confectioners could make bubble gum in what machine?
a) Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine
b) Cotton Candy Machine
c) Barbie Ice Cream Shoppe
d) Easy-Bake Oven
3. The ingredients for the original version of this kid-friendly gooey stuff are still a secret after 46 years.
a) Silly Putty
b) Elmer’s Glue
c) Slime
d) Play-Doh
4. CBS television used these dolls to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II because of their historical accuracy.
a) Power Rangers
b) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
c) Madame Alexander dolls
d) Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls
5. Which of these was the first movie based on a board game?
a) Candy Land
b) Toy Story
c) Clue: The Movie
d) Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
6. More than five billion of these pieces of real estate have been built since 1935.
a) Barbie Dream Houses
b) Trump Towers
c) Lego bricks
d) Monopoly houses
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7. How many pounds of Silly Putty are produced each day?
a) 1,500
b) 50
c) 2,000,000
d) 500
8. The smell of which old-time favorite is among the 20 most recognizable scents to adults?
a) Mr. Sketch scented markers
b) Bic ink
c) Play-Doh
d) Crayola crayons
9. Two Barbies are sold every __________ somewhere in the world.
a) Week
b) Day
c) Second
d) Hour
10. John Lloyd Wright, inventor of this toy, conceived the idea while traveling with his father, Frank Lloyd Wright, in Tokyo. He was inspired by the construction techniques used in the Imperial Hotel, which his father designed.
a) Lego
b) Erector Set
c) Lincoln Logs
d) Tinker Toys
11. A platoon of National Guard soldiers would be busy stomping for four years if it wanted to rid the world of this scary classic.
a) Creepy Crawler bugs
b) Spiders
c) Gummy worms
d) Jell-O eyeballs
12. The Swahili term for the phrase “to build” is the name of what game?
a) Uno
b) Sorry
c) Monopoly
d) Jenga
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13. American children spend about 6.3 billion hours per year doing what?
a) Sleeping
b) Reading
c) Riding bicycles
d) Coloring
14. What doll collection created the first walking dolls?
a) Madame Alexander Jeannie Walker and Friends
b) Punky Brewster and Pals
c) Jem and the Holograms
d) Strawberry Shortcake and Friends
15. What organization is the world’s largest vehicle tire manufacturer?
a) Michelin
b) U.S. Army
c) Matchbox
d) Lego
16. The USSR banned what wildly popular American toy in the late 1950s to early 1960s, calling it a symbol of the emptiness of American culture?
a) Hula hoop
b) Jump rope
c) Skip-It
d) Atari
17. Which toy’s magic ingredient is aluminum powder?
a) Etch-a-Sketch
b) Tinker Toys
c) Legos
d) Rubix cube
18. During World War II, the U.S. Military ordered 100,000 of these to keep GIs entertained.
a) Kaleidoscope
b) Light Brite
c) View Master
d) Toy periscopes
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19. This doll, which inspired a comic strip of the same name, was modeled after the favorite plaything of the inventor’s daughter.
a) Raggedy Ann
b) Snoopy
c) Skipper
d) Garfield
20. In 1952, this was the first children’s toy advertised on television.
a) Red Ryder BB gun
b) Big Wheel
c) Lone Ranger doll
d) Mr. Potato Head
21. This president said shooting defenseless animals was unsportsmanlike, which began a stuffed-animal craze that continues to this day.
a) Abraham “Honest Abe” Lincoln
b) Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt
c) Dwight D. “I Like Ike” Eisenhower
d) Richard “I Am Not a Crook” Nixon
22. How many wagons did Radio Flyer continue to produce every day during the Great Depression?
a) 500
b) 1,000,000
c) 100
d) 1,500
23. Every doll in this line has a scar on her tummy just like the one the title character got in her first book, written by Ludwig Bemelmans.
a) Raggedy Ann
b) Shera, Princess of Power
c) Madeline
d) Miss Demeanor
24. What toy has been walking down stairs, alone or in pairs, since 1945?
a) Snoopy
b) Slinky
c) He-Man
d) G.I. Joe
25. A chemical engineer created what item during the Great Depression when his liquid rubber experiment failed?
a) Modeling clay
b) Airplane glue
c) Latex balloons
d) Colored ink
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ANSWER KEY
Tally the number of correct answers.
1. b. From 1952 to 1963 parents had to supply real potatoes for the body of Mr. Potato Head, until 1964 when Hasbro introduced a hard plastic body.
2. d. Two years after the Easy-Bake Oven’s introduction by Hasbro, children could make bubble gum with it.
3. d. Play-Doh, whose ingredients are still a secret, was introduced only in off-white.
4. c. During the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Madame Alexander commemorated the event on CBS by dressing 36 dolls in historically accurate costumes made with cloth from the same mill that produced the actual coronation mantles.
5. c. Clue: The Movie, starring Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, and Christopher Lloyd, was the first movie ever based on a board game.
6. d. There have been five billion Monopoly houses built since 1935, far outnumbering Trump Towers.
7. a. Binney & Smith produces more than 1,500 pounds of Silly Putty each day — that’s more than 20,000 eggs.
8. d. According to a Yale University study, Crayola crayons rank 18th among the 20 most recognizable scents to American adults. Coffee and peanut butter are first and second.
9. c. Every second, two Barbie dolls are sold somewhere in the world, making the total number sold in the billions throughout 140 countries.
10. c. The earthquake-proof design of the Imperial Hotel inspired son John Lloyd Wright to create Lincoln Logs in 1916.
11. a. It would take a platoon of National Guard soldiers four years to stamp out all the bugs included in Creepy Crawler sets to date.
12. d. It was natural for game creator Leslie Scott to name her stacking game Jenga, after the Swahili word for “to build” since Swahili was her first language.
13. d. Children ages 2 to 8 spend an average of 28 minutes each day coloring. All the kids in the U.S. spend a combined total of 6.3 billion hours on coloring annually.
14. a. Jeannie Walker and the Walker doll line, created in 1942 by Madame Alexander, were the first walking dolls.
15. d. The Lego Company is the world’s biggest vehicle tire manufacturer producing 311 million tiny tires in 2001.
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16. a. Nearly 25 million hula hoops were sold in four months during 1958 and 1959 in the U.S., but the toy was banned in Japan and the USSR.
17. b. In the 38 years of its existence the Ohio Art Etch-a-Sketch still uses aluminum powder as its magic ingredient.
18. c. The View-Master was the brainchild of William Gruber, a piano tuner. For more than 60 years people, including GIs during World War II, have been peering at 3D images of everything from cartoon characters to famous tourist spots.
19. a. Marcella Gruelle, daughter of Raggedy Ann inventor and comic strip writer John Gruelle, owned the original Raggedy Ann doll.
20. d. Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television, and it grossed more than $4 million in its first year.
21. b. In November 1902 the Washington Post published political cartoonist Clifford Berryman’s cartoon, “Drawing the Line in Mississippi,” which pictured President Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a baby bear. The drawing was based on an alleged comment by the president who told some hunters that shooting defenseless animals was unsportsmanlike. “Teddy” bears were introduced as a result.
22. d. The red wagon by Radio Flyer is such a classic that its actual shape has been trademarked. Demand remained so high even during the Depression 1,500 wagons were produced each day.
23. c. The Madeline line of dolls from Learning Curve, all of which have the signature appendix scar, are based on the beloved Madeline books that have sold more than 10 million copies to date.
24. b. Marine engineer Richard James invented Slinky in 1945.
25. c. Chemical engineer Neil Tillotson accidentally created Latex balloons while trying to make liquid rubber.
What’s Your Score?
- 18 to 25: All hail the master of tricky toy trivia! It is wildly apparent that you love to play, but be sure to share the toys with your children.
- 12 to 17: Such a playful parent deserves a cupcake award. Your old Easy-Bake Oven may come in handy.
- 6 to 11: An Etch-a-Sketch encounter is in order, as a refresher course on fun.
- 5 or fewer: Get this parent a day off to play, quick!
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