Eating in the ’50s
Today sugar comes in sealed packages in restaurants, but in the 1950s, it came in this shape and form.
What is cube or square?
It’s sanitary in today’s sealed packages but not in cubes left in a bowl on the table. The polio vaccine was also administered on a sugar cube.
His last words were “Et tu, Brute?”
Who is Julius Caesar?
This was in response to Brutus’ betrayal of Caesar. Brutus was one of Caesar’s assassins.
Pigs are notorious for getting dirty when they roll in this.
What is mud?
Pigs have no sweat glands, and mud is cooling.
This is the idiomatic reply when someone says they want something unlikely to happen, such as winning the lottery.
What is in your dreams?
It means “good luck with that.”
This dinner side dish contains lettuce and tomato.
What is tossed salad?
Lettuce and tomato are usually the bare minimum. Add some baby spinach, carrots, and cucumbers to increase its nutritional profile. In Europe, it’s called a mixed or composed salad and doesn’t always contain lettuce.
This fruit was used before today’s laxatives.
What is prune?
Prunes contain soluble and nonsoluble fiber.
She really said, “Let them eat brioche.”
Who is Marie Antoinette?
It is usually repeated as “Let them eat cake.” Whatever wheat-based item she said for them to eat led to the French Revolution, and that’s the important fact.
If the ball you roll ends up in the gutter, you are doing this.
What is bowling?
If you knock down all the pins in the first roll, you score a strike. If you knock them all down in two rolls, you score a spare.
She is the female lead in I Dream of Jeannie.
Who is Barbara Eden?
Larry Hagman played the male lead as Major Anthony Nelson.
When you can’t sleep at night, you toss and do this.
What is turn?
Harvard says cutting down on caffeine and alcohol and sticking to a sleep ritual can help.
Today water comes in plastic bottles; in the 1950s it came from here.
What is the tap?
People were not as concerned about water purity in the 1950s.
This British ocean liner was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915.
What is Lusitania?
The sinking of the Lusitania was a crucial event leading up to World War I.
When businesses make bad mistakes, people often say these will roll.
What are heads?
Heads will roll means that people will be disciplined or fired.
This early 1960s band most associated with summer fun recorded the tune “Your Summer Dreams” on the album Summer Dreams.
Who are the Beach Boys?
Many of their hits are about fun in the summer and fun at the beach.
Merriam-Webster defines this toss as “an even chance.”
What is toss-up?
It could also be described as a 50–50chance of something happening.
No one in the 1950s communicated on one of these while eating dinner.
What is smartphone, tablet, device, or similar?
Children were mostly required to eat dinner with the family, and the family talked with one another about their day.
This “shot heard ’round the world” helped lead to World War I.
What is the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand (or any part of that answer)?
The original “shot heard ’round the world” happened in 1775 in Boston when British troops set off for Concord.
A rolling stone gathers none of this.
What is moss?
The saying is “a rolling stone gathers no moss,” and it means that people who keep moving and don’t settle down will have no attachments.
During the ninth season of this nighttime TV soap opera, Pamala Barnes Ewing’s husband Bobby was dead.
What is Dallas?
It turns out it was all a dream, and the cast did not know he would return to the show.
Politicians toss or throw this into the ring when they announce their candidacy.
What is hat?
It takes more than a hat toss—in most cases, the person must collect a certain number of signatures on a petition to have their name on the ballot.
Outside of Hawaii, it was a real treat to eat this fruit fresh. We got it mostly in cans, either cubed or in slices.
What is pineapple?
Canned pineapple was popular in desserts, in congealed salads, and as snacks. It was everywhere in the 1950s.
This longest-reigning Arab ruler was king of Jordan.
Who is King Hussein?
He died in 1999 and was married to American-born Queen Noor.
If a deceased person would be horrified by a survivor’s action, it is said the deceased would do this.
What is roll over in their grave?
This baseball movie starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones is titled this of Dreams.
What is field?
Field of Dreams is so beloved that the Field of Dreams baseball field was recreated in an Iowa field for a Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox in 2021.
This sitcom’s opening song talks about a tiny ship (the Minnow) getting tossed.
What is Gilligan’s Island?
The lyrics are: “The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed.”