The Retro Kitchen
This common kitchen slow-cooking appliance was unveiled by the Rival Manufacturing company at a 1971 housewares show.
Answer: What is the Crock-Pot? The slow cooker originated in 1936 in a Lithuanian village, where Jewish families prepared stews slowly on Fridays.
Founded in the 1960s, this sandwich shop became a franchise in 1974 and still encourages customers to “Eat Fresh” today.
Answer: What is Subway? The founder opened his first location to pay off his college tuition.
This natural water wonder spans Canada and the United States.
Answer: What is Niagara Falls? The three waterfalls have the highest flow rate of all falls on Earth.
The first train car is sometimes called an engine. Its proper name is this.
Answer: What is a locomotive? There are approximately 30 different types of passenger cars, but not all cars will be on any train.
“Reach Out and Touch Someone” became AT&T’s slogan in 1979 to promote this service.
Answer: What is long-distance calling? At the time, long-distance calls were an expensive premium service reserved mostly for special occasions.
In 1986, Panasonic began selling this domestic baking machine, which allows users to create rye, sourdough, and other recipes.
Answer: What is a bread machine? An industrial version has existed since the 1890s, but Panasonic’s was a first for home bakers.
This bite-sized McDonald’s favorite was introduced nationally in 1982 and is still a dippable bestseller today.
Answer: What are McNuggets? A classically trained French chef created the recipe for the nuggets
Fruit and vegetable production relies heavily on these stinging pollinators.
Answer: What are bees? Honeybees also provide food. Bees must gather pollen from around two million flowers to make a pound of honey.
The yellow rose is linked to this state.
Answer: What is Texas? “The Yellow Rose of Texas” is a tribute to Emily Morgan, an African American woman who is considered “the accidental heroine” of Texan independence.
The idea for this sports channel was conceived in 1978, and the channel launched in 1979.
Answer: What is ESPN? Offering 24-hour sports TV via satellite, ESPN is now available on all streaming services.
Emerging in the 1970s, these coffee machines were promoted by Joe DiMaggio and became popular Christmas gifts.
Answer: What is Mr. Coffee? The machine claimed to use an ideal 200ºF (93.3ºC) setting for the water, producing a strong but not bitter coffee.
In 1995, this chain introduced its stuffed crust pizza, advertised as a crust so good you “eat it backwards.”
Answer: What is Pizza Hut? The chain also boasts the first outer-space pizza delivery to the International Space Station.
Today we have regulations and technologies to help lower carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But we still depend on these living things to pull the greenhouse gas out of the air.
Answer: What are plants or trees? In one year, a mature tree absorbs 22 pounds of carbon dioxide and releases enough oxygen for one person to breathe for two years.
In 1920, this competitor of Macy’s hosted the first Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.
Answer: What is Gimbels? The idiom “Does Macy’s tell Gimbels?” is a way to put off inquisitive people and imply that competitive businesses do not share secrets. Gimbels closed in 1986, but the expression lives on.
This is the world’s most expensive stock.
Answer: What is Berkshire Hathaway? One share of BRK.A will set you back around $600,000.
In the 1970s and ’80s, juicers were popularized by this fitness icon and TV exercise host.
Answer: Who is Jack LaLanne? He sold his brand of juicers in infomercials throughout the 1980s.
This chain discontinued its McDeluxe (aka the McDLT) burger in the 1990s because of its complex packaging.
Answer: What is McDonald’s? The unique burger came in a two-sided Styrofoam container, which did not meet the company’s new environmentally friendly standards.
This dwarf planet was discovered in 1930 and hasn’t made a revolution around the sun since then.
Answer: What is Pluto? It takes 248.09 years for Pluto to complete one revolution around the sun.
This is the world’s largest rainforest.
Answer: What is the Amazon? It’s about as large as the continental United States. It comprises 54 percent of all rainforests in the world and spans several countries in South America, with 60 percent of it in Brazil.
In 1979, R. J. Reynolds acquired this canned-fruit company.
Answer: What is Del Monte? In 1989, RJR Nabisco Inc., as the company had come to be known, sold Del Monte for $1.4 billion in cash to ease the company’s debt problem. This is not the only tobacco company to have merged with a food or beverage company. Philip Morris acquired Seven-Up Company in 1978.
This former heavyweight champ began selling his “lean, mean grilling machine” in the mid-’90s.
Answer: Who is George Foreman? The grill was created by Michael Boehm, who wanted the fat to drip off the grill’s angled surface.
In November 1970, this chain introduced the first modern drive-thru, serving square patties and Frosty desserts through a window.
Answer: What is Wendy’s? The drive-thru concept was so new that customers needed instructions on how to order.
It is often repeated that this crustacean never dies of old age.
Answer: What is the lobster? It’s not quite true that they don’t die of old age. Many factors go into aging; one is the shortening of telomeres, which contributes to cell replication. As we age and telomeres shorten, it is more difficult for the body’s cells to replicate. While lobsters’ telomeres do not shorten like ours do, other factors do contribute to their aging.
Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Danny DeVito, and Marilu Henner worked for this company in the TV sitcom Taxi.
Answer: What is the Sunshine Cab Company? Andy Kaufman played the mechanic. All the taxi drivers except Alex (Hirsch) looked at the job as a temporary situation. Alex was convinced he would drive a cab forever.
Kleenex, Viva, and Scott are all brands of this company.
Answer: What is Kimberly-Clark? The company acquired Scott Paper, one of its biggest competitors, in 1995 for $9.4 billion.