⭐Category 1: Colonial Curiosities⭐
This grain-based drink was safer than water in many colonies and was consumed at breakfast.
WILDCARD:
What is cider or small beer?
This practical eyewear innovation is credited to Benjamin Franklin and let people see both near and far without switching glasses.
What are bifocals?
This 1800s president was so tall and had such large feet that he had custom-made “size 14” boots- something cartoonists loved to exaggerate.
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
This invention by Thomas Edison and others made it possible to light homes and factories after dark.
What is the electric light bulb?
This simple household appliance boomed in the 1920s because it let families listen to music and news together.
What is the radio?
Many colonists believed this rodent predicted weather a tradition still used today.
What is the groundhog?
This famous tea protest was carried out by colonists disguised as members of which Indigenous group?
Who were the Mohawks?
This invention made housework easier but was originally hand-cranked- not electric.
What is the washing machine?
This president got stuck in a White House bathtub at least once, leading to a custom oversized tub being installed.
WILDCARD:
Who is William Howard Taft?
During WWII, this metal item was collected in scrap drives- kids brought them in by the handful.
What are tin cans?
This future U.S. president worked as a surveyor on the western frontier as a teenager, helping map land long before he led a nation.
Who is George Washington?
George Washington’s troops survived cold nights partly thanks to this warm drink.
WILDCARD:
What is hot chocolate?
Before indoor plumbing, this item was kept under the bed at night.
What is a chamber pot?
This fast-food icon began selling hamburgers in 1921 with a kitchen behind glass so customers could “watch the cleanliness.”
What is White Castle?
This affordable household food became popular during the Depression because it lasted a long time and was easy to stretch in recipes.
What is canned soup?
Some colonists believed keeping this vegetable in their pocket could prevent colds.
What is an onion?
This Founding Father and future president kept pet mockingbirds and let them fly freely around his house- one even perched on his shoulder while he worked.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
The Erie Canal linked the Great Lakes to this river, giving farmers and merchants a direct water route to New York City.
What is the Hudson River?
This “muckraker” made Americans rethink their dinner after exposing conditions in meatpacking plants.
Who is Upton Sinclair?
The 1950s saw huge popularity for this suburban pastime involving backyards and a charcoal grill.
What is barbecuing?
This crop saved Jamestown, even though it made everyone smell like smoke.
What is tobacco?
This famous ride didn’t end with shouting “The British are coming!” because colonists already considered themselves British.
Who is Paul Revere (and he likely warned “The Regulars are out”)?
This 1848 discovery in California sparked a mass migration west and is often called the start of a famous “rush.”
What is the California Gold Rush (Sutter’s Mill)?
This president was shot during a speech in 1912 but finished talking for over an hour anyway- even holding up his bullet-pierced notes as proof.
Who is Theodore Roosevelt?
This postwar highway system made long road trips possible and helped give rise to motels and roadside diners.
What is the Interstate Highway System?