A 1960s Trivia Game—Do You Know These 8 Fun Facts About the Swingin’ ‘60s?
How well do you know your 1960s pop culture? In Boom Again, we include more than 2,200 pop culture trivia questions about the movies, music and fun of the Baby Boom era, including the 1960s. So let’s play a quick ‘60s trivia game with a few of the questions culled from our game.
Q. According to the lyrics in Jefferson Airplane’s psychedelic classic “White Rabbit,” what do each of the three pills do?
A. One makes you larger. One makes you small. One doesn’t do anything at all (that’s the one that Mother gives you).
The song is, of course, a nod to Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Grace Slick, who co-wrote the song, has said in interviews that she was inspired by the drug metaphors in the book. The references to pills. How what Alice drank made her high (tall) or brought her down (small). The overall hallucinogenic nature of Alice’s adventures throughout the novel.
The song also inspired the 1971 best-selling anonymous diary of a drug addict, Go Ask Alice.
Q. In The Twilight Zone episode entitled “To Serve Man,” what three-word warning was yelled out as Mr. Chambers was boarding the spaceship?
A. One of his coworkers shouts, “It’s a cookbook!”
The episode aired in 1962. 9-foot tall aliens have landed on Earth, offering to end our biggest problems, like war and hunger. Mr. Chambers is a codebreaker for the U.S. government and deciphers the aliens’ language from a book they left behind, To Serve Man. It’s only as he is boarding their spaceship thinking he’s going to a planet where the natives will honor and serve him that another employee figures out the actual context of the word “serve.”
You had to love those Twilight Zone twists!
Here are more ‘60s trivia game questions…
Q. In the program for a 1968 exhibition, Andy Warhol made a statement that’s still remembered. What is the rest of this Warhol quote: “In the future…?”
A. “…everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Those were the words that introduced the concept of your “15 minutes of fame.” It’s a phrase we still use today to suggest that eyes might be on you right now, but celebrity (whether welcome or not) is fleeting.
Q. A 1963 article titled “A Bunny’s Tale” was written by a future activist and magazine publisher. Name her.
A. It’s Gloria Steinem, who went on to found Ms. Magazine and is also featured on the cover of Boom Again.
The article, written for Show magazine, was based on a month Steinem spent working undercover as a Playboy Bunny at a club in New York. She chronicled not the glamorous life of a bunny, but a “tale” of stuffed bras, low wages, and uncomfortably high heels. Turned out, it wasn’t just a “fluff” piece!
Q. In 1963, The Kingsman had a hit pop song no one could understand. Name the song the FBI spent over two years investigating, searching for pornographic lyrics.
A. The song was “Louie Louie.” The FBI got involved when worried parents wrote in fearful that their kids were being corrupted by what might be dirty lyrics.
If you’ve ever tried to sing along to “Louie, Louie” you can see the problem the FBI was up against. What on earth is he even saying? Investigators tried playing the song forward. Backwards. Slowing it down. Speeding it up.
A 120-page report concluded it was “unintelligible at any speed.”
Let’s conclude our mini ‘60s trivia game with a couple TV teasers…
Q. Each week, Laugh-In ended with a famous five-word exchange between Rowan and Martin. What did they say?
A. “Say Goodnight, Dick.”
“Goodnight, Dick.”
Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In comedy series premiered in 1968 and ran for six years. It took its name from the sit-ins and love-ins of the 1960s, and we still say some of the shows catchy one-liners. “You bet your sweet bippy.” “Here come da judge.” “Sock it to me.” “Veeeeery interesting.”
Well, we’ll drink to that!
Q. The original version of Gilligan’s Island theme song listed all the characters except two. Which two were originally only referred to as “the rest?”
A. It’s the Professor and Mary Ann who didn’t make the cut in the first season’s version of the theme song. The question everyone asked was, “Why? There are only seven people on the island—surely they could have been squeezed into the lyrics!”
Turns out, it was a simple stipulation in Tina Louise’s (aka Ginger’s) contract that she be the last cast member credited in the song.
Nonetheless, Bob Denver—who played the goofy Gilligan—fought to have everyone included in season 2. Looks like Gilligan really was a lovable guy.
We hope you enjoyed our little ‘60s trivia game. For more trivia of the ‘60s (along with the ‘50s and ‘70s), check out Boom Again, available here at BoomAgain.com.
***Follow our BLOG. Be sure to check out Boom Again® on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter***
