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Ask Mr. Know-It-All By Gary Lee Clothier
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Q: How many states did the Pony Express go through? -- G.H., Youngstown, Ohio
A: That's too easy; I suspect a trick question here. The Pony Express mail service operated from April 1860 through October 1861. The route went through the current states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. At the time, only Missouri and California were states. The others were territories (though Kansas became a state in January 1861).
Q: I was at an art gallery and picked up the business card of an artist whose name is Libena. It's a beautiful name. What is its origin? -- M.J., San Francisco
A: Libena is a Slavic female given name.
Q: Switch hitters are common in baseball. What about switch pitchers? -- W.K., Allentown, Pa.
A: I don't know of any current major league pitchers who can throw with either hand. There is one in the minor leagues: Pat Venditte, who plays for the New York Yankees' farm team.
The only modern-era major-league switch pitcher was Greg Harris. He finished his 15-year career with the Montreal Expos in 1995 with a 74-90 win-loss record, a 3.69 earned run average and 1,141 strikeouts. I know of at least four ambidextrous pitchers who played in the 1800s.
Q: I have two questions about the TV show "Leave It to Beaver." My first question: What was the name of Beaver's elementary school? My second question: If his name was Theodore Cleaver, why was he called Beaver? -- B.L., Naples, Fla.
A: Theodore (Jerry Mathers) attended Grant Avenue Grammar School in the fictitious community of Mayfield. His nickname, "Beaver," came about because his older brother, Wally (Tony Dow), was unable as a youngster to pronounce the name Theodore. Wally's version sounded like Beaver, and thus a nickname was created.
Q: Gen. George Armstrong Custer was killed in June 1876 during the Battle of the Little Bighorn; he was 36. I know he was married, but what became of his wife? -- P.A.C., Dover, Del.
A: In 1864, Custer married Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon (1842-1933). After the death of her husband, she wrote several books glorifying his memory and became a one-woman advocate for her husband's legacy. Her three books -- "Boots and Saddles" (1885), "Following the Guidon" (1890) and "Tenting on the Plains" (1893) -- are still available in print and electronic editions. Besides her books, she also wrote articles and toured extensively promoting the memory of her husband.
Financially, Elizabeth did quite well for herself. When her husband died, she was faced with a large debt that he had accumulated. But by the time of her death she was a wealthy woman.
Q: What happened to Dave's cigarettes? In the mid-1990s I was given a pack (my name is Dave) as a joke. (I don't smoke.) Included with the smokes were actual ads and parodies of those ads that my girlfriend made up. -- D.H., Woburn, Mass.
A: First, let me tell you a bit about Dave. He is youthful, honest and hardworking. He can be seen in North Carolina driving his yellow 1957 pickup truck that was featured in at least one ad. I suppose you could say he was rebellious. According to an ad, he was fed up with cheaply made, fast-burning cigarettes. He set out to learn about tobacco farming, bought a tractor and some seeds, and cleared some land to work. Come harvest time, his tobacco was handpicked, barn-cured and barrel-aged to achieve rich flavor. From the seeds of a few tobacco plants, a dream grew.
There was only one problem with this: None of it was true. Dave's Tobacco Co. was created and owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris. The brand was introduced in the mid-'90s and disappeared in the mid-'90s as well.
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© 2011, Gary Clothier DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK
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Arnold Ahlert | ||||||||||||
