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That’s the $64,000 question

Radio/television quiz shows have been around almost exactly as long as I have. As mentioned in this column before, I have been a long-time follower of “Jeopardy!” and enjoy other quiz shows as well.

The first radio quiz show, “Professor Quiz,” appeared in 1936 and ran until about 1948. The second radio quiz show at about the same time was “Uncle Jim’s Question Bee.” By 1940 the quiz show that was popular was “Take It or Leave It.” The first and second hosts were Robert Trout and Arthur Godfrey – names that I am sure many of the readers of “Oh, Fiddlesticks!” remember because Trout became a radio/TV journalist and is still living celebrating his 93rd birthday this February; Godfrey is known for his hosting of both radio and television shows. A former (reformed) smoker, he died of lung cancer at age 79 in 1983.

“Take It or Leave It” brought the 64 Dollar Question – a phrase that became popular whenever something strange would happen and the question of Why? got the answer: “That’s the 64 dollar question.” The contestant was started out with a one dollar question and, if they got that correct, they could proceed to the two dollar question and continuing to harder questions with the prize doubling to get to the final 64 Dollar Question: $1, $2, $4, $8, $16, $32, $64.

I suppose it was a recognition of inflation that the quiz show of the mid-1950s became the $64,000 question which began with prizes of $64, $128, $256, $512, then jumped to $1000, then doubled to get to $64,000. Unfortunately, at about this time, it was discovered that some contestants were being given the answers ahead of time. That led to diminished ratings, eventually congressional investigations, and the demise of many popular quiz shows.

Merv Griffin brought “Jeopardy!” To NBC in 1964. It became a syndicated show in 1984 with host Alex Trebek whose contract now extends to 2022 when Alex will turn 82.

My love of the quiz shows goes back a ways into the 1940s and 1950s. One incident I can vividly recall was a question that was asked about what year did Charles Lindbergh make his solo flight from the USA to France?

As a pre-teen or early teen I suppose I did not think that my mother could possibly have known the answer, but when I posed the question to her, she immediately answered: “That’s easy. 1927.” (Kids (me) sometimes think their parents don’t know anything.) I was astounded! Of course she had lived during that time period and Lindbergh was one of her heroes.

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When I was a little older, I also found out one of my mother’s heroines was Gertrude Ederle (Ed – er – lee). Quick now readers: What made Ederle famous?

To get closer to the present time, along about 1981 or 1982, my wife and I were vacationing in England, visiting lots of sites like The Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Stratford-upon Avon (Shakespeare’s birthplace) etc. When it was time to fly back home, we got to Gatwick Airport only to find that our flight had been delayed a day and the airline sent us to Brighton to stay an extra night. Brighton had not been on our itinerary, but we were game to do some more sightseeing.

There is a unique castle there known as the Brighton Pavilion or the Royal Pavilion. The style is Indo-Saracenic which was quite prevalent in India in the 19th century. Think of the dome of the Taj Mahal dome (17th century) which is not unlike the domes on the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

The Royal Pavilion was essentially built for, and the style favored by, The Prince of Wales, later King George IV. George IV was the oldest son of George III who was that King who reigned during the time of the American Revolution.

George IV was a dilletante leading a lavish lifestyle and earning the dislike by his subjects. He had poor relations with his parents and his wife. His father forced him to marry a cousin, Princess Caroline. Their only child died while George IV was ruling so he was succeeded by his younger brother William IV.

After our visit to the Brighton Pavilion we spent time at Brighton Beach just a few blocks away. And that brings me to Gertrude Ederle.

The body of the water at the beach is The English Channel that separates southern England from France varying in width from about 20 miles to about 50 miles and length of about 350 miles. The Channel is the biggest shipping area in the world. The water temperature gets up to about 60ºF but goes down in the winter to about 40ºF.

A recent item in the Smithsonian Magazine chronicles some of Gertrude Ederle’s swim across the English Channel back in 1926, the first woman to complete that feat following only five men who had completed the crossing.

Not only did she make the distance despite six-foot waves and 25 mph winds but she did it at the fastest time to date: 14.5 hours, about two hours shorter.

My wife knew of Ederle’s accomplishment, but the two of us settled for just a swim in The Channel rather than crossing it.

Until next time: Oh, Fiddlesticks!

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