Hi Skeleton Crew,
Not gonna lie, I’m gonna be glad to see myself on the other side a’ April. For whatever reason, this month just felt like a real marathon this year.
Incidentally, that’s not some kinda joke or secret hint to a trivia or anythin’. It’s just how I happen to be feelin’ this Thursday mornin’!
Answers to Last Time
Toni Basil’s “Mickey” was parodied by Mr. Weird Al as “Ricky”, which had a I Love Lucy theme to it. (“Ricky” bein’ Lucy’s husband in the show, i.e., Ricky Ricardo.)
Hiawatha was in love with Minnehaha in The Song of Hiawatha. Ya might’ve heard somewhere that her name means “laughin’ water”, but nah, it means “waterfall”.
Today’s Questions
Question 1
Yesterday’s theme, if ya didn’t quite catch it, was “Mickey ’n’ Minnie”. It wasn’t my favorite theme I’ve ever done, if I’m bein’ honest. My ideal woulda been if I coulda gotten Mickey hidden, phonetic-style, at the start a’ the first answer—y’know, to match how Minnie’s hidden in the way Minnehaha’s pronounced.
Now, for a minute there I thought I might ask ya ’bout a fella named Kokichi Mikimoto. No question, that name Mikimoto’d’ve fit the theme ... but I got worried he was maybe a bit too obscure. Like, maybe he’s a guy ya mighta heard of, but I dunno how many folks’d be able to pull the name from their memory, y’know?
Incidentally, do ya happen to know what ... well, huh, I guess maybe ya’d call it a commodity ... but, like, a luxury commodity? Is that a thing? Well, anyway, I guess that’s what I’m gonna call it: a luxury commodity—an’ don’t ya send me no letters ’bout it!!1
Anyway, what luxury commodity is Mr. Mikimoto sometimes credited with bein’ the first person to culture?
Just between you ’n’ me, though, the word on the street’s that an English fella named William Saville-Kent, who was workin’ in the Torres Strait area—this was back in the 1890s—but so anyway, word on the street’s that he (Mr. Saville-Kent) beat Mr. Mikimoto to the punch on culturin’ this luxury commodity by a couple a’ years.
Question 2
A company called Mound Metalcraft was founded in 1946 in the town a’ Mound, Minnesota as a gardening tool company. Eventually, though, they pivoted to makin’ toys instead! An’ in 1955, the company changed its name from one toponym to ’nother when it rebranded itself as what, in honor a’ a nearby lake?
Now, back in its heyday this brand dabbled in lotsa different toy lines: e.g., Star Fairies, Pound Puppies, ’n’ GoBots. But heck, I dunno if anyone who didn’t grow up in the ’80s really remembers any a’ those. Nah ... anyone who knows this brand I’m askin’ ’bout, they know it for basically one particular type a’ toy. Matter a’ fact, this one particular toy got inducted into the National Toy Hall a’ Fame back in 2001. That’s a pretty big honkin’ deal!
So anyway, what’s this brand, that’s what I wanna know!
OK then
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Ah, I’m just pullin’ yer leg, a’ course ya can send me letters, I always love a good letter!