223 Outlandish Trivia

Bob Smith 0:00
If this state is attacked, NATO won’t come to its defense. Really what US state is not covered by the NATO Treaty.

Marcia Smith 0:09
Oh my. And what is the most viewed photograph in history

Bob Smith 0:14
answers to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the off ramp with Bob

Marcia Smith 0:18
Marcia Smith?

Bob Smith 0:36
Welcome to the off ramp a chance to slow down steer clear of crazy and take a side road to sanity with fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia indeed, okay, Marcia. So we have a US state if it’s attacked, NATO will not come to its defense. Well, that stinks. So what US state is not covered by the NATO Treaty.

Marcia Smith 0:58
Can you give me a think about it? Is that Hawaii?

Bob Smith 1:01
That is what it is ironically. And I say ironically, because NATO is a product of World War Two and Hawaii is the reason America got into World War Two, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But the reason? Even though Hawaii is one of the 50 United States, it’s not part of North America.

Marcia Smith 1:20
It’s not?

Bob Smith 1:20
No, it’s 2400 miles into the Pacific, I’ll be darned. And article five of the NATO Treaty provides for collective self defense in the event of military attack. But Article Six limits the geographic scope to an “armed attack on the territory of any of the parties in Europe or North America.” So technically, if a foreign power attacked Hawaii, the naval base, or the Indo Pacific Command near Honolulu, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would not be obligated to come to America’s defense all because Hawaii is not on the continental United States that reaches the North Atlantic where the treaty is set. Okay, so what if America was attacked? America was attacked – 911.

Marcia Smith 2:04
Yeah.

Bob Smith 2:05
NATO didn’t come to our defense, the United States chose to organize a coalition of the willing it didn’t try to get NATO to defend America.

Marcia Smith 2:14
Really?

Bob Smith 2:14
Yeah.

Marcia Smith 2:15
I never thought.

Bob Smith 2:16
I never thought that either. And when Great Britain went into war with the Falklands against Argentina, NATO didn’t come to Britain’s defense, either. Everybody has territories outside of the realm of NATO. I mean, think of some of the French territories down in the Caribbean, you know.

Marcia Smith 2:32
Yeah.

Bob Smith 2:33
They’re not anywhere near the North Atlantic. I thought that was interesting. And our thanks to Benjamin Christopher of Los Angeles. For that story.

Marcia Smith 2:41
He sent us each one, Bob,.

Bob Smith 2:43
Oh!

Marcia Smith 2:44
That’ll be coming up. But first, what is the most viewed photograph in history? Bob,

Bob Smith 2:50
I would say I’m just going to go back to 1968. The most viewed photograph in history was the picture of the earth from the moon. And when did the astronauts 1968 I think Apollo Eight, they took it out of the picture window of the spacecraft.

Marcia Smith 3:04
It seems like it would be, but I have to think that this is for repeat business. You see this more because it’s a simple picture of a field in Sonoma, California.

Bob Smith 3:15
Really a wine – ?

Marcia Smith 3:16
No.

Bob Smith 3:17
A field?

Marcia Smith 3:18
Yep. Chances are you’ve seen it too, Bob. The photograph originally captured by photographer Charles or rear, and named bliss was taken in 1996. And four years later, Microsoft paid an undisclosed amount, though it was assumed over 100,000 amount of money to use the image as the default desktop wallpaper on Windows XP in 2002.

Bob Smith 3:44
I don’t even recall that picture.

Marcia Smith 3:46
Really? I’ll show it to you. Yeah, it’s everyone seen it. He hand delivered the photograph to Microsoft offices near Seattle. It’s brilliantly bright green rolling hill, which is now a vineyard so you weren’t wrong. They’re accompanied by a picturesque bright blue sky. It’s blue and green. It’s bright. It’s cherry has likely been seen by billions of people around the world due to the software’s global ubiquity.

Bob Smith 4:12
So it’s a screensaver.

Marcia Smith 4:13
Yes. And especially back then, I think that Windows XP was far more dominant and everything in 2002, don’t you?

Bob Smith 4:23
Yeah.

Marcia Smith 4:23
There was your answer.

Bob Smith 4:24
All right. Well, speaking of color, I’ve got a question for you here. What superhero got his look from a printing error? Got his look got his look from a printing error?

Marcia Smith 4:35
Is this a superhero I know and love?

Bob Smith 4:37
It’s a Marvel comic superhero. This was a new character in 1962

Marcia Smith 4:45
He wasn’t Spider Man was it?

Bob Smith 4:47
No.

Marcia Smith 4:47
I don’t know.

Bob Smith 4:48
This person gets angry and becomes this.

Marcia Smith 4:50
Oh, it’s the Hulk?

Bob Smith 4:52
The Hulk right, The Hulk originally was gray, not green. In his –

Marcia Smith 4:56
That’s funny.

Bob Smith 4:57
in his debut 1962 appearance but imperfections in the printing process meant that the Hulk’s precise shade of grey would vary from page to page. So to fix that the artist changed his color from gray to green – a color that could be printed more consistently.

Marcia Smith 5:13
No kidding.

Bob Smith 5:13
So the Incredible Hulk could have been

Marcia Smith 5:15
The incredible Gray Hulk.

Bob Smith 5:16
Yeah. Doesn’t sound right.

Marcia Smith 5:17
The Incredible Gray Hulk.

Bob Smith 5:19
So they made a mistake.

Marcia Smith 5:21
Okay, okay, Bob, if another country has launched a nuclear bomb at the US, how long does the US president have to decide to respond?

Bob Smith 5:32
Wow. Some of the stuff is kind of automatic, isn’t it? Doesn’t it get triggered? And it just,

Marcia Smith 5:37
No a human has to know and there’s a time limit to respond?

Bob Smith 5:41
Well you believe that? Good luck. 24 seconds? No, I would think this has to happen within a matter of three minutes or something or 20 minutes. Is it? What is it?

Marcia Smith 5:51
It is six minutes.,

Bob Smith 5:53
Geez.

Marcia Smith 5:53
The time it takes to brew a large pot of coffee.

Bob Smith 5:57
I never thought of it that way.

Marcia Smith 5:58
And this comes from our listener Benjamin Christopher, in Los Angeles because he’s reading this very depressing book called nuclear war by Annie Jacobson. So he shared this with me to to thwart you with a question

Bob Smith 6:13
To cheer me up.?

Marcia Smith 6:15
Sure didn’t cheer him up. He needs – okay, the president must decide how many weapons to launch and which targets to hit all in six minutes. Our policy is to launch on warning. Once it is determined by two sources we are under attack we then launch before we even absorb the first blow. Ronald Reagan once lamented this fact in his memoir, about it being an irrational amount of time to quote, decide whether to release Armageddon, six minutes to decide how to respond to a blip on the radar screen. How could anyone apply reason at a time like that?

Bob Smith 6:54
I think the thing is that they asked to confirm two different confirmations of where it has launched from, isn’t it?

Marcia Smith 7:01
Yeah, there’s two different military sources that confirm that this is in the air. Benjamin Christopher also notes that it would take less than 30 minutes for a missile to get from North Korea to Washington, DC. And he noted that somehow a flight from Milwaukee to La can take 11 hours. It was a person who had trouble at Christmas, I believe.

Bob Smith 7:26
Oh my goodness. So Marcia, why is the Hope Diamond believed to be cursed? How is –

Marcia Smith 7:32
Everybody that’s had it has had an untimely death, or an unseemly accident? Or had it stolen? Am I right on any of them?

Bob Smith 7:42
Pretty much right? It’s been around for 350 years, and it’s been associated with tremendous personal tragedy. After being stolen and recut. It said to have contributed to the downfall and deaths of many owners discovered in 1673. It was originally a 115 carat blue diamonds. Guess who some of its owners have included dead people? Yeah. Louie the 14th and Marie Antoinette here. Yeah, they both lost their heads. And in 1839, the stone was purchased by Henry diamond hope for which it is named. On his untimely death, the family sold it to pay off gambling debts, and then jeweler Wilfred falls acquired the natural diamond soon after his son was killed. He took the stone and then he committed suicide. And a young heiress Evelyn Walsh McLean purchased it. She faced the deaths of her son at age nine and her daughter at age 25. Then her husband left she went mad and died. Take it

Marcia Smith 8:40
off my Christmas list, honey. Oh, you

Bob Smith 8:41
don’t think you want the diamond too much? Oh, okay.

Marcia Smith 8:44
I don’t like ostentatious things. That’s a reason. Yes. Okay, Bob, during the eclipse on April 8 2024, internet traffic dropped by what percent in states that were in the path of totality.

Bob Smith 9:00
Wow. Let me see.

Internet traffic dropped. Yeah, it didn’t increase your doubt more people will be Oh, because the service went out? No, no,

Marcia Smith 9:11
no, because what did people do? They went outside to look, sure.

Bob Smith 9:15
But I thought they’d be using the web to know, take their pictures and all of

Marcia Smith 9:20
that. Remember, we were pulling into Bayshore and all everybody was out of the stores and onto the street. That’s true. They

Bob Smith 9:25
weren’t shopping.

No, that’s not what you asked. No, I

Marcia Smith 9:28
know. But I’m just drawing a parallel. Okay. All right. So what’s the answer?

Bob Smith 9:33
I’d say 50%.

Marcia Smith 9:34
That’s a good guess. You’re right in the middle. You’re right. It dropped 40 to 60% in the states that made up roughly 110 mile belt of totality. How interesting. Yeah, it’s interesting to note that eventually, we will have a last total solar eclipse because the moon is drifting away from Earth and someday, Bob, it will be too small to completely cover the sun. Oh, is that right yet? Of course it’s millions or billions of years from now, but still. Oh, it’s something to look forward to. Yeah. Something to put on the count.

Bob Smith 10:04
Wow. Apparently that’s on your calendar, you think way out. Oh, did they?

Marcia Smith 10:08
What did they call that a tickler file?

Bob Smith 10:11
That’s your tickler file.

Okay, Marcia, which us paper currency is traditionally the most expensive to produce? Is it the dollar bill? The $5. Bill, the $20. Bill, or the $100? Bill,

Marcia Smith 10:25
the $100. Bill.

Bob Smith 10:27
You think that $100 bill? Yeah.

Marcia Smith 10:31
I said it with such conviction. But not then I don’t I guess I’ll say that.

Bob Smith 10:36
Well, you’re right. smaller denominations are generally less expensive to print because they have fewer security features. Like the $5 bill has two watermarks, and yeah, 1020 and $50 bills, they have color shifting ink. But the $100 bill has gold threads. Well, it requires a watermark, a 3d security ribbon, a new color shifting feature the bell in the ink, well, they call it and a color shifting ink, according to the Fed. So the $100 bill is the most expensive bill to print.

Marcia Smith 11:05
Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, that’s why I guessed it. I guess I knew it would have more security in there.

Bob Smith 11:10
And that comes from an interesting website. Investopedia. If you ever want to know anything about money, it’s an interesting place to go. Oh, baby

Marcia Smith 11:17
between us. We got more weird websites we go. My inbox is full of the strangest thing. Okay, you’ll like this. Okay. And I think you’ll know the answer if you think back a bit. All right. All right. I know you knew this once. What candy bar is named for a horse?

Bob Smith 11:33
What candy bar is named for? Oh, Snickers That’s right. And that was the name of the horse of one of the Mars family. Correct.

Marcia Smith 11:42
That candy bar was named after one of the Mars family favorite horses Snickers which is a cute name is a cute name for a horse. Uh huh. Franklin Mars founded Mars Incorporated, originally known as the MAR obar company, the morrow bar,

Bob Smith 11:57
not Mara Lago Baro

Marcia Smith 11:58
bar in 1911. And he introduced stickers in 1930. When it came time to name his product he did what any pet lover would do and immortalize his equine friend as only a candy magnet could

Bob Smith 12:12
Well good thing is course wasn’t named stinkers or something like that. Snickers that was the name of the horse.

Marcia Smith 12:18
Here’s a couple of factoids. How many peanuts do you think are in a full size? Snickers bar?

Bob Smith 12:22
Wow, that’s a good quote. I like Snickers Yes, myself. Yes. Um, I don’t know. What are their 50 Well, don’t

Marcia Smith 12:29
forget, we’re probably talking about whole peanut.

Bob Smith 12:31
Oh, that’s right. They cut them up. So let’s say 1212. That’s more like it. 1616

Marcia Smith 12:35
Peanut? Yes. And how many Snickers bars are produced every day? Bob? Hmm.

Bob Smith 12:41
That’s in probably plants all over the world. So, man, I would say 100,000. Maybe? Maybe not that 20,000.

Marcia Smith 12:52
Okay. I find this hard to believe over 15 million a day.

Bob Smith 12:55
15 million. Yeah.

Marcia Smith 12:57
I got to have that many factories. It’s according to interesting facts. And would they lie? I don’t know. Wow. 15

Bob Smith 13:03
million candy bar. Snickers candy bars? Yeah. produced every day. Yeah. I’m way behind on my consumption. Apparently.

Marcia Smith 13:10
Each week by approximately 6,300,000 pounds of this popular bar are produced. Wow. And it’s just mind boggling.

Bob Smith 13:20
6 million pounds of Snickers. 6 million pounds a week. Yeah. Okay, baby boomer, I want you to think back into your past. You’re a baby boomer. Okay, baby boomer. What every day appliance was once rented rather than sold to households for more than 100 years. Rented 100 years for more than 100 years. Well, I

Marcia Smith 13:42
can’t take up an appliance that was around that long. Hmm.

Bob Smith 13:48
Maybe you won’t call it an appliance? I do.

Marcia Smith 13:51
You do? Yeah. Is it like the washboard? I don’t know. Well, what is it? The Telephone?

Bob Smith 13:55
Telephone, you could rent

a telephone. You don’t remember this? Marsha. May you’re losing? Do

Marcia Smith 14:02
you think I am? No, my family did not rent their telephone.

Bob Smith 14:07
Did yours? Everybody’s family rented their telephone.

Marcia Smith 14:10
I see. You’re saying we didn’t own it. That’s right. That’s

Bob Smith 14:14
funny. You experienced that for much of your life. And you forgot about I did forget. So imagine people who are younger than us and not knowing why they had to rent telephone. You don’t own your phone, I guess right? Yeah. For more than a century, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company by law had an official monopoly on telephone equipment and networks. And until the early 1980s All telephones in the United States were rented rather than privately owned. Wow, what do you think it cost parents to rent those telephone

Marcia Smith 14:45
as part of the bill? What was it AT and

Bob Smith 14:48
T least phones to customers for a monthly fee that ran from $1.50 to $4.60? Depending on the model. Oh,

you had a princess for a pink one.

Oh, that’s more expense. Is it? Really? Yeah. Then My parents pop

Marcia Smith 15:00
for that

Bob Smith 15:01
they had to pop for that extra. Wow, my

Marcia Smith 15:03
uncle rocky used to give everybody phones because he worked for the phone. Give them or he gave them Oh,

Bob Smith 15:10
I could have gotten in trouble. Oh

Marcia Smith 15:14
yeah, he was a scoundrel. Yeah. In a good way. I love them.

Bob Smith 15:18
Yeah, so it cost $1.40 to $4.60 Depending on the model now multiply that by the but how many at the time? 200 million people? Yeah, phones every month they got that kind of money for something. It was sitting in your house? Amazing. Uh, yeah. No competition back then. I totally forgot that. I saw that fact recently at britannica.com and I totally forgot about that. We all rented those phones. How much did it cost? And they got that money for more than 100 years? Holy cow. Well, when did it start AT and T began in the 1890s and 99 went to 19 the 1980s is when it started breaking up

Marcia Smith 15:56
now kid had a break up the whole company. Yeah. Okay. And then

Bob Smith 16:00
they kept reading those phones and then finally company started making phones. You know, all the competition started, but nobody was making him before that and they could take them to court and stop them if they did. Okay.

Marcia Smith 16:10
Okay, Bob, ancient Rome. People didn’t throw rice at weddings. What did they throw?

Bob Smith 16:16
I thought the ancient Romans did believe in rice and threw rice. Okay, they threw bags of honey. They threw money. No, they threw feathers.

Togo’s try walnuts. Really?

Ancient Romans through walnuts. Yes. At wedding participants. Yes,

Marcia Smith 16:35
walnuts were considered sacred at weddings, both as a fertility symbol, and because the sound they made as they hit the ground was believed to be a good omen. Who would have guessed? Wow, it’s also possible that throwing nuts which Roman children played with symbolizes the groom giving up childish things. Similarily the bride gave away her dolls the night before the wedding. Oh, no kids. Give up your dolls and your walnuts and get hitched.

Bob Smith 17:04
Well, that would make me so sad. I forgot my walnuts like that.

Marcia Smith 17:08
There’s a bunch of jokes there that I’m going to let sly

Bob Smith 17:13
will slide into a break here. We’ll be back in just a moment. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We’re back with our walnuts and our dolls. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We do this each week for the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and it’s CPL, radio, internet radio station. After that. We put it on podcast platforms and it’s sent.

Marsha, where does it go? Oh, the world.

You’re on? Not on your game today. Should we do that again? Let’s try it again. And it says all over the world. Yes, Marcia. It is.

Marcia Smith 17:52
What am I Bob? Hundreds of years before the arrival of Columbus.

Bob Smith 17:58
Wait a minute, what am I usually it’s who am I? I know. Is this a new category?

Marcia Smith 18:02
For today?

Bob Smith 18:03
What’s it called? Wow. Whoa, okay.

Marcia Smith 18:09
Hundreds of years before the arrival of Columbus. The Anasazi or ancient ones established their own thriving culture in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. What is considered their most spectacular accomplishment?

Bob Smith 18:24
Was it a an area or a community they built? They’ve had apartments and so forth three and four storey buildings.

Marcia Smith 18:31
What did they call those? That’s right. Cliff dwelling. Okay. Yes, they masterfully planned and executed cliff dwellings, and those are considered among the architectural wonders of the New World. Well, did you know that

Bob Smith 18:45
I knew they’re like UNESCO. protected? You know, many of them?

Marcia Smith 18:48
Yeah. Have you ever seen him? Oh, yes.

Bob Smith 18:50
I have been you have to? I have. Yeah. You saw some cliff dwellings when not the huge wins. Yeah. In Arizona. We saw some Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. Marsha, what world leader had a heart attack while staying in the White House? Oh, really? What world leader had a heart attack while staying in the White House?

Marcia Smith 19:06
It wasn’t a president that our president No, it’s a world leader,

Bob Smith 19:10
world leader. I said Churchill. Yes, it was in 1941. Now it was never publicized. I read about it though. In his book, we worry rightly about our leaders advanced age and health in these days. Right. But did you know the health challenges Churchill had during World War Two This is interesting. While staying in the White House. He developed chest pains while trying to open a window in his bedroom. That was in Christmas 1941. Well, that wasn’t Churchill’s only health emergency during World War Two. Think of what we had known if we were people who knew what our leaders were like in World War Two Roosevelt’s near dying. Yeah, but he knew that yeah, and Sir Charles Wilson, his personal physician, also known as Lord Moran also treated Winston Churchill for pneumonia in London in 1943 for pneumonia and atrial fibrillation in Carthage in 19. 43 and for pneumonia again in London in 1944. So Churchill had all those health emergencies during World War Two nobody knew about it. Wilson or Lord Moran became Churchill’s doctor in 1940 and remained his personal physician until Churchill died in 1965. But there you go. We know more about the health of our leaders today than back then back then they were having more health emergencies and probably the ones today, you know, it’s considered

Marcia Smith 20:26
none of our business, but now we think it is our business. Yeah. And I think it should be our business. Absolutely. Okay, Bob. According to legend, one early Spanish conquistador was on a personal mission when he landed in what would later become a US state named Florida. What was the state and his secret purpose. Okay.

Bob Smith 20:47
Secret purpose. It wasn’t possible early on. Yes. In Florida. Yes. Yes. Secret mission. Yeah. Was he looking for gold? No. Looking for the fountain of youth. That’s it. Okay. I’ve heard that that’s disputed and he really wasn’t looking for the fountain of youth but

Marcia Smith 21:07
that’s good. You you hit a three run homer there, Bob that Ponce de Leon landed in present day Florida in 1513. And gave it its name. Yeah, is beyond dispute. What appears to be apocryphal, however, is that he was searching for a mythical fountain of youth. And any case he didn’t find it just eight years later at age 47. He was killed by a poisoned arrow. Yes. Did you know that? Yes.

Bob Smith 21:31
Well, a lot of those explorers were killed either by natives or by them, their own troops killed them. You know? They were crazy people. Alright, Marsha, let’s think of food. Okay. Which of these is an official state meal in Oklahoma? Okay, chicken fried steak, Cobb salad. Buckeyes or Gio duck.

Marcia Smith 21:51
Well, I’ll say God, because I don’t know what the heck that is. I don’t either. And that’s not the answer. All right. Then I’ll say What’s that buck thing?

Bob Smith 21:59
Buckeyes? Yeah, Cobb salad. chicken fried steak.

Marcia Smith 22:03
I have chicken fried steak sounds southern but that’s it. Okay,

Bob Smith 22:08
that’s part of the official state meal of Oklahoma. Here’s here’s what it consists of. fried okra, cornbread, BBQ Pork squash biscuits, sausage and gravy. grits. Corn strawberries. Oh my god. Strawberries is the state fruit by the way. chicken fried steak, pecan pie and Black Eyed Peas.

Marcia Smith 22:27
That’s one hell of a big dinner. That’s

Bob Smith 22:28
an official state meal. It’s an extensive menu reflects the state’s agriculture. And guess what? Oklahoma is only one of two states that have an official state meal. The Louisiana is the only other state that recognizes and official state meal.

Marcia Smith 22:44
Are they punchy in Oklahoma? Oh, no. Okay. All right, Bob. Why did no Americans compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics?

Bob Smith 22:55
That was a political thing, wasn’t it? Well, I’m not going to tell you okay. It was a political thing. And that’s why we didn’t compete. All right, but I can’t remember what it was about.

Marcia Smith 23:03
Oh, this you’ll remember when I tell you. The US team boycotted the Moscow hosted Olympics, President Jimmy Carter and led a 65 nation boycott of the event in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Wow. So five nations boycotted when they Soviets invaded Afghanistan. So

Bob Smith 23:23
we didn’t go to the Olympics that year. Yeah. 1980. Well, now we know we did the Winter Olympics because we beat the Soviets in the 1980 Hockey Olympics. Yes, that was a great game. All right, Marcia. How old is the world’s oldest castle and where is it? Now? give you choices here. Thank you. It’s in England, Germany, Syria, Romania, or Russia?

Romania. No, it’s not Romania, Russia. No, it’s not Russia.

Marcia Smith 23:53
What were the first to

Bob Smith 23:55
England, Germany or Syria? Germany? No, it’s

Marcia Smith 23:58
not Charlotte would be Syria. It’s

Bob Smith 23:59
Marcia. It’s funny. Usually we think of medieval structures when we think of castles but there is a fortified structure that predates the Middle Ages by centuries. And it’s distinctively Castle lucky enough to be widely considered the oldest ancient fortress still standing on the planet. And it is the citadel of Aleppo, which dates back to 3000 BC.

Marcia Smith 24:23
Yes, Syria is incredibly old. I should have guessed that first. That’s right. Okay.

Bob Smith 24:28
Where’s the second oldest castle? It goes back to 1000 ad

1000. AD.

It is in Germany marching in Germany. Yes. Go in Germany. Oh, wow. So that’s 4000 years after the one in Syria. Wow. Basinger, yeah.

Marcia Smith 24:45
Okay. All right, but which festival includes a fashion show with dresses made from the festivals theme item? I’ll give you choices. Okay. Paris Fashion Week. Salon, do chocolate macaroon day. or the bread festival?

Bob Smith 25:01
I like the chocolate, but I don’t know if that’s the answer. What’s the question again?

Marcia Smith 25:05
What festival includes a fashion show with dresses made from the festivals theme

Bob Smith 25:11
is the chocolate one.

You’re right. Okay, that’s it.

So where does that take place?

Marcia Smith 25:15
Versailles.

Bob Smith 25:15
Beautiful place can imagine that that big chocolate place. Yes.

Marcia Smith 25:19
I remember things about that place. Lots of mirrors, is it?

Bob Smith 25:24
Oh, yeah. Lots of confusion.

Marcia Smith 25:26
Okay. All right, Bob. Okay, there are always at least six ravens at the Tower of London. We saw them. The Raven Master is a member of what group? I’ll give you choice. Okay. Is it the Yeoman Warders the Beefeaters, is it the Zoological Society of London? Bird keepers Association or the Queen’s guard?

Bob Smith 25:49
I think it’s the Raven masters myself. I think it’s the Queen’s guard, isn’t it?

Marcia Smith 25:53
I love it. The Raven masters Yes. Nope, it’s the Yeoman Warders the Beefeaters. Oh, okay, they’re in charge. Remember we they gave a little spiel.

Bob Smith 26:03
Oh, the funny too.

Marcia Smith 26:05
Yeah, Guy was really great. And they live there right in the Tower of London. Beefeaters

Bob Smith 26:09
do or the ravens,

Marcia Smith 26:10
all of them.

Bob Smith 26:12
The birds and the beef eaters. Isn’t that funny? They call them beef eaters, and they’re just regular people. And all of us eat beef today. So what’s the deal there? You know where to get that name.

Marcia Smith 26:22
Did you know that the beef eaters today still live in the tower with their family so

Bob Smith 26:27
they do live there? Oh, I thought you were kidding me? Oh, no,

Marcia Smith 26:30
no, I double check and what is the name mean? There’s two versions of what the word comes from. The most popular of the two theories is that the term originated from the daily allowance of beef that was given to the Yeoman Warders as part of their pay. deef was valuable and expensive commodity so it was considered a significant perk. It was an indication of a very well paid position. Ah, the other theory is Beefeater comes from the French word buffets here. The French word for guard. Okay,

Bob Smith 27:01
I think our time’s up for this week. Is

Marcia Smith 27:03
it okay, I’ve

Bob Smith 27:04
got got all these questions here. Let me see. Are there any left? Okay, you got a quote for today? What you Okay.

Marcia Smith 27:10
Oscar Wilde. Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Well, that’s true. And that was an Oscar Wilde’s day. Right?

Bob Smith 27:19
That makes sense. All right, Marcia. Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed this little soiree into history and trivia by Bob and Marcia. Join us again next time when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia appear on the off ramp. The off ramp is produced in association with CPL Radio Online, and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin, visit us on the web at the off ramp dot show.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai