Bob and Marcia Smith discuss the banning of “Goodnight Moon” from the New York Public Library for 35 years due to its lack of a moral, as deemed by librarian Anne Carroll Moore. They also explore the historical use of horses to power boats, the unfinished painting of the Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West due to British refusal to pose, Disneyland’s rodent control by 200 feral cats, and the unique achievement of Philip Noel-Baker, who won an Olympic medal and a Nobel Peace Prize. They touch on the Coriolis effect preventing hurricanes from crossing the equator, Minnesota’s medical device industry, and reindeer eye color changes.
Outline
Banned Children’s Book and Its Controversial History
- Bob Smith introduces the topic of a famous children’s book banned from the New York Public Library for 35 years.
- Marcia Smith asks for a hint about the book, and Bob Smith mentions it was written by an author who also wrote “The Runaway Bunny.”
- The book, “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown, was banned due to its sentimental nature and lack of a moral by retired chief librarian Anne Carroll Moore.
- Moore, a prominent figure in children’s librarianship, believed every children’s book should have a moral, which “Goodnight Moon” lacked.
- Despite its ban, “Goodnight Moon” became a cultural touchstone, selling 50 million copies and engaging children with its scavenger hunt-like elements.
Horse-Powered Boats and Their Historical Significance
- Marcia Smith asks about animals that used to power boats, and Bob Smith confirms that horses were used in the 1810s.
- Horse-powered boats, also known as team boats, were common in lakes and rivers, with horses walking in a circle to turn the boat’s gears.
- A form of horse-powered boat invented in 1819 allowed horses to walk in place, making it easier on the animals and providing more space for passengers.
- These boats were popular in the Northeast, especially in New York, but became less common by the end of the 19th century.
- The last known team boat remained in service on the Tennessee River until the late 1920s, powered by a single blind horse.
Unfinished Painting of the Revolutionary War
- Bob Smith discusses a famous painting of the Revolutionary War that went unfinished due to British negotiators refusing to sit for portraits.
- The painting, commemorating the 1783 Treaty of Paris, depicts the American delegation but lacks the British negotiators, Richard Oswald and Caleb Whiteford.
- The unfinished state of the painting is seen as a diplomatic snub, symbolizing British arrogance.
- The absence of the British figures became a powerful symbol, highlighting Britain’s reluctance to commemorate its defeat in the American Revolution.
Disneyland’s Rodent-Free Strategy
- Marcia Smith asks how Disneyland stays rodent-free, and Bob Smith reveals that 200 feral cats roam the park to control rodents.
- The cats, first seen in Sleeping Beauty Castle, are part of a mutually beneficial alliance with permanent feeding stations, spaying, neutering, and vaccination.
- The cats help keep the rodent population under control, often seen at night near the Jungle Cruise.
- The presence of these feral cats is monitored by enthusiasts who follow them on websites and Instagram feeds.
Weather at the Equator and Hurricane Formation
- Bob Smith explains that hurricanes do not cross the equator due to the Coriolis effect, which deflects moving air and prevents rotation.
- At the equator, the Coriolis effect is zero, causing hurricanes to break down and not form.
- The only known exception was cyclone Angie in 2004, which briefly flirted with crossing the equator but did not survive the transition.
- The Coriolis effect, discovered by French mathematician and engineer Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis in 1835, is crucial for understanding hurricane formation.
Patent Medicines and Their Misleading Labels
- Bob Smith discusses the history of patent medicines, noting that few were actually patented and many contained harmful ingredients like alcohol, opium, or cocaine.
- The term “patent medicine” dates back to the 17th century, when certain medicines received letters patent from royalty, giving them public endorsements.
- These concoctions were often advertised as being favored by the crown, but their ingredients were rarely revealed.
- Patent medicines were the 19th-century version of “as seen on TV” products, promising cures for various ailments.
Busiest Motor Bridge in the World
- Marcia Smith asks about the busiest motor bridge in the world, and Bob Smith identifies it as the George Washington Bridge in New York City.
- The bridge, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Washington Heights in Manhattan, handles 300,000 vehicles a day and 100 million cars a year.
- Bob Smith expresses amazement at the bridge’s ability to support such a high volume of traffic.
- The George Washington Bridge is one of the most heavily trafficked bridges in the world, showcasing the engineering marvel of its construction.
Minnesota’s Medical Device Industry
- Bob Smith highlights Minnesota’s medical device industry, noting it as the state’s most unique top export.
- Minnesota is known for producing the first battery-operated wearable pacemaker and other medical devices like needles, diagnostic equipment, prosthetics, and hearing aids.
- The state’s medical device industry is so significant that it is often referred to as “Medical Alley.”
- This industry has grown to include a wide range of medical products, making Minnesota a major player in the global medical market.
World Landmarks and Their Nicknames
- Marcia Smith and Bob Smith play a game where they guess world landmarks based on humorous nicknames.
- They correctly identify the White House as “Caucasian home,” Big Ben as “huge Aflac,” the Great Wall of China as “big barrier of fancy dishes,” and the Grand Canyon as “$1,000 gorge.”
- They also guess the Space Needle as “upper atmosphere syringe” and Niagara Falls as “spray starch autumns.”
- The game concludes with Bob Smith guessing Buckingham Palace as “Lindsay royal residence,” a reference to musician Lindsey Buckingham.
California’s Walnut Production
- Bob Smith asks about the state that exports the most walnuts, and Marcia Smith guesses California.
- Bob Smith confirms that California is responsible for nearly all of America’s walnut production and nearly two-thirds of the walnuts traded globally.
- The walnut was introduced to California in 1770, with the first crops planted in San Diego County in 1843.
- California’s climate and soil conditions make it ideal for walnut production, contributing significantly to the state’s agricultural economy.
Reindeer’s Eye Color Adaptation
- Marcia Smith shares a fascinating fact about reindeer’s eyes changing color to help them see better in different light levels.
- In summer, reindeer eyes are golden, while in winter they turn blue, becoming approximately 1000 times more sensitive to light.
- This adaptation is crucial for reindeer in the dark days of winter, helping them navigate their environment.
- The change in eye color is a natural evolution that aids reindeer in their survival.
Historical Origins of Phrases
- Marcia Smith explains the origin of the phrase “scraping the bottom of the barrel,” which was introduced by Cicero in 106 to 43 BC.
- Cicero used the phrase to describe the lowest members of Roman society and the sediment at the bottom of a wine barrel.
- The phrase has since been used to describe situations where choices are slim and the best options have been exhausted.
- This historical context adds depth to the common saying, highlighting its ancient roots.
Bob Smith 0:00
What famous childhood book was banned from the New York Public Library for 35 years,
Marcia Smith 0:07
And what animals used to power boats?
Bob Smith 0:10
Okay, answers to those and other questions coming up in this episode of the Off Ramp with Bob
Marcia Smith 0:16
And Marcia
Bob Smith 0:17
Smith.
Bob Smith 0:33
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. Okay? Marcia, here it is! What famous children’s book, famous since about 1947, was banned from the New York Public Library for 35 years. And why? Oh, that’s what can be so bad about this book.
Marcia Smith 0:59
You give me a hint about the book?
Bob Smith 1:00
This author wrote two books that are very famous. One is the runaway bunny.
Marcia Smith 1:05
Ohhh
Bob Smith 1:06
And the other is about something that’s up in the sky.
Marcia Smith 1:11
Goodnight, Moon?
Bob Smith 1:11
Goodnight Moon.
Marcia Smith 1:12
Okay.
Bob Smith 1:13
Can you imagine that being banned from the New York Public Library?
Marcia Smith 1:16
It was?
Bob Smith 1:17
It was from 1947 until 1972. Why do you think it was banned?
Marcia Smith 1:23
Why is anything banned? Go ahead, tell me.
Bob Smith 1:25
Because a retired chief librarian, who still exerted much influence personally did not like it.
Marcia Smith 1:31
Yeah, that’s how things roll. Right?
Bob Smith 1:33
That librarian, Anne Carol Moore, was considered a towering figure in early 20th century children’s librarianship. She was the New York Public Library’s first superintendent of work for children, and she was appointed there in 1906 so she was there for a long time. In fact, this is a person who was there longer than she should have stayed.
Marcia Smith 1:53
What was her personal kerfuffle with that book?
Bob Smith 1:57
Well, this is interesting. I never thought about it before. Remember when we first had kids in some of these books, we went, not much of a story there, but okay, the kid likes it, right?
Marcia Smith 2:05
Yeah.
Bob Smith 2:06
It’s one of those books. Well, when Good night moon by Margaret Wise Brown was published in 1947 this librarian found it unbearingly sentimental. She dismissed it as a bowl of mush, and she said it doesn’t have a moral. Every children’s book should have a moral, so kids learn from that. So they didn’t use that book. They never had it there. Even after she retired, they kept it off the shelves because she was on the board till 1972 because she wasn’t keen on the emerging sociological approach to children’s books. Margaret Wise Brown, who wrote that book, she learned that the stuff of ordinary lif – combs and brushes kittens and mittens, that was miraculous enough. To adults, it’s boring, but before the everyday world becomes familiar to kids, it’s magical and strange. So that book, Goodnight Moon, was aimed at kids two to five, when kids are fascinated with ordinary things.
Marcia Smith 2:06
Going to bed!
Bob Smith 2:06
And earlier, writers had noticed that too. Goldilocks story goes into great detail on just three different size of porridge bowls, right?
Marcia Smith 2:06
Right.
Bob Smith 2:08
So some of the classic children’s literature is that way. But this woman, she just wouldn’t go with this book. Yet, Good night Moon had a lot of things to engage a child. It’s a scavenger hunt. And that’s what a lot of the best children’s books are – like, Where’s Waldo? That’s like a scavenger hunt too. Kids like that. Goodnight Moon went on to sell 50 million copies and became a cultural touchstone. But for a quarter century, it was absent from the shelves of America’s most prominent public library, because of one powerful librarian who didn’t like it.
Marcia Smith 3:40
Yeah. Well, that’s the danger. All right, Bob, what animals used to power boats?
Bob Smith 3:46
Animals that used to power boats? We’re not talking about horses that pulled boats through canals or anything like that. Are we?
Marcia Smith 3:53
No, okay, but you’re right about something,
Bob Smith 3:57
Horses?
Marcia Smith 3:57
Yeah
Bob Smith 3:58
Horses were used to power boats
Marcia Smith 4:00
Yes. And how did I not know this for more than a century, Bob, beginning in the 1810s horse powered boats were a . Ammon form of transportation in the US. Also known as Team boats, they were most often used in lakes and rivers. Even a team of Clydesdales couldn’t cross the Atlantic, but in lakes and rivers, they worked by having a small group of horses, usually between three and five, walk in a circle on the deck while attached to a wheel that turned the boats gears.
Bob Smith 4:30
You’re kidding.
Marcia Smith 4:31
No, I didn’tknow that.
Bob Smith 4:32
Where were the people then, if the horses were walking in a circle on the ?
Marcia Smith 4:36
Sun bathing on the deck.
Bob Smith 4:39
As the horses walked in twos!
Marcia Smith 4:41
Another form of horse boat, invented in 1819, allowed the horses and a turntable to drive the wheel backward by just walking in place. This was both easier on the animals and allowed more space for the passengers on the deck.
Bob Smith 4:57
Who sunbathed! I doubt if they were sun bathing.
Marcia Smith 5:00
Horse ferries were especially popular in the Northeast in general, and New York in particular. Though they became less common by the end of the 19th century, the last known team boat remained in service on the Tennessee River until the late 1920s and was propelled by a single blind horse.
Bob Smith 5:19
Oh, my goodness. So the horse was walking, and it was turning some kind of a turbine or something, and it was, yeah, that is amazing. So that horse went all kinds of places without getting anywhere.
Marcia Smith 5:29
Like many of us do.
Bob Smith 5:30
It was a blind horse. Even more sad.
Marcia Smith 5:34
So many levels. That just sounds sad.
Bob Smith 5:36
Okay, all right, Marcia history! Why did a famous painting of the Revolutionary War go unfinished?
Marcia Smith 5:45
Well, there’s so many possible reasons for interruptus, but you tell me.
Bob Smith 5:50
This was Benjamin West, who was a great American painter who was in Great Britain at the time. It was a painting that was commemorating the 1783, Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War. Now the painting went unfinished because the British negotiators refused to sit for portraits.
Marcia Smith 6:10
Oh, really. Oh, that’s funny.
Bob Smith 6:11
It was meant to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War. And it depicts the American delegation, John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Lawrence and William Temple Franklin, but its right side, to this day, is blank. British negotiators, Richard Oswald and his secretary, Caleb Whiteford, refused to pose. Britain had no desire to commemorate its default. This was the first major defeat in its empire. So the unfinished state wasn’t an artist’s choice, it was a diplomatic snub, and the absence of the British figures ended up being a powerful symbol of British arrogance. British arrogance is what prevented that painting from being done. “We’re not going to sit for that painting!” So we’ll just leave it empty, and the rest of history, hundreds of years from now, will know why. So that was from the Treaty of Paris, 1783.
Marcia Smith 7:03
Okay, all right, Bob, how does Disneyland stay rodent free?
Bob Smith 7:08
Rodent free? Uh huh. Okay, now we did one long time ago about how they take care of mosquitoes when they’re in the middle of kind of a swampy area for Disney World. Yeah, but this is Disneyland. Okay. How did they remained rodent free.
Marcia Smith 7:20
Want to guess?
Bob Smith 7:21
Well, it had to be cats.
Marcia Smith 7:23
200 feral cats. That’s right.
Bob Smith 7:26
Feral cats?
Marcia Smith 7:27
Yes, they roam Disneyland, and they help control the rodents. You spend enough time at Disneyland and you’ll see them, maybe you’ll spot one snoozing in the bushes near the Jungle Cruise. But however many cats you see, there are more that are out of sight. About 200 feral cats roamed the happiest place on Earth, where they earn their keep by helping to control the rodents. The felines were first seen not long after Disney opened in 1955 where they took up residence in Sleeping Beauty Castle. The mutually beneficial alliance even includes permanent feeding stations for the cats, as well as spaying or neutering and vaccination. So they keep the population at around 200 and they’re all healthy and fed and vaccinated.
Bob Smith 8:13
So these are wild feral cats.
Marcia Smith 8:15
Yeah.
Bob Smith 8:16
They didn’t belong to anybody, necessarily.
Marcia Smith 8:18
Tight, they just all showed up in the castle one night.
Bob Smith 8:20
Wow.
Marcia Smith 8:20
And they thought, well, they are keeping, you know, the problems, away,
Bob Smith 8:24
Keeping the mice away! The non-Mickey-Mouse mice, I might add.
Marcia Smith 8:27
Yeah, that’s right. And they often come out at night, but people follow them on websites and Instagram feeds.
Bob Smith 8:35
Very interesting.
Marcia Smith 8:36
Yeah.
Bob Smith 8:36
Okay, science question, Marcia,
Marcia Smith 8:38
Oh, yay.
Bob Smith 8:38
What’s unusual about the weather at the equator?
Marcia Smith 8:42
Well
Bob Smith 8:44
I never thought of this. Never, ever crossed my mind at the equator. Here’s a hint. It relates to tropical storms. Something that never happens there at the equator?
Marcia Smith 8:55
Gosh, what never happens in a tropical storm.
Marcia Smith 8:59
At the equator. It doesn’t, it doesn’t come off the water. It doesn’t, I don’t know you’re close, it doesn’t, it doesn’t spin off the water. It stays in the water.
Bob Smith 9:10
No hurricane has ever crossed the equator
Marcia Smith 9:14
Really.
Bob Smith 9:15
Yes.
Marcia Smith 9:15
So it can’t even get past it.
Bob Smith 9:17
It can’t, and it’s a physics problem or a physics situation, here’s the explanation. Hurricanes, they are massive, rotating systems powered by warm ocean water. One of the key ingredients of their spin is called the Coriolis effect. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis Effect deflects moving air, causing hurricanes to spin counterclockwise.
Marcia Smith 9:39
Yeah.
Bob Smith 9:39
And in the southern hemisphere, it deflects air to the other direction. So hurricanes spin clockwise, but at the equator, the Coriolis effect is zero. There’s no deflection. That means air can’t organize into a rotating system. And without rotation, you don’t get a hurricane just a messy blob of thunderstorms. So even if a hurricane drifts towards the equator, its rotation begins to break down, and it just dies out. So no hurricane has ever crossed the equator. There’s only one known occasion when it almost happened. That was in 2004 cyclone Angie, formed just north of the equator, briefly flirted with crossing, but it didn’t survive the transition.
Marcia Smith 10:19
Well, that’s very interesting.
Bob Smith 10:21
So who was Coriolis? He was a French mathematician and engineer, and he came up with this concept back in 1835 his initial work didn’t relate to the weather, though. What he did was he focused on rotating machinery like water wheels, and how they behave differently in the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere. And then the weather people, the climate people, took that and said, Wait a minute, that relates to hurricanes. So the Coriolis effect, Marcia, that’s what that’s called. Back to you.
Marcia Smith 10:51
All right, here’s some quickie facts from The Big Book of Answers.
Bob Smith 10:55
Okay, actually, I’ve got a big book of questions over here.
Marcia Smith 10:59
All right, did you know, the most common name in the world is Mohammed. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue. It’s impossible to lick your eyebrow.. And I tried,
Bob Smith 11:12
Even though you might have the strongest tongue in the world, you’re not going to lick your own eyebrow.
Marcia Smith 11:16
I tried and failed. Easter Island is so called because it was discovered by the Europeans on –
Bob Smith 11:22
Easter.
Marcia Smith 11:22
That’s it. And that house warming parties have their origin in Scotland, where embers from the fireplace of the old home were carried to start the new fire in the new house.
Bob Smith 11:32
Oh, interesting. I didn’t know that
Marcia Smith 11:34
That’s where the house warming party name came from.
Bob Smith 11:36
You know, it’s funny how things are seen as, “Wow, that’s unusual. I didn’t know that. That’s – what a coincidence.” One of those that recently came up was when Diane Keaton died, and, you know, she played –
Marcia Smith 11:47
Annie Hall.
Bob Smith 11:47
Annie Hall, and then it turns out that Diane Keaton’s real name was,
Marcia Smith 11:50
Yeah, Hall.
Bob Smith 11:51
Diane Hall, and Woody Allen did that intentionally. He used that name and – but people are going how unusual that that happened?
Bob Smith 11:52
Yeah, yeah. What came first?
Bob Smith 11:55
What kind of coinky-dink that was! No, no. That was intentional.
Marcia Smith 12:02
Yeah, they were together at the time.
Bob Smith 12:04
Diane Keaton’s original name was Diane Hall.
Marcia Smith 12:07
Yeah, okay, Bob. We talked recently about sloths holding their breath underwater longer than dolphins. You remember that
Bob Smith 12:14
That was a fascinating fact, Marica.
Marcia Smith 12:17
Well, here’s even more fastinating. What fellow mammal can hold their breath the longest underwater.
Bob Smith 12:23
I think it’s a whale, isn’t it? Blue Whale,
Marcia Smith 12:25
No.
Bob Smith 12:27
White whale?
Marcia Smith 12:27
No.
Bob Smith 12:28
What?
Marcia Smith 12:28
It’s that curved beak whale. The curved beak whale, that is correct. It’s very interesting to look at. It’s been clocked bob up to three hours and 42 minutes under the water before coming up for a little breath of fresh air in their blow
Bob Smith 12:43
hole. Wow. Interesting. Three hours and 40 minutes.
Marcia Smith 12:48
42 minutes. Imagine being on that watch. Let’s see how long it takes. And that’s the longest they were able to get. All right.
Bob Smith 12:55
All right. Marcia, what two unique achievements did British citizen Philip Noel Baker achieve? This is somebody you’ve never heard of, but this is a unique achievement. Actually, two unique achievements.
Marcia Smith 13:05
Well, you have to be a little more specific. Well, the achievements in the world I’m supposed to guess.
Bob Smith 13:09
Okay, let me tell you two things. Thank you. He was an athlete and a diplomat.
Marcia Smith 13:12
Okay
Bob Smith 13:13
So what two unique achievements did he achieve? Look, Noel
Marcia Smith 13:17
Baker, the baker’s dozen.
Bob Smith 13:20
No, he is the only person in history to win an Olympic medal and a Nobel
Marcia Smith 13:26
Peace Prize. Oh, really, yeah, wow, that’s interesting, isn’t it? Yeah, he won a
Bob Smith 13:31
silver medal in the 1920 Olympics, and in 1959 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on international disarmament. It’s a rare combination of athletic excellence and global statesmanship. Only person in history to do this now his Olympic medal came in the 1500 meter race as a diplomat, though after his athletic work, he helped develop the League of Nations, and he was a member of Britain’s first delegation to the United Nations, and he was a labor Member of Parliament for 36 years. But he did return to his athletic roots in 1948 as the Minister responsible for organizing that year’s Olympic Games in London. So everything came back to his original pursuits. Yeah, isn’t that interesting? He lived to the age of 92 he died in 1982 but his name was Philip Noel Baker, and he’s the only human being to win both an Olympic medal and a Nobel Peace Prize. He
Marcia Smith 14:21
was a man in full, yes, okay, all right. Bob, quickly before we go to break. What is a plectrum? P, L, E, C, T, R, U,
Bob Smith 14:31
M, it’s the latest exercise equipment. Marcia, the plectrum.
Marcia Smith 14:35
We have plectrums in the house. You’ve seen them. You’ve used them. Okay, I’m sorry, and there’s many of them, a plectrum. How do you spell it again? P, L, E, C, T, R, U, M,
Bob Smith 14:45
plectrum, yeah. Okay, not a plectrum. Plectrum. Could you consider this a piece of machinery? No, some kind of a device.
Marcia Smith 14:53
It’s something we have sitting on top of our piano right now. Oh, really, yeah, think about it. It’s used in. Music. Oh, is that what a metronome is? No, okay, it’s a guitar pick. Oh, no, it’s a plectrum. Yeah, wow, that’s what it’s called.
Bob Smith 15:08
I didn’t know what a high flute name for a guitar.
Marcia Smith 15:11
A plectrum is a piece of plastic tortoise shell or other highly flexible material held or worn on the fingers and used to pluck the strings of a musical instrument, such as a harp or a guitar
Bob Smith 15:24
pick, is a much simpler name for that. Let’s go with the pick, plectrum. I never heard
Marcia Smith 15:29
of. I never did either. All right, it’s time to go to break Bob.
Bob Smith 15:33
You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith. We’ll be back in just a moment. We’re back. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, we do this each week for the Cedarburg Public Library, Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Well, Marcia, here’s a question for you. The concoctions that were sold by the 19th century peddlers were often called patent medicines. Uh huh, you’ve heard that term, yes, yet very few were patented. Oh,
Marcia Smith 16:00
I didn’t know that. Well, where did that term come from?
Bob Smith 16:03
Patent and it goes back to the 17th century, patent medicine.
Marcia Smith 16:10
I’m trying to think, I don’t know. Okay, the
Bob Smith 16:14
origin of the term patent is Latin, and it means open to public inspection. And the phrase patent medicine dates back to the 17th Century when certain medicine makers received letters patent from royalty. What does that mean? Royalty looked at them and said, This is a good quality product. Oh, really? Yeah, these documents were open, official, public endorsements of the products. That’s why it was patented and gave them permission to advertise their concoctions as being favored by the crown, but these so called patent medicines of the 19th century, few were ever patented. Modern Patents protect you, provided you revealed the ingredients. But most of these never revealed any of their ingredients. You know Mrs. Snodgrass’s snake oil, you never knew what was actually in it? No, no. And you know why they didn’t reveal they were loaded with alcohol or opium or cocaine, yeah, and they claim to cure everything from gout to female complaints, whatever that is, female complaints you’ve never heard one. I’d like to find something that would take care of those. Okay, moving on. So anyway, patent medicine was the 18th and 19th century version of as seen on TV. Okay?
Marcia Smith 17:22
Bob, what is the busiest motor bridge in the world?
Bob Smith 17:26
I think that is still, let’s see the busiest motor bridge in the world. It is either the Brooklyn Bridge or the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge.
Marcia Smith 17:37
I’ll go with the Brooklyn Bridge. No, it is the George Washington Bridge. So it is a bridge in New York City. Yeah, okay, and 300,000 vehicles a day pass over its 14 traffic lane. That’s amazing. Did you know it’s 14 traffic lanes? No, it’s like 100 million cars a year, seven lanes in each direction. What a bridge? 100 million cars a year. 100 million the bridge connects Fort Lee, New Jersey with the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan. You
Bob Smith 18:04
know, whenever I go on one of those bridges like that, what comes to my mind is, how much weight can the support? Oh, yeah. Look at all the cars and trucks and they’re all moving. Think of the stress that puts on any kind of a structure.
Marcia Smith 18:16
I It’s amazing. I can’t believe it can hold it either. Well,
Bob Smith 18:19
speaking of machinery, okay, after machinery, what is Minnesota’s most unique top export,
Marcia Smith 18:27
other than machinery? Other than machinery,
Bob Smith 18:30
think of the things that Minnesota’s famous for, things in your house, lots of things in every office. No, Hello,
Marcia Smith 18:42
yeah, I was going for cereal, but I don’t have any in my office. Not like your office.
Bob Smith 18:46
I was thinking of post it notes and things like
Marcia Smith 18:48
that. Oh yeah, okay, oh yeah, from 3m Yeah, okay, no, go tell Okay. Well,
Bob Smith 18:52
it’s actually medical devices. The first battery operated wearable pacemaker was invented in Minnesota. Minnesota also supplies other goods in the medical field, like needles, diagnostic equipment, prosthetics and hearing aids, and thanks to its massive medical device industry, Minnesota is sometimes called Medical Alley. Really just thought that was kind of interesting. You know what? What states are known for, what states export? I never thought of Minnesota as being a Medical Alley, but when you think of that heritage, it makes sense.
Marcia Smith 19:22
Okay, time for AKA, also known as, that’s right. This is a fun one. You’ll like this the world landmarks. So if I said Caucasian home, what’s the landmark I’m talking about? The White House, that’s very good. Okay, all right, how about a huge Aflac. What is the monument?
Bob Smith 19:44
What a huge Aflac, Aflac Affleck, is that the duck? A big duck?
Marcia Smith 19:48
No, huge Aflac. What’s that? You know, an actor named Affleck, Ben Affleck, that’s right.
Bob Smith 19:56
Oh, Big Ben, yeah, that’s right. Oh, Jesus. A huge Affleck.
Marcia Smith 20:00
Yeah, remember world landmarks? I was thinking, quack, quack, yeah, big barrier of fancy dishes.
Bob Smith 20:06
A big barrier, uh huh. I mean barrier,
Marcia Smith 20:09
well, like something that keeps out. It’s a barrier. It’s various things, like a pile of dishes, fancy dishes. What kind of dishes do you bring out on Easter or Christmas or Hanukkah, you bring out the best dishware, which is called China, right? Okay, now, big barrier of China, landmark, the
Bob Smith 20:30
Great Wall of China. Thank you. That is a stretch. Well, big barrier of fancy dishes, yeah, yeah, that’s, that’s very misleading. Well, I’m very ashamed of you. You the Great Wall of China is the big barrier of fancy dishes.
Marcia Smith 20:46
That’s correct. What’s the next? $1,000 gorge, $1,000 gorge.
Bob Smith 20:51
That’s the Grand Canyon. Okay, okay.
Marcia Smith 20:56
I could hear people yelling out there, Canyon. Okay, upper atmosphere syringe,
Bob Smith 21:04
the upper atmosphere syringe, uh huh. What’s
Marcia Smith 21:07
the world landmark? The
Bob Smith 21:09
upper atmosphere syringe, the Space Needle. Oh gosh. Okay.
Marcia Smith 21:16
Very good. All right, spray starch, autumns.
Bob Smith 21:20
Spray starch, autumns, yeah, this is funny. Something fall, yeah, right. Something fall, spray starch.
Marcia Smith 21:30
What’s the brand name of the most well known spray starch?
Bob Smith 21:35
I don’t know. What is it? Niagara? Oh, really, I didn’t know that.
Marcia Smith 21:40
Yeah, Niagara Falls is cancer. Okay, all right, ready? Yes, this is the last one. Lindsay royal residence.
Bob Smith 21:49
Lindsay royal residence. Lindsay, yeah, Lindsey Royal.
Marcia Smith 21:55
This is a name that you have been dealing with this week and been listening to this person this week? Yeah, boy, I don’t get that one music. Lindsay who lo hen, I don’t know. No, this is in music. You’ve been listening to their music this week? Lindsay Buckingham. Oh, dear God. Buckingham
Bob Smith 22:15
Palace. Lindsay royal residence. Yeah, that is very strange.
Marcia Smith 22:20
Really, I thought you’d get that. Weren’t you listening to the Buckingham Knicks
Bob Smith 22:24
album that was just released on CD from 1978 Yeah, but that’s stretching the Lindsay royal palace, thinking Lindsay Lohan’s Palace, I don’t know. We just watched that movie Freaky Friday, the new Freaky Friday that you were talking about that or something.
Marcia Smith 22:39
Lindsay royal residence, Buckingham Palace. There you go. Okay,
Bob Smith 22:45
all right, I got another what state exports the most? What? Okay, what state exports the most walnuts? Any idea, our backyard? Yes, that’s true. We left what? Three huge walnut trees. Yeah, these are so big they’re like 50 feet tall now. And when I’m out there on Walnut season, I have to wear a bike helmet so my head doesn’t
Marcia Smith 23:04
get crushed. Neighbors have no idea why you wear that. Why is Mr. Smith out there with his
Bob Smith 23:09
bike helmet mowing the lawn? Yes, that’s the reason. That’s the reason children. Okay, what state exports the most walnuts? Illinois, Kansas, California, or Washington?
Marcia Smith 23:20
I will say Washington, no, but it is a Western State, California.
Bob Smith 23:24
California alone is responsible for nearly the entire walnut production. Yeah, in the United
Marcia Smith 23:30
States, yeah. Now that I think about it, most of the bags are walnuts I buy. Say California walnuts.
Bob Smith 23:35
The walnut was first introduced to California in 1770 and the first crops were planted in San Diego County in 1843 not only does California produce nearly all of America’s walnuts, it also provides nearly two thirds of the walnuts traded around the world, and the remaining ones come from Oregon and Washington, the states you thought of first. I didn’t know that almost all the walnuts are from the West Coast. All the walnuts
Marcia Smith 24:01
in the weather they doing here? I don’t know. How’d
Bob Smith 24:04
we get these trees here before we bought this house? I
Marcia Smith 24:06
know. Okay. Bob, what helps reindeer see better in different light levels?
Bob Smith 24:12
What helps rain? Santa Claus. Santa puts glasses on the reindeer. Good goggles. Yeah.
Marcia Smith 24:18
Well, here’s something I never knew. It does have to do with their eyes? Okay? They change color. They’re golden. In summer, their eye color and they’re blue. In the winter, reindeer’s eyes change color, yeah, I didn’t know that me either. Rudolph’s nose may have been red, but his eyes were blue, except in the summer, when they would have been golden. That’s because reindeer eyes change color depending on the time of the year, which helps them see better in different light levels. Their blue eyes are approximately 1000 times more sensitive to light than their golden counterparts, a crucial adaptation in the dark days of winter. So it’s
Bob Smith 24:55
something they evolved to do. Yeah, I had no idea. All
Marcia Smith 24:58
right, one more before I go. To my quotes here, Bob, when choices are really slim, why do we say we are scraping the bottom of the barrel? Where did that phrase originate?
Bob Smith 25:09
Scraping the bottom of the barrel? That’s a good one. I thought maybe that had to deal with wine or something that was in casks. And when you get to the bottom, it’s not the best stuff. You’re kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel to get something out of
Marcia Smith 25:23
there. Good deduction. But what’s surprising about it is the phrase was introduced by Cicero in 106 to 43 BC, holy cow, that far back. And he did indeed use it to reference the sediment at the bottom of a wine barrel. I’ll be darn he used the phrase also to describe the lowest members of Roman society.
Bob Smith 25:46
If we let those people in the club, we’re scraping the bottom.
Marcia Smith 25:49
That’s right. Okay. They were, they were pretty harsh. I remember, what was it the guys who had to have slaves pluck all their hairs out. That
Bob Smith 25:57
was awful. There you had that the last show, they use tweezers to pluck the hairs out of their master’s bodies. That’s one of the worst jobs I could think of. All right, you got some thoughts for the
Marcia Smith 26:10
day I do. Taylor Swift, I think my favorite thing about seasons changing is the opportunity to look different. Well, that’s true. That’s true. I have to always think about when the seasons change. Oh, I get to have a different wardrobe, right? I
Bob Smith 26:26
always like being able to wear sweaters and things like that. Yeah, you know, things that cover up more. I think is part
Marcia Smith 26:31
of the problem at our when we were younger, it was different, okay? But yeah, when you’re younger,
Bob Smith 26:35
summer is a great time, but when you’re older, winter is a better time. I could cover up more, okay,
Marcia Smith 26:39
it’s good. Albert Camus, Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. Well, isn’t that nice?
Bob Smith 26:47
Taylor Swift and Albert Camus, we’ve got quite a what we’ve gotten another one.
Marcia Smith 26:51
Vincent van Gogh, oh my goodness, yes, they all have comments, okay? And he said, as long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see. Wow. Notice he didn’t say ears, but,
Bob Smith 27:07
well, that’s true. Not a snort. Oh my God, not a snort, please. Marsha, all right, that’s it for today. I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith. Hope you enjoyed what we brought to your ears, and we hope you’ll join us again next time when we return with more fascinating facts and tantalizing trivia here on the off ramp.
Bob Smith 27:39
The off ramp is produced in association with the Cedarburg Public Library. Cedarburg Wisconsin, visit us on the web at the offramp. Dot show.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
