The 1950's Pop Culture Quiz

Magnet fine arts beat writers
Originally uploaded by trudeau

1. The Andrews Sisters represented post-WWII US mainstream culture
with their tune, "The Boogie-woogie __ Boy of Company B."
a) Bugle b) Bad c) Blue-eyed d) Big and Fine
2. Alternative culture in the 1950's involved a jug of red wine, a couple of guitars and folk tunes, often protest songs written by the hitchhiking troubador, __ __. a) Lead Belly b) Harry Belafonte c) Bob Dylan d) Woody Guthrie.
3. Catcher in the Rye's portrayal of Holden Caufield's 16 year old life became a success. Who wrote the book? a) Herman Wouk b JD Salinger c) William Faulkner
4. Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus led to a Supreme Court decision outlawing bus segregation. Where did this happen? a) Memphis, Tennessee b) Macon, Georgia c) Montgomery, Alabama
5. Where was Elvis Presley born? a) Memphis, Tennessee b) Tupelo, Mississippi
c) Shreveport, La
6. In the play and movie, Streetcar Named Desire, the lead male is belowing, "Stellaaaaaa!" The actor? a) Marlon Brando b) James Dean c) Montgomery Clift
7. The book and movie, "Diary of Anne Frank" tell of a girl hiding from the Nazis. It took place in a) Amsterdam, Holland b)Berlin, Germany c) Paris, France
8. The first artificial satellite to be successfully orbited was called Sputnik. It was a triumph for the a) USA b) Russians c) British d) Germans.
9. Credit for coining the term "Rock and Roll goes to a disc jockey, or announcer: a) Dick Clark b) Alan Freed c) Wolfman Jack
10. In 1957, a wild r'nb performer- "Good Golly, Miss Molly!" - left the music business to become a preacher. a) Little Richard b) Jerry Lee Lewis c) Elvis Presley.
11. Which wild rock 'n roll singer - "Great Balls of Fire" - married his 13 year old cousin? a) Jerry Lee Lewis b) Chuck Berry c) Bill Haley.
12. Which of these tunes was recorded by New Orleans native Fats Domino and then covered by the singer-movie star Pat Boone? a) April Love b) Ain't That a Shame c) I'm Walkin'.
13. Name the Little Richard song whose refrain is "A-wop bop a-loo bop a-lop bam boom"? a) Good Golly Miss Molly b) Be-Bop-a-Lula c) Tutti Fruitti.
14. "You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain"... goes with? a) All Shook Up b) Great Balls of Fire c) Shake Rattle and Roll
15. Fats sang, "I found my thrill..." Where? a) Kansas City b) Heartbreak Hotel c) Blueberry Hill.
16. The name of the 42 year-old African-American who refused to give her seat up to a white bus passenger in Alabama in 1955? a) Homer Plessy b) Billie Holiday c) Rosa Parks.
17. In 1958 a British artist designed the classic logo today called "the peace sign." He produced it for European protests against a) Vietnam War b) Cold War c) nuclear bombs d) anti-drug laws.
18. Naked Lunch, by Wm Burroughs, is less about coprophilia, sodomy and emaciated junkies than it is about nude couples sipping wine and smoking ganja at midday. T / F
19. Today the long poem "Howl," by Allen Ginsberg, is celebrated in a James DeFranco movie and by teachers in fine arts classes. Yet in the 1950's it was considered legally obscene. It was famously banned in __ . a) Boston b) San Francisco c) Chicago.
20. First US auto to have a fiber glass body, 1953: a) Thunderbird b) Corvette c) Corvair d) Falcon.
21. "Deep down Louisiana close to New Orleans. Way back up in the woods among the evergreens. There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood. Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode. Who never ever learned to read or write so well; but he could play the guitar just like a ringing a bell." a) Chuck Berry b) Fats Domino c) Elvis Presley d) Jerry Lee Lewis.
22. Legendarily typed on a huge roll of paper so the maniacal author would not have to stop to interrupt the flow of his writing in changing sheets of paper: a) Howl b) Naked Lunch c) On the Road d) Dharma Bums.
23. Mooringsport, La, singer who resided in NYC from the 1930's through 1949, the year of his untimely death. a) Hank Williams b) Huddie Ledbetter c) Jerry Lee Lewis d) BB King.
24. A 1950's "hootenanny" featured a) folk music b) country music c) Delta blues d) Appalachian music.
25. Painters and sculptors in NYC in the 1950's typically lived in the a) Upper West Side b) Midtown c) SoHo d) Lower East Side of Manhattan.