Trivia

Q. What was the first toy advertised on TV?

A. Mr. Potato Head in 1952.

Straitjackets at last report were selling for about $190 apiece. The market isn’t too lively, I gather, despite the great need.

The Italian “antipasto” does not allude to “pasta”; it’s literal translation is “before the food.”

Our Love and War man’s raggedy old copy of Roget’s Thesaurus lists 404 synonyms for “love” but only 107 synonyms for “hate.” He’s content with that ratio.

Q. What happened to change the official name of the Executive Mansion to the White House?

A. Nothing grandiose. President Theodore Roosevelt just printed the White House nickname on his letterhead. It had been so called since 1814, when it was repainted white after the British burned it.

Q. What felony is least likely to be reported?

A. Wife battering, according to FBI reports.

One out of four American grown-ups sets the alarm clock to go off before 6 a.m.

When Charles Dickens sat down to write, he seated himself facing north. To align his body with the earth’s poles, he said. He went to bed that way, too, head to the north.