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Manchester Trivia

by John Clayton / Tuesday, 04 December 2018 / Published in Culture

So you think you know Manchester?

We shall see.

Herewith, a 10-question Manchester trivia test (although I will admit that some of the questions are as much minutiae as trivia). Some of the answers are painfully obvious, others can be sussed out pretty easily and still others are just plain old stinkers). That having been said, you need a score of at least 70 percent for a passing grade, and bear in mind, I don’t do social promotions.

Here goes:

1. Former Manchester Mayor Frederick Smyth once lived in a glorious estate near the Amoskeag Falls. That estate was known as:

  1. The Pines
  2. The Birches
  3. The Willows
  4. The Rhododendrons

2. Manchester was once home to both French and German newspapers, but it also had a Greek-language newspaper published by Spiros Cateras called:

  1. Ti Kanis
  2. Ergatis
  3. Metaxa
  4. Moussaka

3. A colonial-era dining delicacy in Manchester was known as “Derryfield beef,” but it wasn’t really beef. It was:

  1. Pork
  2. Lamb
  3. Veal
  4. Eel

4. There was a very specific type of jargon associated with textile work at the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. Which of the following words is NOT associated with the textile trade:

  1. Burling
  2. Doffing
  3. Napping
  4. Hurling

5. Whose disappointing 1927 fly-over of Manchester prompted city officials to set aside funds for the creation of an airfield in Manchester:

  1. Baron von Richtofen
  2. Charles Lindbergh
  3. Pappy Boyington
  4. Alan Shepard

6. One of the most cloying jingles in Manchester radio history was for a shop called Tren Furniture. Based on the lyric, where was the shop located?

  1. 177 Milford Street
  2. 177 Vinton Street
  3. 177 Benton Street
  4. 177 Wilson Street

7) Manchester natives Maurice and Richard McDonald won fame and fortune as the founders of the McDonald’s Hamburger restaurant chain. In what California city did they open their first McDonald’s:

  1. San Bernardino
  2. San Clemente
  3. San Simeon
  4. San Salvador

8) Back on Feb. 23, 1945, another Manchester native, Rene Gagnon, was one of the six men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. With what branch of the military did he serve:

  1. Army
  2. Navy
  3. Air Force
  4. Marines

9) Although the critics have not been kind to him, Adam Sandler did receive a 2002 Golden Globe nomination for best actor in what film:

  1. The Wedding Singer
  2. Punch Drunk Love
  3. Anger Management
  4. Spanglish

10) Manchester is rare among American cities in that it has two homes designed by one of the world’s most celebrated architects. His name is:

  1. Andrew Lloyd Webber
  2. Frank Lloyd Webber
  3. Frank Lloyd Wright
  4. Orville Wright

There you have it. Ten questions. Time to tabulate your score with the following answer key:

1-C; 2-B; 3-D; 4-D; 5-B; 6-D; 7-A; 8-D; 9-B; 10-C

If you’d care for explanations or elaborations, email me at jclayton@manchesterhistoric.org Or, you could always stop by the Manchester Historic Association’s Millyard Museum – call first – and don’t forget to bring an apple for the teacher.

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Contributors to the Website:

John Clayton

John Clayton is the executive director of the Manchester Historic Association and Millyard Museum. He previously spent 25 years as a reporter and columnist for the New Hampshire Union Leader, and he is the author of seven books about Manchester and New Hampshire.

Mr. Clayton’s “In the City” column was a fixture on the front page of the Union Leader for more than 20 years and won numerous awards, including best local column from the New England Associated Press News Executives and “Best Local Author” from the readers of “New Hampshire” magazine.

Mr. Clayton received an Emmy Award for his work with New Hampshire Public Television where he was the long-time host of “New Hampshire Crossroads” and he was recently honored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council as one of the state’s “40 over 40” cultural icons.

John Hofstetter

John Hofstetter is a graphic designer who lives with his wife in Manchester’s Historic North End. John has designed for a variety of clients including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Citi Performing Arts Center, NPR, OXFAM International, The Pine Street Inn, Louis XIV, Amy Winehouse, Composer Bear McCreary, and Atlantic Records. Stateofthedesign.com

Images from the Manchester Historic Association’s collection are available for purchase for $25 per image. To browse the collection, click here.

For more information, e-mail or call 622-7531.

The MHA also operates the Millyard Museum at 200 Bedford Street where the permanent exhibit, “Woven in Time,” chronicles more than 11,000 years of history in this area. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, go to www.manchesterhistoric.org

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