Mr. Write's Page

The Questions…

1.  Animal Crackers (sold by Nabisco as Barnum’s Animals since 1902) are packaged in a box with a string handle. Why?

2.  Captain William Bligh of the British Royal Navy is best known to history as the victim of the 1789 mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty. Bligh made history again in Australia in 1808. What happened?

3.  What do you call a baby porcupine?

4.  The word honcho is a synonym for boss or leader. What is the origin of the word?

5. Why are purple, green, and gold the official colors of the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration?

The Answers…

1.  They were introduced as a Christmas novelty and packaged so they could be hung from a Christmas tree.

2.  The tyrannical Bligh was appointed Governor of the prison colony of New South Wales. When he banned the use of rum and other spirits as legal tender, another mutiny erupted. Bligh was seized, jailed, and later dumped onto a ship bound for Tasmania. The episode is known as the Rum Rebellion.

3.  A porcupette.

4.  Honcho comes from the Japanese word hancho, which means squad commander.

5. Purple, green, and gold were the colors of Russia’s Romanov dynasty. New Orleans adopted the colors to honor the visiting Grand Duke Alexis Romanov in 1972.