Who was the original ‘Mr. Baxter’ in the pilot for the TV series ‘Hazel’?

It’s been one year since I submitted the manuscript of the book based on all this silly stuff to my publisher.

Did You Know…? Yet Another Compilation of Useless Trivia is one year old, and if you’ve purchased a copy or three, you have my deepest, most sincere thanks!

If you haven’t, and are of a mind to do so, head over to amazon.com and look it up.

I’m contemplating a second volume. (Not sure if that’s a promise, a threat or a warning, so interpret that any way you wish.) If you like the idea, drop me a line at didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com and let me know. Do that if you don’t like the idea, too, so I have a gauge on which way the wind is blowing.

Now, on to this week’s wind – er, trivia!

Did you know…

… during the 1909 Seattle World’s Fair, a baby was given away in a raffle? According to newspaper reports from the event, a one-month-old baby boy was “donated” to the Fair by the Washington Children’s Home Society. The boy, named Ernest, was given away in a “blind” draw – the winner would not know the prize won until after the drawing. No one is sure what happened to the boy after the raffle. (I’d simply love to read the fine print in the contract for this prize!)

… the average person has more than 1,460 dreams a year? (And the vast majority of them don’t come true, darn it.)

… one of our most athletic presidents was a real fighter? Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the country’s 26th President, loved to box, but scaled it back a great deal while serving as President. TR said it was “rather absurd for a president to appear with a black eye or a swollen nose.” (You have to wonder how TR would fare in today’s modern political climate, wouldn’t you?)

… love can be almost eternal? As an example, comedian Jack Benny (1894-1974) arranged to have a rose delivered to his wife Mary Livingstone (1905-1983) every day following his death until the day she died.

… Christmas celebrations were outlawed in England for eleven years? From 1649 to 1660, the only way to legally celebrate Christmas was with sermons and prayers. This was at the command of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), Lord Protector of England, who led the country during its brief time as a republic. (A real killjoy, that Oliver Cromwell.)

… Congress once changed the ending date of a war? The Korean War was declared over on July 27, 1953, with the cessation of hostilities. But the U.S. Congress lengthened the war to officially end January 31, 1955, in order to extend benefit eligibility for soldiers. The reason? Peace was very uncertain for a while following the 1953 negotiations. Additional trivia note: The Korean War is still not officially over, at least not as far as North and South Korea are concerned. No peace treaty or agreement was ever signed between the two nations; thus, they are still officially at war with one another.

… the lead male role in a classic 1960s TV comedy was recast before the show aired? It does happen a lot, but in this case it was, in its way, rather jarring. In 1961, Hazel premiered, a show about the maid in an upper-middle-class family, created by cartoonist Ted Key (1912-2008). The show starred Shirley Booth (1898-1992) as the titular maid to the Baxter family, and it ran on NBC for five years and a final year on CBS. The pilot episode, filmed in early 1961, featured the cast as it would appear for the first four seasons – Booth, Whitney Blake (1926-2002), and Bobby Buntrock (1952-1974) – except for the actor who played George Baxter. In the pilot, that role was played by Edward Andrews (1914-1985), a noted character actor. But test audiences said he seemed “creepy” in the role, so when the series was green-lighted, the part was re-cast with actor Don DeFore (1913-1993). The pilot is occasionally available to be seen on YouTube.

… the first Medicare card was issued to former President Harry S Truman? The 33rd president (1884-1972) received it when the Medicare bill was signed into law on July 30, 1965, from President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973).

… Dr. Seuss had a vanity license plate on his car? The license plate issued by the state of Massachusetts for Seuss (born Theodor Seuss Geisel, (1904-1991) read “GRINCH.” (Of course.)

… Milk DudsTM are really duds? The machine making them was supposed to turn out perfectly round candies but could not, so the “duds” were sold under that name. (And the rest, as they say, is history.)

… a good reason exists for the name of a popular drink? The mixed drink called the screwdriver (orange juice and vodka) was named that because engineers used screwdrivers to stir them in the 1950s.

… bison vote on migration? When a majority of individual bison in a herd face one direction, the herd migrates in that direction. (“No, Bill, we’re not going in that direction this year, I don’t care who lives that way.”)

… you are more likely to be injured using a folding lawn chair than on a roller coaster? (I know I would be. I don’t ride roller coasters.)

… playing a spy in the movies can run in the family? The brother of Sir Sean Connery (1930-2020) starred in a James Bond satire movie called Operation Kid Brother. In the 1967 film, Neil Connery (1938-2021) plays the brother of James Bond who takes the lead in foiling a world-domination plot. (Predictable)

… soldiers throughout time have had a strange sense of humor? For example, a slingshot bullet extracted from a 4th Century BC site in Athens, Greece, had the word “catch” engraved on it in Greek. (Gotta love that ancient Greek humor.)

Now… you know!

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