Three Coins, 16 Candles, and Many Broken Bones
Most of us have a shared early memory. In it, a cake is glowing with candles. We take a breath, make a wish, and blow out the candles with that one breath…or we try to. Why? Because it’s the only way to get the wish, of course! We might also have memories of wrestling with someone to snap a wishbone, and for the same outcome…our wish will be granted. Shooting star flying over…well, same thing. The funny thing is that we keep on making wishes for strange reasons long after we know how candles, poultry bones, and meteors work.
Today’s Trivia Question
In the German tradition that helped to shape modern birthday cakes, what did an extra candle beyond the person’s age represent?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
Bonus points if you know the one thing you’re not supposed to do after making your birthday wish.
| A Few More for Fun… |
We humans have found a lot of bizarre ways to turn ordinary objects into wishful things, from coins to shooting stars, along with those candles.
Before the word “wishbone” became the familiar name, what was the bone called?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
According to tradition, what does tossing one coin into Rome’s Trevi Fountain supposedly guarantee?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
| A Few More Trivia Questions Before You Go… |
So far, wishes are made on cakes, birds, and fountains…what’s left?
Science
The Perseid meteor shower appears to come from the constellation Perseus. Where do the actual particles that create the “shooting stars” come from?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
History
Geography
Movies
In the movie Big, Josh Baskin makes his famous wish at a Zoltar machine. What odd detail does he notice after the machine tells him his wish has been granted?
(pick one to reveal the answer)
Language
Answers
Today’s question Answer: B. The year ahead. German children’s birthday celebrations featured cakes topped with candles, generally one for each year of life, plus a bonus candle for the year ahead. This candle was sometimes called the “light of life.” Bonus points if you knew that you’re never supposed to tell anyone your wish. That rule still holds today; we’ve just added more frosting and a lot of cell phones filming the wish. | |
| 01 | Answer: A. Merrythought. The forked breastbone from a bird (turkey, pheasant, or chicken…they all work) was called a merrythought centuries before wishbone became the common name. Then, as today, two people pulled on opposite sides of the bone, and the one left holding the larger piece when the bone snaps gets their wish. |
| 02 | Answer: C. You will return to Rome. Rome’s tourism office has long told visitors that tossing one coin into the fountain means a return trip. If you toss a second coin into the fountain, it brings romance. |
| 03 | Answer: A. Comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids happen when Earth passes through a field of debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. The tiny particles enter our atmosphere at a high speed and burn into those bright streaks we call shooting stars. |
| 04 | Answer: C. More than 12,000. Romans also threw jewelry and other objects into the spring dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva. Some also dropped written prayers into the spring, a habit that has a fairly modern echo… |
| 05 | Answer: B. Reykjavik. The island is just offshore from the Icelandic city. This is home to Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower, and more than two million wishes have arrived from Wish Trees around the world and been brought to the tower. |
| 06 | Answer: C. The machine is unplugged. Josh wishes to be big, gets a card telling him his wish has been granted, but then sees the impossible…the machine’s unplugged. Clearly, the word wish can hold a lot of power... |
| 07 | Answer: C. Win. Wish comes from the Old English wyscan, meaning to long for or desire something. But farther back, it shares an ancient root with win. So, it makes perfect sense - we can begin with a want and get to the win! |
How did you do? Score 1 point for each correct answer and 1 point for each bonus you knew. Perfect score: 10.
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