(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Geoffrey Baer.

Tonight, we learn the shocking truth about toddlers in this town; we rush to the hospital, but not in an ambulance; and we meet Chicago's most senior citizen.

All that and much more, but first, a pop quiz just for you at home.

(bell rings) After being incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago adopted its motto "Urbs in Horto," which is Latin for what?

A, City in a Garden; B, City by the Lake; C, The Windy City; or D, Monsters of the Midway.

Do you know?

All right, the answer is next on "The Great Chicago Quiz Show."

(upbeat music) Hello and welcome to "The Great Chicago Quiz Show."

I'm Geoffrey Baer.

I've spent decades writing and hosting WTTW programs about Chicago's rich history, architecture, and culture.

Now, it's time to see if you've been paying attention.

And Chicago TikTok historian Shermann"Dilla"Thomas is here.

Hi, Dilla.

- Hey, Geoffrey.

Hey, everyone.

- Dilla is going to deliver a special trivia question for later in the show.

Okay, before we welcome our first round of contestants, the answer to tonight's pop quiz.

I asked, "What is the meaning of Chicago's Latin motto "Urbs in Horto?"

Well, we're certainly on a lake, but that's not the motto; the Windy City has nothing to do with weather; and monsters refers to the Chicago Bears and University of Chicago, neither of which existed in the 1830s.

So the answer, of course, is A, City in a Garden.

It's possibly a reference to the prairies and fertile lands surrounding tiny Chicago on what was then the wild frontier.

All right, on with the show.

Let's meet tonight's first round of contestants.

No stranger to the microphone, you know him from B96, Gabe Ramirez; artist, educator, and social-emotional consultant, Jenna Anast; and real estate agent and broker, and owner of 163 hats which, as you can see, he actually wears, Dan McDonough.

Okay, Gabe, before you got into being in morning radio, were you a morning person?

- So shout out No.

As a matter of fact, it was quite the opposite.

I would probably be in bed by, like, two in the morning as opposed to waking up at two in the morning.

- Oh, that's painful.

I am not a morning person either.

as opposed to waking up at two in the morning.

- I'm gonna correct you and say R&B group.

But it's like any other musician that's out there trying hard and eventually you end up in radio.

(both laughing) - You're still using your singing skills for a much smaller audience.

Making the ladies swoon who live in your own home, right?

- Yeah, my two daughters and my wife get an earful of my singing.

It's the only way I can get her back to sleep at two in the morning.

Or maybe to drown out the crying, one or the other.

- All right, Gabe, you're gonna go first.

You're gonna be choosing from one of three categories: Senior Citizen, Finish the Lyrics, or Shuffle the Deck.

Be careful because one of those is a lightning round.

Okay, Gabe, which one of those do you wanna pick first?

- I'm gonna go with Shuffle the Deck.

Seems fun.

- Gabe, you have picked the lightning round!

(thunder crackling) - Of course I did.

- Gabe, you're gonna have 60 seconds to get as many of these right as you can.

The clock will begin when I start reading the first question.

You ready?

- Ready.

- All right, here we go.

(bell rings) What suburb did Frank Lloyd Wright live in?

- Oak Park.

- Yes!

The Ravenswood L is now called what?

- The Brown Line.

- Yes!

What today stands on the site of the O'Leary barn where the Chicago Fire originally started?

- McCormick Place.

(Geoffrey laughs) - Nice guess.

It's actually the Chicago Fire Department Training Academy.

What kind of music was invented in Chicago in the 1980s by DJs like Frankie Knuckles?

- House music.

- Of course the DJ knows that.

The latest measurable snowfall in Chicago was in what month of the year?

- January.

No, the latest, later snowfall.

The last snowfall.

- Oh, the latest.

Oh, jeez.

My birthday, March.

- March, no.

May 1966, believe it or not.

Who was Chicago's second Black mayor?

- Mayor Lightfoot.

- No.

Eugene Sawyer, actually.

The first televised presidential debate took place at CBS Studios in Chicago.

Who were the candidates?

- Oh, man.

No idea at all.

- It was John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

- Okay.

All right, you got three correct.

That's okay.

- I'll take that.

- Look, Jenna's snapping the fingers.

- I love getting the approval from my opponents.

I love this.

- Nice job.

- So, Jenna, you have a web series called "Craft Service."

- Yes, I do.

I love to share recipes for success with people.

Hannibal's sauteed spinach recipe.

We do a lot of navigating ingredients for certain things like how to navigate through grief, or how to navigate through changing of seasons, and all different kinds of really fun things like that.

- There is so much positive energy coming out of you.

I think those light bulb earrings are just gonna start lighting up by themselves.

- They might, especially if I get some right answers today, they may just light all the way up and do a whole lighting dance.

- [Geoffrey] So, we have two categories left: Senior Citizen or Finish the Lyrics.

- I'll take Finish That Lyric, please.

- We're gonna play a song for you and the song is going to stop, and you've gotta let us know what the next lyric is.

You feel ready?

- Oh, for sure.

- Okay.

Music, maestro!

♪ On State Street, that great street, I just want to say ♪ ♪ They do things they don't do on Broadway ♪ ♪ They have the time, the time of their life ♪ ♪ We do something, something, something Chicago ♪ (all laughing) ♪ They have the time, the time of their life ♪ ♪ I saw a man, he danced with his wife ♪ ♪ In Chicago, Chicago my hometown ♪ So, this is "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)," popularized, as you heard, by Frank Sinatra.

The operative word here is "That Toddlin' Town," right?

Like, what is toddlin'?

(lively music) The toddle was a popular dance of the 19-teens and '20s, described as a springier, bouncier foxtrot, but high society thought it was vulgar.

Well, the thing I wanna know is, like, apparently in Chicago, it's, like, rare to see someone dance with their own spouse.

All right, we're gonna go on to Dan.

There's only one question left.

(gentle music) - And you know what, the fact that I get Senior Citizen seems appropriate.

(Geoffrey laughs) - You and me both, buddy.

- Hey, everybody, it's Dan from The Apartment Source.

- But you're not like any real estate broker I have ever heard of in my life because you make a show out of your showing.

- So, you know, I do a lot of leasing in great Chicago neighborhoods, places like Logan Square, Avondale, Humboldt Park, and Pilsen.

I love those cool, hip neighborhoods, and I love to find cool, hip pads for cool, hip people.

- You have actually, yourself, lived in 22 neighborhoods?

- Chicago's the city of 77 neighborhoods.

My goal is to live in each of them, or at least the majority of them.

- I love that.

If you need any recommendations from Humboldt Park, let me know.

I'll let you know where to get some good food.

- Great.

- Okay, Dan, you have Senior Citizen.

Here we go.

(bell rings) The oldest public monument in Chicago commemorates what?

A, wild onions; B, Senator Stephen A. Douglas; C, the Illinois-Indiana border; or D, the tragic Haymarket Affair of 1886.

- I'm thinking that Stephen Douglas would have been before Haymarket.

But, you know, I know that the name Chicago comes... You know what, I'm gonna go ahead and take a wild chance and say A.

- You think there's a monument out there, like a little bronze onion- - Well, I did, but I don't think that anymore.

- How large are you imagining this onion would be, actually?

(Geoffrey chuckles) - And what neighborhood do you think it's in, Dan?

That's the better question.

(Geoffrey laughs) (buzzer wails) - All right, I'm gonna give you a second chance.

- The answer, I feel very secure, is B, Senator Douglas.

- And that would be wrong.

(buzzer wails) (Gabe laughs) - Do I get a third chance?

- No, there's no third chance.

(Jenna laughs) It's the Illinois-Indiana border.

(tone chimes) This obelisk was erected in 1838.

And markers like this are actually kind of important.

After the land was surveyed for a new state to enter the union, they put a marker right on the border so that would facilitate the sale of land.

It was not only the oldest monument in Chicago, 'cause it's half in Illinois, it was also the oldest monument in Hammond, Indiana.

(Dan laughs) All right, you did so well as individuals, we're gonna unite you finally now for one team question.

And Jenna is perfect for this because she does conflict resolution, so she's gonna help us get to yes.

- I'm excited.

- Yes.

- All right, here we go.

(bell rings) Annie Turnbo Malone was Chicago's, and arguably the nation's, first female African-American millionaire.

What was the source of her fortune?

Was it A, she ran the city's first successful race records company; B, she developed a hair straightening lotion which led to a beauty product empire for African-Americans; C, she invented the first automatic dishwasher; or she was a spiritual advisor and sold pamphlets, charms, and positions for healing, by mail order.

- Wow.

- Hm.

All right, initial thoughts, guys.

Initial thoughts.

- I know that women spend a lot of money on their hair, so I'm gonna go, I'm gonna lean towards she invented a hair straightening product.

- My initial thought was the dishwasher.

She looks super smart.

She looks like she's extremely intelligent.

What do you think, Jenna?

- My initial thought is, wow, what an amazing ancestor.

Thank you so much for doing what you did and being a pioneer.

The answer is B.

- You're pretty sure of that?

- Anyone that's that certain about an answer, I'ma go with them too, so... - Jenna, Gabe, Dan, you are correct!

(tone chimes) - Nice job.

- Nice job, Jenna.

(Dan applauding) (Geoffrey laughs) - Nice job, team.

- Go team.

- Team effort.

(gentle piano music) - Wait a second, wasn't Madame C.J.

Walker the first to make a million in beauty care for Black women?

Well, Walker is much more famous, but she started out selling Annie Turnbo Malone's Poro hair care products door-to-door.

Turnbo Malone was a southern Illinois native who didn't finish high school, but was a whiz at chemistry, and concocted a hair straightening product that wouldn't damage the scalp as other straighteners did.

She moved to St. Louis, but mainstream distributors excluded her because she was Black.

So, she enlisted agents to sell her product door-to-door.

After making a splash at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, she expanded her product line nationally, started a network of beauty schools and moved her headquarters to Chicago's South Side in 1930.

But did she make millions?

And was she the first?

Historians disagree.

But there's no doubt she inspired later generations of African-American entrepreneurs who may never even have heard of her.

(upbeat music) We are back with the second round, featuring the WBEZ ace reporter who calls herself the South Side's Lois Lane, Natalie Moore; a punk rocker, who now gigs as a college professor, even though he says he was a C-minus student, Martin Atkins; and a marketing guru with a passion for fashion, and that's why she's recently had to move to a new apartment with a larger shoe closet, Maureen Boyle.

But, first of all, Martin, you got a lot of memorabilia there behind you.

Where are you?

- I'm at a museum I founded earlier this year in Bridgeport.

It's called the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music.

- Because you are yourself post punk?

- Yeah, I was in Public Image Limited with Johnny Rotten.

♪ The impression you made ♪ I think Dick Clark was at the peak of his powers, and "American Bandstand" was watched by close to 20 million people.

- What's your name, please?

- Martin Atkins.

- [Dick] Welcome.

- John invited the whole audience onto the stage.

And we slightly destroyed it.

(Geoffrey laughs) - Now, you have a kind of a public speaking career.

And I understand that one of the features of your public speaking is that you throw blueberry muffins at people in the crowd.

- You make it sound like it's aggressive.

(Geoffrey laughs) I don't have any control of these bags of muffins.

Is anybody desperate for a muffin?

- How much have you invested in blueberry muffins?

- Thousands of dollars.

If anybody from any blueberry muffin company might be watching, please call.

- All right, the categories for round two are Pitching Ace, Medieval Times, and Strike Out.

One of these questions will be turned over to Dilla.

So which category do you pick?

- The medieval one.

- All right, Martin, here is your question in the category Medieval Times.

The iconic Chicago Water Tower was the model for what?

A, the Army Corps of Engineers logo; B, medieval towers in Minecraft; C, White Castle; or D, Givins Castle in the Beverly neighborhood.

So which one of those do you think the Chicago Water Tower was the model for?

- I'm going to say A.

- Can you gimme your thought process at all about why A seems to be right for you?

- No.

There's no thought process at all.

(all laughing) I just thought A.

- You know what, I love that.

I like to live with no thought process at all, either.

(buzzer wails) Believe it or not, it's White Castle.

The founders wanted to change the way people thought about hamburgers at that time.

And so they thought the look of a gleaming white castle would conjure up feelings of cleanliness and permanence.

Natalie Moore, this is not your first TV quiz show.

(Natalie chuckles) - [Alex] Natalie Y. Moore examined "The South Side: A Portrait of" this city "And American Segregation."

Kyle.

- What is Chicago?

- [Alex] Yes.

- I had no idea it was coming.

My mother called me and said, "You were just a 'Jeopardy' clue."

And I said, "Really?"

And then I went on social media asking people.

And it's surprising how many are at home at 3:30 in Chicago watching "Jeopardy."

- So the book about the South Side, I think one of the things that's interesting, Chicago can simultaneously be one of the most diverse cities in America and almost also one of the most segregated cities in America.

Can you talk about that a little bit?

- Yeah, when we think about segregated cities in this country, they tend to be either Black or Latino.

And Chicago is equally divided with Black, White, and Latino.

So on paper, it's like, "Oh, this is really diverse city."

But then when you drill down to a neighborhood level, you see the segregation.

- What are some of the treasures on the South Side that people should know about?

- I think that we have better beaches on the South Side.

I think that we have better views.

63rd Street Beach, 31st Street Beach are among my favorites.

If you want barbecue, I wouldn't eat it on the North Side.

I'd come down to the South Side.

(Maureen laughs) - Well, thank you for sharing some of that with us.

I'm gonna move on to your question.

So the categories that are left are Pitching Ace or Strikeout.

- I'll take Strikeout.

- All right.

And, as I told you before, every week, one of our questions is posed by Shermann Dilla Thomas, Chicago's TikTok historian.

So, Dilla, what is the question for Natalie Moore?

- Okay, big sister, Natalie Moore, this one's for you.

In the winter of 1902, Teamsters in Chicago went on strike and all deliveries were stopped except for one special shipment of coal to whom?

A, Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison Jr.; B, immigrant children at Jane Addams Hull-House; C, the family of future Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa; or D, Lincoln Park Zoo lions.

- I am gonna go with B because that's where I hope the coal was going.

(Natalie chuckles) - Don't we all hope that?

But, of course, this is Chicago, so let's find out if that's the real answer.

- Ah, Natalie, I'm sorry.

That is not the correct answer.

The answer is D, the Lincoln Park Zoo lions.

- That was not... That would've been my last answer.

- Chicago has a strong labor history and we have had our fair share of strikes, like the Pullman strike and the Republic Steel strike, which led to the tragic Memorial Day massacre of 1937.

You wouldn't think Leo the Lion had enough power to cause tough union men to deviate from a strike.

But, in this case, an exception had to be made.

Both the coal contractors and the union members, who worked as drivers for the zoo, understood that they could not let Leo down.

They made a deal and allowed the delivery of coal to keep Leo and the other zoo animals warm, including Duchess the elephant.

- Okay.

There you have it.

- I guess we have some animal lovers out there.

Hello, Maureen.

- Hey there.

How are you?

- I've been told that you're sort of a marketing guru, and you take selfies as a way to kind of put an image out there in the world.

- I love to just take a quick snap with my friends, and, you know, send it to other friends that aren't with us.

Just let them know we're thinking about them.

But I've heard I have a knack for doing it.

So, happy to share my secrets with you if you're interested.

- Absolutely.

What is the secret to a good selfie?

- I think you have to have the right angle, for sure.

The right lighting.

And then, of course, maybe a little app that helps you whiten the teeth, or you know, just zhoosh the photo up a little bit after.

- Oh, okay, so it's all in the editing and the post-production.

- You don't wanna over edit, though, because then, you know, you start to look a little bit like an alien.

- Well, Maureen, you only have one more category.

You don't even have to choose the category.

This is the category of Pitching Ace.

And here is your question.

(bell rings) - Now, come on, you know you need new carpeting.

There'll never be a better time to buy.

- Unlike other famous TV pitchmen, Empire Carpet Man, Lynn Hauldren, did not own the company he promoted.

How did he get the job?

A, he was Empire's advertising copywriter and took the role when no suitable actor could be found; B, he was a stagehand on the first commercial and stepped in when the actor failed to show up; C, he was the company's top customer, having installed more than 5,000 square feet of Empire carpet in his Evanston home, including the bathrooms; or D, he was an Empire carpet installer, and he won a company promotion to appear in the ads.

- Ooh, well, this is a tough one.

Being a marketer, I think this is a perfect question for me.

- I think so.

- I'm not gonna go with the 5,000 square feet, 'cause if he had 5,000 square feet, he wouldn't need, probably, to have another job.

So I'm gonna go with A, being the copywriter and they couldn't find a suitable actor.

- And you would be correct!

- Yeah!

(tone chimes) - Lynn Hauldren, who passed away in 2011, was a copywriter working on the account in 1977, and they just could not find an actor.

So, instead, the company's owner, Seymour Cohen, asked Hauldren to play the role of the Empire Man himself.

♪ 588-2300, Empire ♪ Oh, man.

- It's gonna be in my nightmare tonight.

(Geoffrey laughs) - Okay, you have done so well.

We're gonna bring the three of you together now for the team question.

You have to discuss amongst yourselves and agree on one answer.

All right, here we go.

(bell rings) Chicago's first medical school, Rush University Medical Center, was named in honor of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a man who did what?

A, signed the "Declaration of Independence"; B, founded the Canadian rock trio Rush; C, performed the first open heart surgery in the world; or D, led the fight to reverse the Chicago River and save the city from waterborne diseases.

- It's not C 'cause that was Daniel Hale Williams.

- Very good.

- I'm thinking the Chicago River.

- [Maureen] Mm-hm.

- [Geoffrey] Maureen's agreeing.

- I can live with that.

Yeah.

- Because of public health?

Okay, I'm pausing here to give you a chance to reconsider.

- But you could be tricking us.

- Saving the city from waterborne diseases sounds like why a hospital would be named after you.

- It absolutely sounds like that should be the right answer.

And, therefore, it is not.

He signed the "Declaration of Independence."

(Natalie laughs) - Aww.

- And he never stepped foot in Chicago.

- This is why you have this show.

(Geoffrey laughs) - Rush Medical College is older than Chicago itself.

It was chartered two days before the city was incorporated in 1837.

Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia was early America's most famous physician, a friend and foe of the bickering founding fathers, a Constitutional Congress member, and, yes, a signer of the "Declaration of Independence."

Rush passionately cared for the elite and the indigent in Philly, and wrote America's first chemistry textbook.

But during a ghastly yellow fever epidemic, Rush insisted on promoting and prescribing discredited medieval cures like purges and bleeding.

He was denounced and his practice was ruined.

But Rush's reputation endured, burnished in part by Chicago's choice to name the city's first med school after the only signer of the "Declaration of Independence" with a medical school degree.

All right, every week we invite one of our contestants back to be the Geek of the Week.

(lively music) And, Martin, since you sound like you're from England and therefore shouldn't have any knowledge of Chicago, we are going to make you the Geek of the Week and see if you can answer this correctly.

- Yeah, I was just wondering what on earth am I doing on this show.

(bell rings) - Home to 500 businesses, this street is referred to as the Mexican Magnificent Mile.

Is it A, 18th Street in Pilsen; B, 26th Street in Little Village; C, Commercial Avenue in South Chicago; or D, Grand Avenue in Humboldt Park.

- So, I would say if I'm going to Pleasant House Pub for a pie and then I'll swing down to get my head buzzed at Cosmos the Salon with my friends Gil and Erandi, I'm gonna say it's 18th Street.

- Well, I love your loyalty to where you're from in Chicago, but it's actually 26th Street.

- Really?

Well, I don't think I got any answers right, did I?

Is that a record?

- That is indeed why you are a geek.

That is a new record.

- Good deal.

- Thanks to all of our contestants, Natalie, Martin, Maureen, Gabe, Jenna, Dan.

Thank you so much.

You were terrific.

Thanks to you at home.

Study up.

I'm Geoffrey Baer.

I'll see you next week on "The Great Chicago Quiz Show."