The same can’t be said for my agent, Jim Trupin, who has plenty of reasons to be irritated, but has stuck with me through thick, thin, and weird. And how many artists have to face the challenge of illustrating forlorn cabooses and baffled slices of bread? Kassie Schwan has been more than up to the challenge for twelve books.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Frenchman for her invaluable research help with several Imponderables and to Mark Sinclair for his yeoman work as Webmaster at Imponderables.com.
My friends and family deserve bouquets for putting up with me while I toiled over this book, but they’ll have to be content with a crummy and considerably less expensive acknowledgment. Mucho thanks to Fred, Phil, Gilda, and Michael Feldman; Michele Gallery; Larry Prussin; Jon Blees; Brian Rose; Fraya and Eli Berg; Ken Gordon; Elizabeth Frenchman; Merrill Perlman; Harvey Kleinman; Pat O’Conner; Stewart Kellerman; Michael Barson; Jeannie Behrend; Sherry Barson; Uday Ivatury; Laura Tolkow; Mani Ivatury Tolkow; Terry Johnson; Christal Henner; Roy Welland; Judith Dahlman; Paul Dahlman; Bonnie Gellas; James Gleick; Cynthia Crossen; Chris McCann; Nancy Schwantes; Prakash Kumar; Karen Stoddard; Eileen O’Neill; Joanna Parker; Maggie Wittenburg; Ed Swanson; Ernie Capobianco; Liz Trupin; Nat Segaloff; Mark Landau; Joan Urban; Diane Burrowes; Virginia Stanley; Marjan Mohsenin; Dennis, Heide, and Devin Whelan; Ji Lu; Alvin, Marilyn, Audrey, and Margot Cooperman; Carol Williams; Dan Fuller; Tom O’Brien; Susan Thomas; Tom and Leslie Rugg; Stinky; Sara Walker Bosworth; Matt Weatherford; Amy Yarger; Alona Amsel; Jenny Kraft; Simone Cox; Steve Narow; Julia Covino; Jack Estes; Jennifer Fish Wilson; Jeni Nielsen; and Erin Podolsky.
Special thanks to my pals at Starbucks #839 for keeping me vertical; to John DiBartolo, Annette Matejik, and my step-pals for keeping me ambulatory; to Jim Leff and Chowhounds for making sure I’m well fed; to PSML and Spectropop, for keeping the musical faith; to my Popular Culture Association pals, for getting academia right; and to Bill and Saipin Chutima, Ali El Sayad, China Bushell and David and Shirley Fuentes for feeding the soul.
I had a ball talking to hundreds of experts in every conceivable field for this book. The most fun part of my job is when I find the expert or experts on some field I know nothing about and hearing them talk about the subject they are passionate about. Without their willingness to share their knowledge with us, Imponderables would not be possible. More than in most of my books, many sources came up blank when faced with some of the Imponderables in this book (amazing how few sock manufacturers have studied up on tissue paper insertion!); there isn’t room to include all of these willing experts here. Instead, we’ll list all of the sources who were willing to go on the record and whose expertise led directly to answers in the book:
Lucinda Ayers, Campbell’s Soup.
Rick Baldwin, Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors; Brenda Bates; Paul Bates; Ruth Bavetta; Kris Becker, Northcoast Thunderbikes; Roy Benson, Running, Ltd.; Fraya Berg, Parents;Dr. Jerry Bergman, Society for the Study of Male Psychology and Physiology; Dr. Andy Blockmanis, Pacific Center for Sleep Disorders; Rachel Bolton, Hallmark Gold Crown Stores; Matt Bragaw, National Weather Service; Sam Brookbank; David Brown, Cornell University; Sylvia Browne; Sandy Burton, Barbecue Industry Association; Joan Buyce, Masterfoods USA.
Bob Camara, K-Jack Engineering; Maria Milagros Castro, Orchard Management; Marie Cavanagh; Suzanne Clothier, Flying Dog Press; Prof. W. Rory Coker; Louis Coletta, Tony’s Ice Cream; Lisa Comegna, Lord & Taylor.
Pamela Davis, Rak Systems, Inc.; Alison Day, Santa Barbara Olive Company; Bill Deane, Baseball Hall of Fame Museum; Jerry DeBene; John DiBartolo, Polytechnic University; Bob Dietzel; Dr. Sunny Dong; Dr. Joe Doyle; Pierre duP Fourie, Baron’s Palace Hotel.
Dr. Gordon Edwards; Tracy Elbert, PCBexpress; Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History; Todd Lee Etzel.
Phil Feldman; Louis Ferrara, Jr., Service Station Dealers of America; Paul Fiori, Service Station Dealers of America; Martha Fischer, Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Robert Fontana, TDK Electronics Corp.; Steve Fulkerson, Saint-Gobain Containers.
Sally Garrelts, Pure Fishing; Brian Gearhart, CO2 Advertising; Bob Geis; Sharon Gerdes, S.K. Gerdes Consulting Dairy Management, Inc.; J. Giambroni, California Dairy Research Foundation; Ken Giesbers, Boeing Company; Joe Giordano; Todd Glickman, American Meteorological Society; William D. Gordon; Richard Gualtieri, Lord & Taylor; Lori Gunter, Boeing Company.
Robert Habel, Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine; Hazel Harber; William R. Harts; Louise Hauck; Maurice Helou, Citgo of Lyndhurst; Prof. John Hertner; Dr. Myron Hinrichs, Hasti Friends of the Elephant; Sam Ho; Fred Holabird; Holidays in Africa; Richard H. Hopper; Brian Edward Hurst; Jason Hunsaker; Cheryl Hyde, White Dolphin Inc. and Academy Fitness.
Clay Irving.
Michael Jackson, Vogel’s & Foster’s; Dr. Keith Jones, Pure Fishing.
Terry Kennedy, St. Peter’s College; Larry Khazzam, Echo Lake Industries, Ltd.; Karen Anne Klein; Kathryn Kranhold, The Wall Street Journal; Lucille Kubichek, Chihuahua Club of America; Meredith Kurtzman, Otto; Stamatios Kyrkos, Le Moyne College.
Fred Lanting; Tania Lategan, Cango Ostrich Farm; Prof. John Lawrence, University of South Florida; Thomas A. Lehmann, American Institute of Baking; John Levine; Mike Lombardi, Boeing Company; Mike Lopez, Prototron Circuits; Mort Luby, Bowlers Journal International.
Dr. Mansoor Madani, Center for Corrective Jaw Surgery; David Maier, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology; Ralph Marburger, Combe Incorporated; Mars, Inc.; Sgt. Sean McCafferty, New York Police Department; Greg McMillan, McMillan Running; Gloria McPike Tamlyn; Dale Miller, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Dr. Steven Mintz; Paul Morgan, K&F Electronics; Pat Moricca, Gasoline Retailers Association of America; Stephanie Moritz, The Hershey Company; Cecil Munsey; Sean Murtha, American Museum of Natural History.
Prof. Kang-Yup Na, Westminster College; Willie Ninja; Tom Nosera; Dr. David Nye, Midelfort Clinic; David Nystrom, Eastern Mapping Center, U.S. Geological Survey.
Dr. Richard O’Brien; Kirk O’Donnell, American Institute of Banking; Digger Odell.
Christina Parker, Bruster’s Ice Cream; Carroll Pellegrinelli, about.com; Dr. Irene Pepperberg, MIT; Kim Piper, Bruster’s Ice Cream; Carole Price, American Ostrich Association; John Pritchard, Simi Winery; Prof. Robert C. Probasco, University of Idaho; Tom Purvis; Betty Pustarfi, Strictly Olive Oil.
James Randi; Bruce Reed, Bruster’s Ice Cream; Steve Reichl, American Natural History Museum; Erroll Rhodes, American Bible Society; Joseph Richardson, Diebold, Incorporated; Ronnie Robertson; Joy Robinson, Combe Incorporated.
Frank Schifano; Tim Schmitt; Steve Scorfidi; Arthur Seeds, Barbecue Industry Association; Rory Sellers; Bill Sherrard, Long Island Lighting Company; Peter Sherry; Hezy Shoshani, Elephant Interest Group; Carole Shulman, Professional Skaters Guild of America; Dean Sommer, Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research; Dan St. Louis, Hosiery Technology Center; Gregg Stengel; Jeff Stevenson, American Essentials; LCDR J. Carl Sturm; Jack Suber, American Financial Printers; Daniel Sutton; Ed Swanson; Julie Swift, Michigan Bell.
Susan Thomas; Charlie Tomlin; Josh Trupin; J. Donald Turk, Mobil Oil Corporation; Ken Tyler.
Prof. Martin Uman, University of Florida.
Gerhard Verdoorn, Birdlife South Africa; Mike Vevea; Doreen Virtue; Paul Vossen.
Tom Wagner; F. Michael Wahl, Geological Society of America; Steve Warrington, Ostrich.com; Steve Webster, Monterey Bay Aquarium; Dianna Westmoreland; Pamela Whitenack, Hershey Community Archives; Robert Wilbur, Pet Food Institute; Richard Williams, National Weather Service; Jennifer Fish Wilson; Frederick Woodruff.
JP Yousha.
Jeff Zeak, American Institute of Baking.
And to those sources who wished to remain anonymous but provided valuable research, we thank you for your contribution to the vanquishing of Imponderability.
HELP!
Pirates can keep parrots. We prefer Imponderables. We certainly prefer solving Imponderables to cleaning up after parrots.
But we can’t p
onder without you, so please keep sending in your Imponderables and your comments (regardless of which direction your metaphorical thumbs are pointing). If you’re the first person to send in an Imponderable we use in a book, you’ll receive an acknowledgment and an autographed copy as a thank-you for your contribution.
Although we accept snail mail, we strongly encourage you to e-mail us if possible. Because of the high volume of mail, we can’t always provide a personal response to every letter, but we’ll try—a self-addressed, stamped envelope doesn’t hurt. We’re much better about answering e-mail, although we fall behind sometimes when work beckons.
Come visit us online at the Imponderables Web site, where you can pose Imponderables, read our blog, consult the master index of Imponderability (including all eleven Imponderables books), and find out what’s happening at Imponderables Central. Send your correspondence, along with your name, address, and (optional) phone number to:
feldman@imponderables.com
http://www.imponderables.com
or
Imponderables
P.O. Box 116
Planetarium Station
New York, NY 10024-0116
Searchable Terms
Airlines
Boeing jets, numbering of
window alignment of
window shapes of
Anchors, fouled, as Navy symbol
Artists, thumbs and
ATMs
Braille markings on drive-up
deposit envelopes, holes in
Audio cassettes, auto-reverse and
Auto-reverse, audio cassettes and
Automobiles
cockroaches in
new car smell in
Bagel holes, doughnut holes and
Balls, orange, on power lines
Barbecues, men’s domain over
Baseball
Elevation of pitcher’s mound
Manager uniforms
Bats, roosting position of
Bibles, two-column format of
Birds
head bobbing of
sweating of
vocal mimicking of
vulture circling
“Black boxes,” color of
Blind people, dreams of
Boeing, numbering of jets of
Boots on ranchers’ fence posts
Bottles, necks of
Bowling, Brooklyn strikes and
Boxing, origins of “ring” in
Braille markings, drive-up ATMs and
Bread, mounds atop
Brooklyn strikes, bowling and
Brussels sprouts, Brussels and
Cabooses, disappearance of
Calendars, before Christ
Cans, soft drink, flotation of
Carbonated water, club soda and
Cassettes, audio, auto-reverse and
Cats
cockroaches in
miniature
swimming and
Chairs, warmth of
Cheese
Monterey Jack, origins of
shapes of
Circuit boards, green color of
Clocks, clockwise movement of
Cloudiness, iced tea and
Clouds, formation of
Club soda, origins of
Coca-Cola cans, flotation of, in water
Computer keyboards, SysRq key on
Cookies, peanut butter, crisscross marks on
Core, Earth’s, heat of
Countdown leader, film and
Cowboy hats, creases on
Creases on cowboy hats
Crickets, chapped legs and chirping in
“D-Day,” D in
Diet Coke, flotation in water of
Dog food, smell of
Dogs, shaking off water and
Doughnut holes, bagel holes and
Dreams, blind people and
Driveways, versus parkways
Drug labels, inactive ingredients in
Earth’s core, heat of
Earthworms as fish food
Elections, Tuesdays as day of
Elephants
jumping of
trunks of
Envelopes, ATM deposit, holes in
Executions, sterilized needles and
Figure skating announcers tuxedos and
Fish
earthworms as food for
sleeping patterns of
Football fields, width of
Fouled anchors as Navy symbol
Friday the thirteenth, superstition about
Fruit symbols, slot machines and
Fruitcake, unpopularity of
Gas pumps, automatic handles on
Gas stations, automatic handles on
Giraffes, vocalizations of
Grape ice cream, rarity of
Green, as color of circuit boards
Hair, growth rate in head vs. body
Half-time zones
Hamburger buns, McDonald’s, white patch on
Harley-Davidsons, revving at stoplights and
Helmets, kamikaze pilots and
Hershey kisses, paper tags on
Hip swaying, women and
Holes, ATM deposit envelopes and
Horses, sleeping position of
Ice cream, grape, rarity of
Iced tea, cloudiness in
Imponderables, vs. ponderables
Inactive ingredients, drugs and
Jack, Monterey, identity of
“Jimmies,” origins of
“Just For Men,” women and
Kamikaze pilots, helmets and
Kisses, Hershey, tags in
Left-handed string players, in orchestras
Lethal injections, sterilized needles in
Lightning, zigzag shape of
Loons, landing of
M&M’s, colors of
Macadamia nuts, shells of
Managers, baseball, uniforms of
Manhole covers, shape of
McDonald’s hamburger buns, white patch on
Medicine ball, composition of
Men
Domain over barbecue
snoring and
Milk cartons, impossibility of opening
Mimicking, birds and
Miniature cats, breeding of
Monterey Jack, identity of
Moon, visibility during day
Mosquitoes, biting preferences of
Motorcyclists, revving at stoplights
Mounds atop bread
Navy, fouled anchor as
Necks, bottles and
Needles, sterilized injections and
New car smell, constituents of
Newspaper vending machines
Newspapers, cleaning windows with
Olive oil, extracted, and olives
Olives, after oil extraction
Orange balls on power lines
Ostriches, swimming and
Packing peanuts, shape of
Parkways, vs. driveways
“Park,” taxi drivers, at stoplights
Parrots
head bobbing of
mimicking and
pirates and
Peanut butter cookies, crisscross marks on
Peanuts, packing, shape of
Pharmacists and raised platforms
Pitcher’s mound, elevation of
Polaroid prints, waving of
Ponderables, vs. Imponderables
Portholes, shape of
Power lines, orange balls on
Psychics, women and
Ranchers’ fence posts, boots on
Revving at stoplights, motorcyclists
“Ring,” origin of, in boxing
Salmon, color of
Sea stars, faces of
Seats, warmth of
Service stations, automatic handles on gas pumps
Sheet music, directions of
Shoes, single, on side of road
Skating, figure, announcers and tuxedos in
Slot
machines, fruit symbols and
Sneezing, looking up and
“Snickers,” origins of
Snoring
age differences and
men vs. women
Socks, tissue paper in
Soft drinks, finger as fizziness reduction agent in
Staggered starts, strategy in
Standing still, difficulty of
Starfish faces, existence of
“STOP,” in telegrams
String players, left-handed
Sun, sneezing and looking at
Superstitions, fear of thirteen
Swaying, hip, and women
Sweating, birds and
“SysRq” key, purpose of, on computer keyboards
Taxi drivers, gear shifts, at stoplights
Tea, iced, cloudiness in
Telegrams, “STOP,” in
Telephone poles
height of
specifications of
Thanksgiving, date of
Thirteen, superstition about
“This page intentionally left blank”
Thumbs, artists and
Tickling of self
Time zones, half-
Tissue paper in socks
Tootsie Roll Pops, licking of
Track, staggered starts in
Trains
cabooses, disappearance of
whistle patterns of
Trunks, elephants’
Tuesdays, as election day