Marlene Wagman-Geller

      Israel Baline-Irving Berlin when he immigrated from Russia- 1938 song, “God Bless America,” could have been, “God Bless Columbus” had it not been for Amerigo Vespucci.  

   In yesteryear, children who heard the name McDonald sang along to the rhyme about an old man on a farm. Post 1950s, the connotation was of Happy Meals, playgrounds, and a ketchup-haired clown. The chain’s golden arches form the letter M- (and, subliminally, a woman’s breasts,) after the company’s founders, Richard, (Dick,) and Maurice, (Mac,) McDonald.

   The porcine with the most pulchritude is Miss Piggy, a diva who dresses for excess, never gives an oink about her extra pounds, participated in a cross-species romance. Miss. Peggy Lee, rather than originating from the same imaginative cloth as her fellow Muppets, (Muppet is a blend of marionette and puppet,) was the alter ego of entertainer Miss Peggy Lee.

    Fans of Dennis the Menace would readily agree with the nursery rhyme’s contention that little boys are made of “Snips and snails/And puppy dogs’ tails.” For inspiration, the cartoon’s creator turned to the real-world mischief-maker, Dennis Ketcham.

    Shoppers drawn to the frozen yogurt section of the supermarket choose Dannon yogurt, unaware the product bears the childhood nickname of its founder.

      Baron Marcel Bich, who did for ballpoint pens what Henry Ford did for cars, was born in Turin, Italy, in 1914, the son of a French engineer, Baron Aime Mario Bich, who had inherited his title from his great-grandfather. The family moved to Spain and eventually settled in France; Marcel studied law at the University of Paris, and in World War II served in the French Air Force.

    For Marilyn, diamonds were a girl’s best friend, but for librarians the Dewey Decimal Classification is their guru. Want a book on fairy tales? (398.2,) rock music? (781.66,) literature? (800.) But the founder of the system, Melvil Dewey, defied classification.  

    The poet, A. E. Housman wrote, “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” In the world of football, a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious in college sports. But what even the most fanatic of fans may not know is the namesake of the award: Coach John Heisman, (nicknamed Doc.)

    Neil Diamond’s 1980 song embodies the hopes of immigrants who congregated at Ellis Island awaiting entry into the promised land, “Everywhere around the world/They’re coming to America/Every time that flag’s unfurled/They’re coming to America.” Between shaking off the shackles of the old world, apprehensive of the new, the strangers in a strange land did not expend thought as to why their port of entry bore the name of Samuel Ellis.

   Ferris Wheels serve as Proustian madeleines that deliver a heady dose of nostalgia. The sky- ride calls back yesteryear when there was nothing so wrong that a candy floss could not make right. For the magic memories we can thank its creator, George Ferris, Jr.

   Arguably, one of the world’s greatest pick-up lines is, “Do you wanna go for a ride in my Ferrari?” If the answer was affirmative, you can thank car-tsar Enzo Ferrari.

      Fox News is the media monolith network loved by half of America and reviled by the other half. What its millions of viewers do not know is the story of the man behind the conservative station -movie mogul William Fox.

Oscar Wilde wrote, “I can believe anything provided it is incredible.” The man who dedicated his days to making the incredible credible was Leroy Robert Ripley who built an empire on people’s age-old urge to gawk.

Adherents of the century-old Pilates fitness routine undergo its rigors to enhance what Mother Nature provided, to detract from what Father Time eroded.  But lost in the work-out is its high priest, Joseph Pilates, whose fitness empire originated from the convergence of a pandemic and a prison.