Comments on: Could You Be A Hero? (Aug, 1957)

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:15:14 +0000

I took that quiz…mostly cause I’m bored…and I got 200 points. Honestly, no cheating, because that would kind of ruin the whole thing and be contrary to the point…

It’d be nice to believe in that quiz, but I’m not a hero at all. So I guess I just disproved it.

By: Grumpyoldman

Grumpyoldman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:38:06 +0000

Interesting enough, I grew up in North Bergen NJ, and remember that airplane crash. It was actually a Television tranmission tower, belonging to WOR-TV, channel 9, before the masts were relocated to the top of the Empire State Building in NYC.

By: ninjasuperspy.net v. 7.0 » Sandles and Swords

ninjasuperspy.net v. 7.0 » Sandles and Swords — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:15:34 +0000

[...] Do you have what it takes? Could you be a hero? Take this easy quiz. [...]

By: ninjasuperspy.net

ninjasuperspy.net — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:17:47 +0000

Sandles and Swords…

Yup. Everything went off without a hitch. My girl and I are fierce when we put our minds to it…….

By: newsBreaks.net » Vintage Mechanix Illustrated: “Could You Be a Hero?”

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 02:20:32 +0000

[...] Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Charlie says, Very odd article from a 1957 Mechanix Illustrated which tackles the big question of “What makes a man a hero?”. [...]

By: Usman

Usman — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:00:03 +0000

Chuck Norris took this quiz and scored a million billion.

By: TheHigherEnd

TheHigherEnd — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 05:56:16 +0000

I answered honestly and scored a 190, you whimpering pansies are just upset and frightened that I may tear your very limbs asunder with but a glance.

But fear not, as this brilliant test shows… I can but protect your cowerdly lives. It is in my nature

By: Drew Thaler

Drew Thaler — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 03:10:14 +0000

Following up on what fluffy said, you only need to get a mere four questions “right” to be average (140). Randomly selecting answers means you have about a 50-50 shot at being called courageous (180+).

I guess the magazine editors knew that crafting a quiz which implied their readers were yeller scaredycat cowards wasn’t a good strategy.

By: Stannous

Stannous — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:02:22 +0000

This quiz looks like the MMPPI nonsense of the 60s that tried to pigeonhole kids: “I like to fix cars, I like to look at flowers, etc.”
(starting in about 6th grade I always answered exactly the opposite of whatever I really felt but I still got drafted)
This author was pretty well known in his day and signed copies of his book about raising cobras go for over $100 on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/COBRAS-IN-.....dZViewItem

But this book about homesteading is readily available in the $10 range:
http://cgi.ebay.com/How-to-Get.....dZViewItem

By: fluffy

fluffy — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 23:14:36 +0000

I like how the courage test is guaranteed to score at least 120. I guess you have to be pretty courageous just to answer the questions!

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:46:39 +0000

If believing that a cowboy movie is more interesting than a good love story makes a man less heroic, I can only surmise that the homophobic 1950′s military mind knew exactly where all those sweaty leather chaps and pearl handled Colt revolvers were going to lead to – straight up Brokeback Mountain. If you look at the erotically prurient motion picture media available in that day and age for mainstream people, then you start to see what kind of pull a “love story” (meaning heterosexual, of course) could have on an adult man’s viewing tastes in those days. Especially since a man in those days could be assumed to possibly have been going to the movies as a place to do some petting with a girlfriend. So a preference for cowboy movies in that sense could be suspect in the minds of those who would create such tests.

Just a thought.

By: Boing Boing

Boing Boing — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:54:35 +0000

Vintage Mechanix Illustrated: “Could You Be a Hero?”…

BoingBoing reader Charlie says, Very odd article from a 1957 Mechanix Illustrated which tackles the big question of “What makes a man a hero?”. The best part is that there is a test you can take to judge your “Courage Quotient” which is full of som…