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Which Came First?

Pepsi or Coke? Area codes or zip codes? See if you know which came first!

1. Oreo or Hydrox?
   • Oreo
   • Hydrox

   Hydrox

   

   Although Oreo cookies are now the most popular, it was actually Hydrox who hit the market first, in 1908. Oreo biscuits were first produced by Nabisco in 1912, however they were not the chocolate-and-cream confections they are today. The first Oreos were originally mound-shape and came in two flavors, lemon meringue and cream. It wasn’t until 1952 that the modern-day Oreo was developed, with the Nabisco logo in the middle. Because the cookies looked so much like Hydrox cookies (which also has the logo in the middle), it has long been speculated that Nabisco lifted the idea from Sunshine, makers of Hydrox.

2. Baseball or Basketball?
   • Baseball
   • Basketball

   Baseball

   

   Although the exact date of origin is unknown, the first recorded baseball game was in 1846, between New York City’s Knickerbocker Base Ball Club and the New York Base Ball Club. The rules for baseball had been drawn up the year before by Alexander Cartwright. Basketball was first introduced in 11891 by Luther Gilick, chairman of the phys ed department at the School for Christian Workers as a way to entertain the school’s athletes during the winter season.

3. Cheez-It or Cheese Nips?
   • Cheese Nips
   • Cheez-It

   Cheez-It

   

   The first Cheez-It crackers were sold by Green & Green Company of Dayton, Ohio, in May 1921. Green & Green was acquired by the Sunshine Biscuit Company after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Cheese Nips were introduced by Nabisco in 1955 and in the 1980s were positioned as a competitor of Cheez-Its.

4. The New York Times or the Washington Post?
   • The New York Times
   • Washington Post

   The New York Times

   

   The New York Times was founded on September 18, 1851, by journalist and politician Henry Jarvis Raymond, a member of the Whig party, and George Jones, a former banker. Their mission statement, published in the first edition, read: “We shall be Conservative, in all cases where we think Conservatism essential to the public good;—and we shall be Radical in everything which may seem to us to require radical treatment and radical reform. We do not believe that everything in Society is either exactly right or exactly wrong;—what is good we desire to preserve and improve;—what is evil, to exterminate, or reform.”

   The Washington Post was founded by the independent-minded Democrat Stilson Hutchins; its inaugural edition landed on Washington’s doorsteps on December 6, 1877.

5. Coca-Cola or Pepsi?
   • Coca-Cola
   • Pepsi

   Coca-Cola

   

   On May 8, 1886, pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton mixed a jug of Coca-Cola® with carbonated water and sold for five cents a glass at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta. Coca-Cola was born. Pepsi came along 12 years later; originally called Brad’s Drink, it was renamed Pepsi-Cola on June 16, 1903.

6. Laundromat or Dry Cleaner?
   • Laundromat
   • Dry Cleaner

   Dry Cleaner

   

   Although dry cleaning of a sort has been around since ancient Roman times (they used a mixture of urine and fuller’s earth to wash their togas), modern dry cleaning using non–water-based solvents was invented by a French dye-works owner named Jean-Baptise Jolly in the mid-nineteenth century, when he noticed his tablecloth became cleaner after his maid spilled kerosene on it. Coin-operated laundry services have been around since the early 1900s, but the first recorded laundromat was opened on April 18, 1934, by C.A. Tannahill in Fort Worth, Texas.

7. Skippy or Jif?
   • Jif
   • Skippy

   Skippy

   

   In 1923, Joseph Rosenfield perfected a way to keep peanut butter from separating. A few years later Rosenfield obtained the trademark and began producing Skippy Peanut Butter. The brand launched on February 1, 1933. By the time Jif appeared on the scene in 1958, Skippy had already sponsored a popular radio program (“Skippy Hollywood Theater,” which ran from 1938 to 1949) and a television program (You Asked for It, which ran from 1951 to 1959).

8. The Chrysler Building or the Empire State Building?
   • Chrysler Building
   • Empire State Building

   Chrysler Building

   

   The construction of these two buildings was part of an intense competition to see who could build the world’s tallest building. Construction of the Chrysler Building started in September 19, 1928, while construction for the Empire State building started on March 17, 1930. Two months later, on May 20, 1930, the Chrysler Building was finished and, at 1,047 feet, took its place as the tallest building in the world. The Chrysler only held the title for 11 months, however; on May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building opened at a staggering 1,453 feet.

9. Pan-Am or American?
   • Pan-American World Airways
   • American Airlines

   Pan-Am

   

   Founded in 1927 as a scheduled air mail and passenger service operating between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba, Pan-American World Airways quickly became the world’s foremost airline, due to its innovations in the industry and use of jet aircraft and jumbo jets. American Airways, comprised of a group of smaller airlines, was incorporated on January 25, 1930. The name was changed to American Airlines in 1934.

10. Zip Codes or Area Codes?
    • Zip Codes
    • Area Codes

    Area Codes

    

    In 1947, Bell Laboratories and AT&T developed the North American Numbering Plan (NANCP) for telephones in the United States and Canada. The first codes given out were to states that only had need for one area code (Florida, Delaware, and Connecticut)—these three-digit area codes had a 0 for the middle number. States needing more than one area code received three-digit numbers with 1 for the middle number.

    Over the years, a number of potential coding programs had been examined and discarded by the Post Office Department, in response to an exploding mail industry. Finally, in 1963, the Department selected a system created by department officials, and, on July 1, 1963, zip codes were put into use.