Name That Flyover City! — May 12, 2022
Here’s a review of this week’s questions:
- What midwestern city is the birthplace of legendary film director Francis Ford Coppola?
- Which American city has a museum with an exhibit dedicated to Mr. Rogers?
- In what midwestern city would you find the corporate headquarters for Hallmark Cards, Inc.?
And here are the answers:
- Detroit, MI. Although his most famous movie, “The Godfather,” is the story of Italian-Americans in New York City, Francis Ford Coppola is actually an Italian-American born and raised in Detroit. His directorial attention did eventually turn to Detroit with 1988’s “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” about a fictional automobile manufacturer, but not before setting other films all over the world, from Vietnam (“Apocalypse Now”) to San Francisco (“The Conversation”) and nearly everywhere in between. The son of a music composer and an actress, Coppola attended UCLA Film School and became acquainted with “Star Wars”‘ director George Lucas when the two were young and broke in Hollywood. Coppola, who is brother to actress Talia Shire, uncle to Nicholas Cage and father to renowned director Sophia Coppola, has certainly traveled far since his humble beginnings in Detroit.
- Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center, which stands as Pittsburgh’s representative for the Smithsonian Institution, contains numerous museums under its considerable roof, including the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, the Fort Pitt Museum, and Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. The Special Collections Gallery within the history museum includes the exhibit, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” honoring local hero Fred Rogers, who began his classic children’s program at a public TV station in Pittsburgh. The exhibit includes sets, props, and puppets from the show, in addition to a life-like figure of Mister Rogers, wearing his iconic sweater, necktie, khakis, and sneakers.
- Kansas City, MO. Hallmark greeting cards got their start in Kansas City in 1910, when founder J.C. Hall started the business with his brother. The last name lent itself to the company’s eventual name, and it quickly became a leader in its industry, spawning ventures into gift wrap, holiday ornaments and a partnership with Walt Disney. The company is possibly best known these days for family-friendly movies, but as the website says, it has “come a long way from a man with empty pockets, two shoeboxes of postcards, and a dream.”