Pop Quiz: The Weird History of Big Companies' Names
- <p>
A. Qwik-e-Mart<br />
B. Tote'm<br />
C. Seven-Eleven<br />
D. S-Mart</p>
- <p>
According to <a href="http://corp.7-eleven.com/AboutUs/History/tabid/75/Default.aspx" target="_blank">7-Eleven's website</a>, the convenience stores were initially named Tote'm, due to the fact that customers could "tote" their groceries away. (Some stores were even decorated with totem poles, a far cry from the endlessly rotating hot dogs that now define the chain's convenience stores.) The name was changed in 1946 to reflect the new, extended hours the stores were open: 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.<br />
<br />
(Qwik-E-Mart is the fictional Springfield convenience store manned by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on "The Simpsons." But it's worth noting that several 7-Eleven locations were briefly rebranded as Qwik-E-Marts to promote <em>The Simpsons Movie</em> in 2007. If you chose this option because your local 7-Eleven once called itself Qwik-E-Mart, you can give yourself partial credit.)</p>
- <p>A. Melville<br />
B. Pequod<br />
C. Ahab<br />
D. Queequeg</p>
- <p>
A. Ernst & Young<br />
B. ConocoPhillips<br />
C. Hewlett-Packard<br />
D. Johnson & Johnson</p>
- <p>
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded the company in 1939, and <a href="http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/history/hp-timeline/hp-timeline.html" target="_blank">flipped a coin</a> to decide whether it would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. With another half-rotation of the coin on the way down, we would have had PH printers instead.</p>
- <p>
A. PageRank<br />
B. StanfordSearch<br />
C. Googol<br />
D. BackRub</p>
- <p>
While the company has always been called Google, the search engine that launched the tech giant on its way was <a href="http://www.google.com/about/company/history/" target="_blank">originally known as BackRub</a> when Sergey Brin and Larry Page created it at Stanford in 1996. In 1997 they changed the name to Google – a misspelling of Googol, a very large number (1 followed by 100 zeros).<br />
<br />
(If you chose "PageRank," give yourself partial credit: That's the name of the algorithm that underlies Google's search results. And yes, it was named after Larry.<enter caption="" here=""></enter>)</p>
- <p>
A. Silver Dollar<br />
B. The Penny Shop<br />
C. Golden Rule<br />
D. Cash's Clothier</p>
- <p>
James Cash Penney opened his first store in Wyoming in 1902. And much like 7-Eleven, the stores <a href="http://www.jcpenney.net/Our-Old-Company/About-jcpenney/Our-History.aspx" target="_blank">initially operated under a different name</a>, in this case, Golden Rule. He began to phase out the name after incorporating as the J.C. Penney Company in 1913.</p>
- <p>
A. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing<br />
B. Mass Medical Manufacturing<br />
C. Multi-Media Metals<br />
D. Metal Manufacturers of Missouri</p>
- <p>
The company was founded in 1902 to mine mineral deposits in Two Harbors, Minn. But according to the <a href="http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Company/Information/Resources/History/" target="_blank">company's website</a>, the deposits "proved to be of little value," so the company moved to nearby Duluth to make sandpaper. As it diversified, the company became widely known as 3M, though it didn't get around to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/05/business/company-news-3m-is-upbeat-about-the-quarter-now-about-that-name.html" target="_blank">officially changing the name</a> until 2002.</p>
- <p>
Starbucks was named after Starbuck, the first mate on a whaling ship called the Pequod. But the company was almost named after the ship itself. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz writes that company co-founder Gordon Bowke wanted to call it Pequod, but <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003632/Starbucks-named-Moby-Dick-doomed-ship-Peqoud.html" target="_blank">was overruled</a> by a business partner who argued that "No one's going to drink a cup of Pee-quod!"<br />
<br />
(Ahab was captain of that boat, and Queequeg was a harpooneer. The book was written by Herman Melville.)</p>
- <p>
A. MasterCard<br />
B. American Express<br />
C. Visa<br />
D. Diner's Club</p>
- <p>
<br />
MasterCard was originally founded as the <a href="http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/docs/MasterCard%20FAQ.pdf" target="_blank">Interbank Card Association</a> in 1966, and in 1969 bought the rights to use the "Master Charge" name. The card and network were renamed MasterCard in 1979.<br />
<br />
Visa, meanwhile, was originally launched by Bank of America in 1958 under the name <a href="http://corporate.visa.com/about-visa/our-business/history-of-visa.shtml" target="_blank">BankAmericard</a>. It didn't become Visa until 1976.</p>
- <p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/pop-quiz-the-most-costly-affairs-in-history/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: What Were the Costliest Affairs in History?</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/pop-quiz-who-are-the-47-and-how-much-do-they-really-pay/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: Who Are the 47% -- And How Much Do They REALLY Pay?</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/money-quiz/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: Do You Know the Cool Facts About Cold, Hard Cash?</a></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/pop-quiz-american-opportunity/" target="_blank" title="View this gallery live">Pop Quiz: American Opportunity</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
