Old Habits Die Hard
Back in the days when we were merely building jigsaws as a hobby, not making them as an obsession, we ran a little research company, mostly doing policy research for organisations. Interesting, but not as much fun as puzzling! But it suited us well, because we’re inquisitive people, endlessly fascinated by knowing “why”, and always interested in quirky, unusual facts. The sort of people who liked poring through Encyclopaedia Britannicas for school projects when we were small! (For younger readers, Encyclopaedia Britannica was like Google, but made from lots and lots of paper.)
Anyway, over the Christmas period, we decided it was a great chance to do some work on our website which we’re constantly developing. So, with St Valentine’s Day coming up, we decided to start by focusing on a page featuring our Valentine’s Day puzzles. We wrote a fairly standard introduction, posted some pictures of our puzzles and sat back, chuffed that it looked pretty good. But then we got to thinking it maybe needed a little additional “something” to spice it up. But what?
That’s when the research head (or nosey head) kicked in. How about adding in a bit about St Valentine’s day itself?” I said. “Some weird facts – that’s what it needs!”
Within a couple of minutes, we were squirrelling about on the internet, till we found the sort of things we were looking for. Just like the old days – we gathered our information, summarised it, and added to the page. And then started chatting, as we do! “I was reading about how many roses are sent for Valentine’s Day. How about we add that in as well …” Before we knew it, we’d added 16 “quirky facts” to the page!
And that’s how it began … Now all of our pages have “quirky facts” sections. Old habits die hard. Once a researcher, always a researcher.
So here are some of my personal favourite “quirky facts” from some of our different sections:
- From our Valentine’s Day facts … About 9 million pet owners a year send Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.
- Again, from our Valentine’s Day facts … The most commonly used symbol of romance is the heart, which used to be seen as being linked to all human feelings and emotions, and the place where the human soul lived. The red colour of Valentine’s Day hearts was seen to stem from the fact that the heart pumps blood around the body.
- From our Birthday facts … If an average garden snail (which moves at around 0.03 mph) set out on your last birthday, and walked non-stop it would have travelled 263 miles by your next one!
- From our Congratulations and Celebrations facts … a relatively new celebration, Annual Dull, Boring and Bland day is on August 9th. It started when the Scottish town of Dull (a tiny highland village) partnered with Boring (a small farming town in Oregon, USA), then were unofficially joined by “Bland Shire” (a former gold rush area in Australia)!
- From our Engagement and Wedding facts … The tradition of bridesmaids all dressing in the same way is thought to have come from a belief that any good news would attract evil spirits. The plan was that having matching bridesmaids would confuse them, and protect the happy couple!
- From our Get Well facts … The human body has enough iron in it to forge a metal nail 3-inches long; the acid in the stomach is strong enough to dissolve a razorblade; it has enough sulfur to kill all the fleas on an average dog; enough carbon for 900 pencils; enough fat to make 7 bars of soap; and enough water to fill a ten-gallon tank.
There’s lot more where these came from! Visit the Jigsaiz website and revel in trivia!
