Bling, set and match
QUESTION Why are tennis bracelets so called?
THE standard story is that in the women’s singles of the 1987 US Open, multiple Grand Slam winner and tennis pin-up Chris Evert unwittingly served up an endorsement that would turn a standard piece of jewellery into a coveted classic.
Playing in an early round of the competition, Evert’s bracelet – then known as a diamond line, an elegant style made up of a slender loop of diamonds – fell off her wrist during the match.
When she stooped and picked it up, the TV cameras zoomed in on the piece of jewellery. The watching public were captivated and thus the tennis bracelet craze began.
However, there is evidence that this style of bracelet, which had been around since the Twenties, had already been named the tennis bracelet during the late Seventies while Evert ascended the ranks to become the number one female player in the world.
In a 1987 article in The New York Times, Ron Alexander wrote: ‘Why, you may ask, a tennis bracelet? Most likely because Chris Evert, among others, has worn one on the tennis court.’
This was published on July 17, months before the US Open. Pictures from the 1978 US Open show Evert wearing the bracelet.
While the name ‘tennis bracelet’ was probably already in place, there was a massive increase in popularity following the 1987 US Open incident.
It was spotted by advertising giant N.W. Ayer, which had come up with the slogan ‘a diamond is forever’ for De Beers in 1947, and the company capitalised on the public interest with a string of adverts and a new line of tennis bracelets.
During the Seoul Olympics of 1988, Evert, backed by DBI (Diamond Buyers International), launched a line of tennis bracelets she had helped design.
The range included ruby and sapphire versions and ranged in price from $4,000 to $22,000.
Trade journal Jewellers’ Circular/ Keystone noted that the sale in diamonds in the US increased 135% in 1988, reporting: ‘The tennis bracelet is responsible for these increases.
‘They are very diamond-intensive and have a much higher average price than other styles.’
Paula Smith, Oxford.
QUESTION How long did the Irish version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? run for, and what was the biggest amount of money won on it?
THE Irish version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? ran for 18 months from 2000 to 2002 and the biggest amount ever won was £250,000 (€317,000).
When the show ran on RTÉ One
on Sunday evenings from October 17, 2000 to March 29, 2002, the format was identical to the programme produced in Britain.
The Irish version was made by Tyrone Productions under licence from Celador, the company that originated the show in the UK. The quiz master was Gay Byrne, who had retired as the host of The Late Late Show in 1999.
In the Irish show, just as in the British version, there were 15 incremental prize amounts, ranging from £100 to £1million when the show began in 2000; with the changeover to the euro on January 1, 2002, the prizes were simply converted to the new currency.
The top prize on the show was initially £1million, which was worth €1,269,738 in the currency we use today. The prize money fund was funded by calls to a premium-rate phone number; anybody who wanted to take part in the show had to ring this number in order to be selected as candidates.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in Ireland also got a total of £7million in sponsorship from Eircell, then the mobile service of Eircom. The reason the show lasted for just 18 months in Ireland is that after the original sponsorship ended, no other commercial organisation was willing to take on the sponsorship.
The show started well, with the first programme, getting 1.2million viewers. However, viewing figures declined through its run.
The show also sparked some controversy. In one episode, contestant Shane O’Doherty was asked in which part of the body the lunula was situated. As the 13th question and worth £250,000, the stakes were high.
He used his phone-a-friend lifeline to ring a physician, who said it was located in the heart, and O’Doherty provided this as his answer. However, the required answer was the fingernail, so his winnings fell to the guaranteed sum of £32,000.
The lunula is any moon-shaped structure and this includes both the white base of the fingernail and segments of the semi-lunular heart valves. O’Doherty protested that since both answers were correct, he shouldn’t have been eliminated. He threatened to sue the producers and an intense debate in the media lasted a fortnight.
Eventually, he was allowed to return to the show. When he was asked a question, he opted to pass and keep the £125,000 he had already won. Yet the replacement question was also flawed. It described John Pius Boland as an Olympic gold medallist, when in fact, the medals, including his, received at the 1896 Olympics were made from silver.
The largest prize won on the show was £250,000. It was won by Roger Dowds, from Glasnevin in Dublin, on January 12, 2001. The second largest was €125,000, won by Robert Scott in 2002, just before the show ended its run.
The Irish Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was reasonably successful and popular, but due to the sponsorship issues, it never returned to the small screen. John Murray, Galway.
QUESTION A Rachel is a hairstyle named after Jennifer Aniston’s character in Friends. What other haircuts are named after people?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, in the Fifties, I had a Tony Curtis, a style sported by Hollywood’s golden boy. Even Elvis copied the look, once seeking out the film star to tell him: ‘Mr Curtis, I want you to know I am a big fan.’
With a curl up front and a smart parting at the back, it was known as the duck’s tail in America.
The haircut inspired a classic joke. A man walks into a barber’s shop and says: ‘I want my hair cut like Tony Curtis.’ After the barber gives him a nondescript chop, the customer declares: ‘Oi, Tony Curtis doesn’t have his hair cut like this!’, to which the barber replies: ‘He does if he comes here.’ Tim Begg, Bury, Lancs.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.