Need clues. Something bendable? That's all I have.

Cynthia

Oooh, just had a smokin' hot thought, but will wait for clues. Unless the bendy idea is completely off base. Then, I have no idea.

Cynthia

Well, bendy could be one adjective!! lol. He is also referred to as Bib or Bibelobis, and is one of the most recognizable mascots of the last century.

Nancy.

Well, I have never heard of him. Need clues if my attempt at earning stars is just a pipe dream. It definitely doesn't go with any mascots I know, so I am probably wrong.

Cynthia

No pipe dreams, for sure. He is currently starring in a series of commercials in his latest incarnation. An 1898 poster showed him offering the toast 'Nunc est bibendum' to his scrawny competitors with a glass, oh, but a glass of what? Not liquid, that's for sure. C'est a direr, Mon Dieu!

Nancy.

Sigh. Was thinking pipe cleaners or straws. Need more clues.

Cynthia

Nancy, I never tire of your trivia. The pressure is really on now.

I spent a lot of the morning moving snow, which unfortunately, meant a certain amount of shoveling. This is a shot of the non-shoveling part -- the good part.
{{gwi:594208}}

I think this is right up there with the deepest snow in the driveway I have seen since we moved in 12 years ago. Overall, we probably got only 6 or 8 inches, but the wind piled it up.

My basement wood-shop is calling me now. I'll check in again later.

TM

lol TM - I figured you might catch my drift!! Nice tracks. Cynthia, you might want to follow his path!!

Nancy.

I am following and thinking. Had an idea about a well known mascot but no way could he hold a glass to offer a toast. Don't remember seeing the current commercial. Need to think some more.

Windy & cold here but only a little fresh snow to blow around and pile up.
Extreme cold seems to have been the cause of a spontaneously shattered driver's side car window late Thursday night. A very cold drive home for DH.
A rare day above freezing yesterday but temps are plummeting again.

Makes me think of a big inflated balloon.

Annette

Aah, Annette - you are on the right track!! Perhaps several balloons.

Well, let's see - he is one of the worlds oldest trademarks; in the 1800's he wore pince-nez glasses and smoked a cigar. In the 1980's he was shown to be active and running.

Oh, I feel your pain with the weather - it is so cold and blustery, but the neighbourhood kids are still out there playing, all bundled up - I wonder how they can move, sometimes!!

Nancy.

I think Annette's clue gave me the answer though I do not remember knowing his name.

Yesterday's warmer temps made for slush which was brought into the garage and needed to be shoveled out before we went to Costco today. And, yes, I am one of those people who like to kick the slush off before parking the car. DH is not. I restrain myself from kicking the snow from other people's cars, though sometimes it is very tempting.

Bobbie - we call them clunkers!! Lol.

Nancy.

Bobbie - we call them clunkers!! Lol.

Nancy.

Bobbie - we call them clunkers!! Lol.

Nancy.

Tracks, balloons, clunkers...I am stuck.

Cynthia

Well Cynthia, clunkers wasn't really a clue, but it is close to source. Balloons were once the rage, but thinner profiles are more stylish these days. Reread TM's post. He has directions for you.

Nancy.

MMmmmmmm

Annette

Bidendum reminds me of a roly poly baby or a boy who gets his tummy poked.

This post was edited by mnwsgal on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 12:22

I wonder if Bibendum and the Pillsbury dough boy are related.

TM

You are all trying so hard to get me to the answer. I am at tires, but the only character I can think of is the Michelin man which would go with Annette's Mmmmm. Did he have a different name at one point? Grasping at those (bendy-haha) straws again.

Cynthia

Maybe kissin' cousins, good one TM.

Annette

Well, I am late back for the reveal - ran out into the freezing cold to run an errand. The downside to bundling up is that with exertion, I sweat like crazy. So here I am, cat on my lap, hair soaking wet, trying to get this typed out. And yes, Pita is trying to help me, and is no help at all.

So, yes my friends, we were looking for the Michelin man.
As I am writing this, I wonder if it would helped to talk about restaurant stars, but maybe not a popular thing in the US?
{{gwi:594209}}
The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast Nunc est bibendum to his scrawny competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and the tag C'est àdire: àvotre santé. Le pneu Michelin boit l'obstacle ("That is to say, to your health. The Michelin tire drinks up obstacles").

While attending the Universal and Colonial Exposition in Lyon in 1894, Edouard and André Michelin noticed a stack of tires that suggested to Edouard the figure of a man without arms. Four years later, André met French cartoonist Marius Rossillon, popularly known as O'Galop, who showed him a rejected image he had created for a Munich brewery - large, regal figure holding a huge glass of beer and quoting Horace's phrase "Nunc est bibendum". André immediately suggested replacing the man with a figure made from tires. Thus O'Galop transformed the earlier image into Michelin's symbol. Today, Bibendum is one of the world's most recognised trademarks, representing Michelin in over 150 countries.

The name of the plump tire-man has entered the language to describe someone obese or wearing comically bulky clothing. (e.g. "How can I wrap up warm without looking like the Michelin Man?")

{{gwi:594210}}

Bibendum's shape has changed over the years. O'Galop's logo was based on bicycle tires, wore pince-nez glasses with lanyard, and smoked a cigar. By the 1980s, Bibendum was being shown running, and in 1998, his 100th anniversary, a slimmed-down version became the company's new logo. He had long since given up the cigar and pince-nez. The slimming of the logo reflected lower-profile, smaller tires of modern cars. Bib even had a similar-looking puppy as a companion when the duo were CGI animated for recent American television advertisements.

And yes, he probably does have some cousins: the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Stay Puft man (he of Ghostbusters fame) come to mind.

So, for everyone:

Thanks for playing - see you all next week. ...

Interesting story about the Michelin Man, Nancy. Somewhere recently, maybe on American Pickers, I had heard the name Bibendum and somehow I remembered just enough of it to click.

Thanks for the fun and the history lesson, Nancy.

TM

Interesting how the symbol came into being. Thanks for an informative trivia question and good clues which led to the stars.