Geo Quiz

Classy gift giver

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Today’s Geo Quiz is our gift to you. President Obama is earning a reputation as a classy gift giver. Earlier this year, he gave Queen Elizabeth an iPod loaded with Broadway show tunes. There were 20 heads of state and world leaders to give presents to at last week’s G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. Mr. Obama chose glass trees, created for the occasion by artist Hans Godo Frabel.

All the leaves point upwards to symbolize a common purpose, the glass represents the fragility of freedom.

Frabel: “The Tree’s leaves point upward symbolize success and cooperation; the Tree’s pinnacle shape symbolizes unity and movement towards a common goal; trees are a symbol of strength, wisdom and endurance; glass, a beautiful yet fragile material, symbolizes the fragility of freedom, liberty and our environment; and beneath the Tree’s black wooden base is a 1/2” stainless steel plate representing Pittsburgh’s former steel industry that is moving to new, environmentally-friendly products, such as heat blocking glass panes created by PPG, a $16 Billion company headquartered in Pittsburgh.”

So the question — where was the glass tree sculpture made?

The artist Godo Frabel grew up in the former East Germany and then immigrated west in 1965.

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His glass art studios are located in the 33rd largest city in the United States just south of the Chattahoochee River.

So here’s the answer: the city of Atlanta.

So what do you think of the choice of a glass tree for a present? Consider that Theodore Roosevelt gave dignitaries buffalo horns; President Nixon knew Soviet president Leonard Brezhnev loved cars and gave him a Cadillac Eldorado; President Bush took Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi to Graceland and presented him with a jukebox filled with the King’s songs. When it comes right down to it, why does gift-giving by the president and First Lady even matter?

We put the questions to someone knows a thing or two about etiquette. Peter Post is director of the Emily Post Institute which is kind of a “civility barometer” for American society.

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Peter Post is director of the Emily Post Institute speaking to us from Burlington Vermont.

More information:
http://www.frabel.com
Phipps Conservatory