# what the heck was "true grit"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 5, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634 "2003-10-05T01:39:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kaldestad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@kaldestad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaldestad)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634/1 "2003-10-05T01:39:33Z")

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I can remember studying those ads in the Archie comics really carefully, squinting to see the little prizes. the walkie-talkies… the watch… but what about that Schwinn bike! Wow, that was the daddy of all prizes. So here’s what I’m wondering: All you had to do was sell copies of “True Grit” newspaper to get these fab prizes…can anyone tell me what that publication was all about? Was it some weird cult? Someone suggested to me that it was all an elaborate ad campaign by Schwinn, just to confuse all us innocent kiddies into wasting hours comparing all the prizes just to conclude that there could be nothing cooler than getting the bike…

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**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634/2 "2003-10-05T01:43:32Z")

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I don’t know, but you wouldn’t happen to have a Scantron® I could borrow, would you?

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634/3 "2003-10-05T01:52:18Z")

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I think you mean [Grit](http://www.grit.com/readers.html), the ‘family newspaper’.

“True Grit” was a John Wayne movie.

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**Author:** ![kaldestad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@kaldestad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaldestad)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634/4 "2003-10-05T01:55:37Z")

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Ok Ok, I’ll take it!! What the heck was it all about? Let’s not split hairs…I’ve been waiting 15 years to figure this one out! (well, I’ve been sort of busy doing other things in the meantime. It hasn’t been a full time pursuit…) help me!

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**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634/5 "2003-10-05T03:20:22Z")

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Maybe this will healp:  
[GRIT, “America’s family magazine since 1882”](http://www.grit.com/readers.html)

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**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-was-true-grit/205634/6 "2003-10-05T04:18:47Z")

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It was sort of a rural cross between USA Today and the Star. It’s mentioned in “To Kill A Mockingbird,” and not in a good way.

For all I know, it’s still more popular than E! in Possum Stump Missour-ah.