The Brady Bunch did it. So did Bugs Bunny and Bob the Builder.

The Western American square dance, celebrated every Nov. 29, is the third most recognized dance form in the world, behind dances from China and India.

American square dancing, affectionately dubbed “friendship set to music,” is a unique distillation of its British, French, Irish and Scottish forerunners, which date back to the 17th century.

This country’s version is a choreographic descendant of the quadrille, a French dance involving the familiar square of four couples. It was brought here by European settlers and variously adapted in different regions of the fledgling United States, most notably New England and Appalachia.

Though always popular in this country, public participation in American square dancing has ebbed and flowed over the centuries for various reasons.

Long ubiquitous in rural communities as a centerpiece of social activity, the dance form waned in popularity with the urbanization of America around the turn of the 20th century.

Enter Henry Ford, who loved the dance form and much preferred it to what he considered the evils of jazz music.

In 1923 Ford purchased a local inn for its ballroom and the next year hired square dance caller Benjamin Lovett to teach public classes, which he did for more than 20 years.

Ford’s plan was to incorporate square dancing into the curricula of all the nation’s schools, as he believed it taught children manners, courtesy, social training, good citizenship, teamwork and rhythm.

By 1928 half the nation’s public schools were teaching square dancing.

Ford asked Edison to record Lovett’s square dance calling and also sponsored “The Early American Dance Music,” a national half-hour weekly radio show in which Lovett called dances that had been printed the previous week in newspapers across the country.

1. Which president declared square dancing to be our national folk dance?

a. Jimmy Carter

b. Harry Truman

c. Ronald Reagan

d. Dwight Eisenhower

2. How many states have officially designated the square dance as their state dance?

a. 34

b. 47

c. 5

d. 14

3. A 1948 commercial features square dancing cigarettes. Which company sponsored the ad?

a. Chesterfield

b. Lucky Strike

c. Raleigh

d. Old Gold

4. The world’s largest square dance involved how many participants?

a. 1,200

b. 536

c. 800

d. 2,144

5. What is the record for the most consecutive hours of square dance calling (with a five-minute break each hour)?

a. 14

b. 28

c. 33

d. 47

6. Who starred in the 1987 film, “Square Dance,” about a young country girl who suddenly finds herself thrown into the realities of the big city?

a. Ally Sheedy

b. Molly Ringwald

c. Alyssa Milano

d. Winona Ryder

7. What country star debuted in that movie as a member of the Bayou Band?

a. Trace Adkins

b. Alan Jackson

c. Garth Brooks

d. Brad Paisley

8. What 1950s comic strip published a square dancing book?

a. Peanuts

b. Nancy

c. The Katzenjammer Kids

d. Li’l Abner

9. Which “Tool Time” character was learning to be a square dance caller?

a. Tim Taylor

b. Wilson

c. Al Borland

d. Jill Taylor

10. What Wesley Snipes movie has square dancing?

a. Passenger 57

b. Blade

c. Bad

d. The Waterdance

Answers: 1. c. 2. a. 3. b. 4. c. 5. b. 6. d. 7. a. 8. d. 9. c. 10. a.