OD&D Pop culture references in early editions?

[Morrus]

"Monty Haul" and/or "Hall" is an old phrase that has been noted by name in rule books on a few occasions. Some of these young whippersnappers today don't recognize this as a reference to the "Let's Make a Deal" game show.

I didn’t until a few years ago!

 

[Rabulias]

I don't think Doctor Who and Blake's 7 where much known in the US until at least the late 80s. There was no BBC America exporting them in those days.

I saw Doctor Who (along with some other British shows, like The Prisoner) on PBS stations in the late 1970s, but I did not hear about Blake's 7 until the mid to late 1980s.

 

[Mannahnin]

I don't think Doctor Who and Blake's 7 where much known in the US until at least the late 80s. There was no BBC America exporting them in those days.

Doctor Who (and some other British TV) was frequently carried by local PBS stations in the US going back at least a decade before that. We didn't get Red Dwarf or Black Adder until the late 80s, as I recall, but had Dr. Who much earlier.

 

[Mannahnin]

I don't know much, but I remember a ton of spell components and actions were based on stupid jokes and/or pop culture references.

Many spell components were indeed humorous, but often references to colloquialisms, science, or general culture rather than specifically pop culture.

The copper piece needed for the ESP (later renamed Detect Thoughts) spell, from the phrase "A penny for your thoughts."
Marbles are needed for the Feeblemind spell, as in "He's lost his marbles."
Sand for the Sleep spell (the Sandman).
Message needing copper wire (like telephone lines)
A white feather (symbol of cowardice, especially in WWI) or a hen's heart ("chickenhearted") for the Fear spell
Fireball wants bat guano and sulphur (like you'd need for gunpowder)
Lightning Bolt an amber or glass rod and piece of fur (which you can rub together to get sparks)
Three shells for Confusion (the shell game).

Sesame seeds for Passwall ("Open Sesame!") is definitely a pop culture reference, though. (EDIT: or maybe not; since it apparently dates back a few hundred years)

 

[Demetrios1453]

Doctor Who (and some other British TV) was frequently carried by local PBS stations in the US going back at least a decade before that. We didn't get Red Dwarf or Black Adder until the late 80s, as I recall, but had Dr. Who much earlier.

It started being carried on my local PBS station in 1983, just as an example.

And by 1987, it was well known enough that Keith Parkinson (an American) put a mini-TARDIS on the shelf behind Raistlin in his painting "The Last Spell of Fistandantilus":

Old School FRP — “The Last Spell of Fistandantilus” (Keith...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

From the 1e DMG:

The Horn of Bubbles magic item probably counts as a pop culture reference, too.

 

[Stormonu]

From the 1e DMG:

View attachment 142253

The Horn of Bubbles magic item probably counts as a pop culture reference, too.

A Tiny Bubbles reference or a corncob bubble pipe?

I guess that also means that the Lon Chaney 1E werewolf art counts, as does the vampire being based on the christopher lee/bela lugosi depictions? Romero zombies?

Displacer beast being based on the coeurl from the The Voyage of the Space Beagle?

 

[Ancalagon]

Many spell components were indeed humorous, but often references to colloquialisms, science, or general culture rather than specifically pop culture.

The copper piece needed for the ESP (later renamed Detect Thoughts) spell, from the phrase "A penny for your thoughts."
Marbles are needed for the Feeblemind spell, as in "He's lost his marbles."
Sand for the Sleep spell (the Sandman).
Message needing copper wire (like telephone lines)
A white feather (symbol of cowardice, especially in WWI) or a hen's heart ("chickenhearted") for the Fear spell
Fireball wants bat guano and sulphur (like you'd need for gunpowder)
Lightning Bolt an amber or glass rod and piece of fur (which you can rub together to get sparks)
Three shells for Confusion (the shell game).

Sesame seeds for Passwall ("Open Sesame!") is definitely a pop culture reference, though.

I think some fog spells required peas...

 

[Ancalagon]

The old clerical spell "Stick to snakes" could be seen as a pop culture reference by some

 

[GuyBoy]

Not D&D, but Michael Moorcock made several pop culture references in the Hawkmoon series, most notably Aral Vilsson as one of the gods of Granbretan ( Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the late 60s/ early 70s for non-Brits)