6 Could it have something to do with that necker knob thingie?
Actually it was part of the pre-transistor radio.

7 I don't know about your reference, but we used them for bottle openers.

8 Earl "Mad man" Muntz. Former used car dealer (that will explain a lot), who was a promoter, wheeler dealer, some would say con-man, though in today's parlance he was an entrepreneur. Helped lauch the home television "revolution", as well as other appliances, rebranded and sold the Kurtis car as a Muntz Jet.