Final Jeopardy: Companies (2-27-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (2/27/2026) in the category “Companies” was:
Historian Louis Hyman wrote this company’s sales method undid the power of the “consumerism of Jim Crow”
3x champ James Hirsh, a lawyer from Toronto, Ontario, has won $67,418 now. In Game 4, his opponents are: Diana Miller, an attorney from Richmond, VA; and Tim Leung a technical trainer from Fitchburg, WI.
Round 1 Categories: What’s Your Sign? – Let’s “P”lay – The Law of the Land – Numerical Terms – In the State Capital – TV Offspring
Diana found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “In the State Capital” under the $800 clue on the 14th pick of the round. She was in second place with $3,000, $600 less than James’ lead. Diana bet $2,000 and she was RIGHT.
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium show
James and Diana finished in a tie for the lead with $6,200. Tim was last with $3,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Psych 101 – Quick Hits – Hooked on Mnemonics – American Art & Artists – Historic Trials – Dirty Words
Diana found the first Daily Double in “Dirty Words” under the $1,200 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. She was in the lead with $7,400 now, $1,200 more than James in second place. Diana bet $2,600 but didn’t have a clue so she was WRONG.
This word once meant a filthy hotel, but can also refer to a person or, more recently, to an Emmy-winning series show
James got the last Daily Double in “American Art & Artists” under the $2,000 clue on the 19th pick of the round. In the lead with $12,200, he had $3,000 more than Diana in second place. James bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
This Brooklyn-born artist with an all-too-short career first attracted attention for his graffiti, done under the name Samo show
James finished in the lead with $16,400. Diana was in second place with $11,600. Tim was last with $9,800. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS SEARS?
On 10/15/2018, Cornell professor Louis Hyman heard that the “mighty” Sears company was filing for bankruptcy. He sent out this tweet “In my history of consumption class, I teach about #Sears, but what most people don’t know is just how radical the catalogue was in the era of #Jim Crow,” and continued to expand upon the topic. To his surprise, The thread went viral. 5 days later, Hyman published “How Sears Helped Oppose Jim Crow,” detailing how the Sears catalog stripped the Jim Crow storekeeper of power, allowing direct access to merchandise at fair prices without being made to feel inferior. If you don’t have an NYT subscription, you can read Mary Schmich’s interview with Prof. Hyman.
Of course, Sears was not the first nor the only mail order catalog. The top 4 throughout most of the 20th century were Sears, J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward and Spiegel.
Tim had no response, just a thanks to everyone. He lost nothing, standing pat on his $9,800.
Diana got it right. She bet $4,799 and finished with $16,399.
James thought it was Coca-Cola. He lost $6,818 and finished with $9,582. That made Diana Miller the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
THE LAW OF THE LAND ($1000) In 2007 China began requiring Tibetan monks to get permission to recognize those who have undergone this process after death
HISTORIC TRIALS ($1200) In 1927 the Supreme Court of this State reversed a famous verdict from 2 years earlier, ruling that the $100 fine was unlawful
2 years ago: NEITHER of the player left in FJ! got this one in “COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD”
Fearful of independence in 1975, around 120,000 of this country’s people, a third of the population, fled to the Netherlands show
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE SHOW OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!
We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.
A bet of 10,000 for James on that last daily double would have given him a runaway but I was not surprised that he didn’t do what Kevin did on Wednesday.