When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Historical References
"The Senator from Rome"
In Chapter 21, Dwight refers to President John F. Kennedy as "the senator from Rome." Kennedy was a Roman Catholic—the first non-Protestant ever to be elected President—and that was a big deal when he was running. Some people were afraid that he would take his orders from the Church instead of the American public. Kennedy addressed the issue in his campaign (which NPR has kindly reprinted for us). That clearly holds no stock with Dwight, who we suspect is not the most open-minded man in the world.
Pop Culture References
Mouseketeer Annette
Annette, the Disney Mouseketeer who Toby mashes on, was actually Annette Funicello, who launched a lengthy career by starring as a preteen crush object on The Mickey Mouse Club. Walt Disney discovered her at the age of twelve, performing in a Southern California production of Swan Lake. He cast her on The Mickey Mouse Club starting in 1955, as well as giving her roles in Disney movies like The Shaggy Dog and Babes in Toyland. She even had a singing contract with Disney studios, cranking out the bubble gum for eager teenyboppers of the era.
Walt was apparently very protective of Annette's image… which means she probably broke his heart when she went full Miley-status and started making more risqué beach party movies in the 1960s. They're pretty tame by today's standards, but the sight of Annette traipsing with Frankie Avalon in various flavors of bikini was very un-Disney. Despite showing off discreet portions of her now-grown-up lady parts, the beach movies retain an air of wholesomeness to them, which cemented Annette's girl-next-door credentials.
Mommy-dom interrupted her show biz career and she stayed out of the spotlight while raising her three kids. She divorced her first husband, Jack Gilardi, in 1981, and married her second and final husband Glen Holt in 1986. In the meantime, she showed up in the occasional commercial and kept close ties to the Disney company. She reunited with Frankie Avalon in 1987's Back to the Beach, a parody of her old 60s movies. Then in 1992, she announced that she suffered from multiple sclerosis. She'd hoped to keep it private, but the media, in its infinite compassion, noticed that she had trouble walking and linked it to a nonexistent case of alcoholism. She acted as a spokesperson for those suffering from MS and helped raise money to combat the disease throughout the last 20 years of her life. She died in 2013 at the age of 70, from complications due to MS.
The Hook
When Jack first comes to live in Chinook, Norma tells him a story about her and her boyfriend peeling away in his car, only to find a bloody hook on the door handle. This is an old urban legend, used to scare kids from time immemorial. It goes a little something like this: two lovers are parked out in the wood, getting on with the serious business of what lovers do when parked out in the woods. A news bulletin over the radio warns residents that an inmate from a local insane asylum has escaped, and that he has a steel hook for a right hand. The girl gets scared and wants to go home, but the boy wants to keep making out. The girl gets more and more insistent. Finally, the boy gives in: irritated that he won't be getting any, he slams the car in gear and speeds off back to town.
When he gets back to the girl's house, he comes around to let her out of the car. Then he stops, turns white as a sheet, and faints dead away. When the girl looks to see what upset him, she sees a bloody, steel hook hanging from the door handle.
(For best results, try to tell this around a campfire at night or with a flashlight under your face. Also, make sure you scream as loud as you can when you get to the punch-line.)
The story isn't true: it's a bit of folklore, which people pass around because it sounds really cool. The fact that it's presented as true help confirm its credentials, possibly making it even scarier.