Oscar query

[Jim Gregory]

How did the Academy Award statuettes come to be known as Oscars?

[silver]

There are conflicting accounts on how the Oscars got its name. One story claims the statuettes were named by a film librarian called Margaret Herrick. Apparently, after seeing the statuette in 1931, she remarked: 'It looks like my Uncle Oscar!' The other story has it that the actress Bette Davis said the statuette looked like the backside of her then-husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson.

[Dave Nick]

Not sure about the 'Uncle Oscar' thing, but, thanks to a recent pub quiz I now know what it is that the statuette stands on. It's a film reel canister.