The show is presented on a virtually
empty stage, with no backdrop and desks made from orange crates and other
assorted lumber pieces. The new set,
much ballyhooed the week before, wasn’t ready in time.
Marilyn Mohr from Chicago: “I kissed 138
midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy Graduation”
The attractive Miss Mohr was the
“color girl” for the Naval Academy’s June Week festivities surrounding commencement. She was selected for the honor by her
Midshipman fiancé Jack Johnson, himself captain of the 18th Company. His company was the winner among 24 brigades
of a yearlong competition. Johnson had
promised each member of his company a kiss from his sweetheart if they won, and
she delivered. Midshipman Johnson appears after the segment.
Jeff Pope from Excelsior, MN: “I paddled a
canoe from New York City to Alaska”
In April, 1936, Pope and his partner
Shell Taylor started on the Hudson River at 42nd street and paddled
for eighteen months through the Northwest Passage, stopping to hunt with Native
Americans in the winter, and finally reaching Nome in August, 1937. Much later, their story would be told in the
book New York to Nome (North River
Press, 1987). Author Rick Steber used a
first-person narrative, based on his own conversations with Taylor and copious
reference materials Taylor had maintained.
Special Guest Jack Lemmon: “I won a gas range
from Bill Cullen on a quiz show” (1948)
The future legend is a rising star
here, having recently appeared in the film Mister
Roberts (1955). The radio quiz on
which Lemmon appeared is not mentioned by name, but Lemmon colorfully describes
the elaborate rules, identifying it as the short-lived Catch Me If You Can. Later,
Lemmon wishes his son Christopher a happy first birthday. Chris Lemmon would grow to become a
successful actor in his own right.
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