176     February 29, 1956
Bill, Jayne, Henry, Toni Gilman

Gilman is an actress with a modest resume whose credits prominently include being a panelist on other game shows.  She would make a similar appearance on the panel of To Tell the Truth in 1961.    

Kirwan McHarry (age 4) of New York City: “One night I took to bed with me…1 teddy bear…1 pooh bear…, 1 little bear…1 toy monkey…1 squirrel…1 lamb…1 dog named Googie…1 Halloween hat…1 Peter Pan mask…1 Davy Crockett hat…2 home-made paper boats…3 books…1 home-made book…1 shoe box containing a puppet named ‘Ebenezer’…1 red bucket containing 2 belts and part of a steam shovel…1 3-D viewer containing a story of Hansel and Gretel…1 magi-stix instruction book…1 marble puzzle…1 make-believe thermometer…3 pieces of chalk…1 baseball bat…And 1 snapshot of my mommy and me at the beach”  
Young master Kirwan was anxious upon the arrival of a new baby sister and needed his worldly possessions around him for comfort.  Kirwan is initially reluctant to appear with Garry and is eventually coaxed and carried onto the stage by Blanche Hunter from the show’s staff.  The staff has also recreated Kirwan’s bedroom including most of his aforementioned paraphernalia. Kirwan’s father Charles McHarry writes the “On the Town’' column for the New York Daily News, and Kirwan’s insecurities came to light as an item in his father’s column.

Etta McCauley from Newark: “Today I celebrated my 21st birthday (I’m 88 years old)”                 
Note the date of today’s episode.  People such as Etta who were born on “Leap Day” only see their actual birth date of February 29th come around once every four years.  It is her 21st birthday and not her 22nd because there was no Leap Day in 1900.  Century years are not leap years unless they are divisible by 400, as 2000 was.  It's also possible this Secret was at least a little contrived.  Our research found Mary Henrietta "Etta" McCauley (nee Imbach) was born on February 3, 1868.  It's the right year, just not Leap Day.

Special guest Basil Rathbone will pack the panel into a crate while they are questioning him. 
Our guest has released an album with the self-explanatory title Basil Rathbone Reads Edgar Allen Poe (Caedmon 1956).  This game is (loosely) based on Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado (1846) in which a man takes revenge on a drunken former friend by trapping him inside an ancient catacomb.  Dimmed lights and ominous music add to the effect, and Rathbone’s enthusiasm sells the piece delightfully. Rathbone would release two additional albums of Poe readings, one in 1960 (in which he reads the Amontillado story) and the final one in 1965.