281     April 16, 1958
Bill, Jayne, Henry, Betsy

Francis A Johnson from Darwin, Minnesota: “This string is 997 miles long” 
Johnson’s ball of twine appears to be about six feet in diameter on the Secret set.  He would continue to add to it until 1979, when it topped out at twelve feet in diameter and 17,400 pounds.  Johnson died in 1989 and the family donated the ball to the city of Darwin, where it remains as a tourist attraction.  The Weird Al Yankovic song “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” is about this oddity.    

Joseph Burger from The Bronx: “I invented elevated shoes” (1937) 
Burger owns the first patent for height-increasing shoes, which he called Stature Aids. “Elevator shoes”, the term more commonly used to describe such footwear, is a trademarked name owned by a rival brand.    

Special Guest Cornel Wilde 
With the panel blindfolded, Wilde performs a classic magic trick, skewering a trunk with swords while Garry is trapped inside. Whether inadvertently or not, at the end of the show it’s revealed how the trick works.  Wilde is promoting his film Maracaibo (1958).