Two very specific firsts on this
show. Bristol-Myers joins as a sponsor
for the first time, alternating with the continuing Winston sponsorship. Also, Betsy and Bess switch places, creating for
the first time the panel order that would become the usual lineup for the rest
of the Garry Moore era.
George Gardner and Robert Nash from Vincennes, Indiana: “We’re
watermelon seed-spitting champions…I won the title for distance…I won the title
for marksmanship”
The panel is enjoying watermelon
during the questioning. Today,
seed-spitting contests are a common feature of county fairs and other
agricultural exhibitions. There’s even
something called the USWSESSC, the U.S. Watermelon Speed-Eating
and Seed-Spitting Championships. Here, it’s still something of a novelty, so
much so that a small Indiana town can claim “World Championship”
distinction. The panel participates in
their own spitting challenge.
Jack Christensen from Mason City, Iowa: “I had my picture taken with
Khrushchev patting my stomach”
The Soviet premier
toured Iowa earlier in the month to get a look at American farms. Despite heavy security and hundreds of
reporters, Christensen, who had no official connection to the trip whatsoever,
got close enough to Khrushchev to turn up in many pictures of the visit, and
appears to have endeared himself to the communist leader. Christensen even claims to have helped stage
the iconic photo of Khrushchev holding an ear of corn, which graced the Life
Magazine cover story about the event, and Christensen’s unlikely role in it.
Special Guest Mitch Miller is going to make a recording of Betsy (the
only panelist without a record album) using Thomas Edison’s techniques. [Mr. Nietzel] from the Henry Ford Museum in
Dearborn, Michigan is on hand with an Edison recording device. Miller plays oboe and Norman Paris joins on
piano. Miller was a Columbia Records producer who suddenly gained wide fame in
1958 for an enormously popular series of “Sing Along With Mitch” record albums
that featured common American standards and public domain tunes, with lyrics
included. This would soon lead to a Sing
Along With Mitch TV series (1961-1964) which encouraged home viewers to “follow
the bouncing ball” and sing in their homes along with his studio performers.
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