424     March 15, 1961 (Taped March 14)
Alan King, Betsy, Henry, Bess

The first of two shows recorded in Winter Haven. Florida.  The show is recorded outdoors in the afternoon at the Lake Silver Amphitheatre, with the lake itself glistening in the background.    

Winter Haven Mayor Tom Turnbull: “I’m serving the panel the juice of a citron…This fruit grew from seeds 5,000 years old.” 
The citron is considered one of the original citrus fruits, from which many of today's varieties originates.  These particular seeds were discovered in an Egyptian tomb.   While here, Mayor Turnbull ceremonially gives Garry the keys to the city.  Also on hand is 1960 Florida Citrus Queen Florence Cloud, in one of her final official duties.  A new queen would be crowned later in the week, and would appear on the following episode.

Bill Haast comes out with a box that contains:  “A cobra...I’m going to milk poison from it.” 
Haast operates the Miami Serpentarium, a combination research facility and tourist attraction that is home to some 500 snakes.  Haast "milks" venomous snakes dozens of times a day at his facility, usually in front of paying customers.  He would return to the show (in New York) in 1962 [ E497 ].   

Special Guest Don Murray:  “I’m going to teach the panel how to walk on water…with water shoes.”
Water shoes, in this context, are enormous plastic (sometimes inflatable) footwear that require a good deal of balance on the part of the user.  It's like wearing a small kayak on each foot.  They work, but they're awkward to use, especially for first-timers.  Slapstick hilarity ensues.  Murray was an actor best known at the time for his Oscar-nominated film debut in Bus Stop (1956).  His current project is The Hoodlum Priest (1961), which he also co-wrote.  A later generation would know him for his starring role in the first two seasons of the prime time soap opera Knots Landing (1979-1993).  He died in 2024 at age 94.