455     October 16, 1961
Bill, Betsy, Henry, Bess

Donald Hulme of Belleville, New Jersey: “I’m the new world’s champion…accordion player” 
Hulme was a three-time American champ whose home town raised the money to send him to Italy for the international competition.  He turns 21 tomorrow.  He continued to perform in public at least into the late 70s.  Here, he performs Monti’s Czardas (1904).   

Fred Baldasare from New York City: “I swam 35 miles non-stop…entirely under water” 
Baldasare was attempting to swim the length of the English Channel but came up a little short.  In another attempt on July 11, 1962, he would be successful, the first man to swim the Channel underwater.  He would return to the show in October of that year ( E496 ).  Baldasare would become famous for his underwater distance swims throughout the sixties.  His accomplishments appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for decades, as well as in other superlative collections.   


Special guest Art Linkletter brings two pocketbooks owned by audience members.  By looking at their contents, the panelists determine things about the owner, while the owner confirms or denies their hunches.  As has become customary on his visits to this show, the game is something he plays regularly on his House Party series.  Linkletter is promoting Kids Still Say The Darndest Things (Bernard Geis 1961), a follow-up to his extremely successful original volume.

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