Panel put your masks on

 


Panel put your masks on


     This one goes back to a popular TV show called "What's My Line" that featured host John Daly and panelists like Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Bennet Cerf. They would try to guess a guest's occupation and each show featured a voice disguising mystery guest who they would know by sight but could not see. The show was rather high class for early television and Daly was urbane along with the witty and elegant regulars. Men wore tuxedos and the women dressed stylishly. There would be series of yes and no questions  asked by articulate panelists to determine the occupation of guests. The show ran for decades and was a Sunday night staple watched by both households. The dramatic moment of each week was the mystery guest and the moment when the panelists would be blindfolded. They would don elaborate masks like from a ball or carnival which would heighten the fun. The moment this excitement began Daly would intone "Panel put your masks on!" Greg loved to repeat the phrase just for fun but later when Covid struck he used it to signal our placing on the surgical masks we were forced to wear when heading out into public. We both were resistant in the very beginning thinking this mask stuff was overkill but when covid began taking it's toll we wised up and "put our masks on"



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