- [Narrator] At one time, Pennsylvania had over 28 million acres of virgin forest.

During the heyday of logging, much of the prime timber was floated downstream and collected in large pools like this one.

Do you know what device made this possible?

You're invited to play The Pennsylvania Game.

Test your knowledge of the Commonwealth's people, places, and products.

The Pennsylvania Game is brought to you in part by Uni Marts Incorporated, with stores in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Serving you with courtesy and convenience every day of the year.

(cheerful music) And from Landmark.

And Landmark is A, a savings and loan, B, a bank, C, a leading mortgage lender, or D, all of the above.

The correct answer is D, all of the above.

People to people: It's just a better way to bank.

(applause) Now, here's the host of The Pennsylvania Game, Lynn Hines.

- Thank you, thank you very much.

Thank you.

We had a delightful audience here today.

Thanks very much.

Delightful audience, and we know that you're eager to play and test your wits, match your wits with our panelists, and let's meet our panelists.

They are, he is a writer and an author who loves to play games.

Bernie Asbell.

(applause) We've got some real competition for Bernie.

We have a psychic from Westmoreland County.

She's Nancy Czetli!

(applause) And the man who thinks that psychic means guessing at things, and who does that very well, (laugh) he's Kevin Nelson.

Kevin, welcome.

(applause) We'll see how well psychic powers do in playing The Pennsylvania Game.

Sometimes they work in playing games, sometimes they don't.

Pennsylvania's known, of course, for its logging and its lumber.

Let's listen to the first question.

- [Narrator] During the height of the water transportation era, sights like this were common along the west branch of the Susquehanna River.

Thousands of free floating logs traveled hundreds of miles downstream to the collecting area.

This log trap was called A, a Hopper, B, a boom, C, a log jam, or D, a splash dam.

- [Lynn] Well, that's a kind of a hard one to start with.

They get easier as we go along, Bernie Asbell, so take a shot at this first one.

- I hope they do.

- [Lynn] Ol' lumber man, Bernie Asbell.

- Well, the obvious answer is a log jam, but that was not a log jam.

So I'm gonna call it a hopper.

A hopper is something you put things into.

- Yeah, it's also sometimes, a rabbit's called a hopper, 'cause they, but Nancy Czetli- - That's right.

- Which card feels warm to you, there?

- Well, I just like the hopper.

It just sounds very nice, and I'm gonna pick that.

- Okay, we have two As.

And Kevin, are you gonna stand on your own or are you gonna go along with the crowd?

- Well, you know, I would lumber along here, but I wouldn't want you to get bored so.

(laughter) - Ooh.

- I'd just like to say planks to my other two partners here.

I'm gonna say hopper too, 'cause I like Dennis Hopper in "Easy Rider."

- A is a nice grade if you're in school, but it's not always the right answer on The Pennsylvania Game.

- [Narrator] The answer is B, a boom.

Used to stop logs as they floated downstream, a boom consisted of a large number of log cribs.

These sturdy structures were filled with rocks and placed in the center of the river, diagonally with the current.

Between these cribs, timbers fastened with heavy chains rose and fell with the crest of the water, holding the logs inside.

When full, the Williamsport boom held up to 300 million board feet of lumber.

- Well, we started with a boom on The Pennsylvania Game this time, following up Kevin's remarks.

The next one is about one of Pennsylvania's most famous residents, a guy named Dwight Eisenhower, and something he started when he was in the White House back in the '50s.

- [Narrator] In December, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower pushed a button in the White House that activated something for the first time.

Was it the first A, hotline to the Kremlin, B, national Christmas tree, C, atomic power plant, or D, lighting for interstate highways?

- Those all sound reasonable to me, historically speaking, in the right timeframe, as they like to say.

Nancy Czetli, which one do you believe it is?

- You mean I have to go first?

- [Lynn] You have to go first this time, yeah.

Every so often, that happens.

- Well, I believe that it was the hotline to the Kremlin.

- Hotline to the Kremlin.

- But it's probably the Christmas tree, but I'm gonna go for the hotline.

- [Lynn] You sound like Bernie Asbell more and more all the time.

Kevin, which one of you are going for?

- He called the Kremlin but got a recording.

I believe it was the national Christmas tree.

- [Lynn] That was a nice thing to have started, yeah.

Bernie, you probably know this one.

- Well, it would be the lighting for interstate highways, except everybody's battery was down.

The national Christmas tree, I believe was started by Franklin Roosevelt.

And let's go for the atomic power plant.

- See, from having written a book about Franklin Roosevelt, you would know that.

And therefore- - But I'm not sure.

- But he's not sure.

Let's see if he's right or wrong.

What is the right answer?

- [Narrator] The answer is C, an atomic power plant.

Located in Shippingport just west of Pittsburgh, the Westinghouse nuclear power plant was the world's first, and was dedicated by President Eisenhower.

- It is with pride that I now dedicate the Shippingport atomic power station to the cause of scientific progress, to the cause of peace.

- Shippingport in Pennsylvania was indeed the world's first atomic power plant.

And I'll tell you something contemporary about that.

While we're taping this show, they're in the process of tearing it down and dismantling it.

It's been in use ever since '57.

And of course the problem is what do you do with all the radioactive waste, which lasts about 300 years.

And they're solving that problem now, so Pennsylvania has another first.

Bernie, we talk to you a lot, and you're doin' well, and writing books pays off once in a while, 'cause you knew that about Franklin Roosevelt.

That's good.

- Well.

- Wanna talk to Nancy Czetli, who is a psychic from Westmoreland County.

And back when I was a TV journalist, worked with Nancy on several police cases, and know something of the accuracy of her sensing things.

- Did a lot better on police cases than I'm doing here.

- [Lynn] (laugh) It doesn't always work on games.

- It's easier.

(chuckle) - It works best, I understand it, when something has happened that involves humans with a lot of emotion and so forth.

'Cause I've seen you do that and come up with some- - [Nancy] I dig in and kinda get real involved.

- Is this a special gift, do we all have these powers?

- I believe it is.

I think that everybody has it, I just kind of got overdosed.

- You've got more of it?

Yeah.

- Yeah.

But I think everybody has it.

- Is it a good thing to have?

Would you rather not have it?

- Oh I find it, especially as a mother, I find it invaluable.

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have it.

- Did your mother have any of that, Kevin, when you were growing up?

- I remember, I'm a big Groucho fan.

I remember that Groucho was at one time married to a woman that was into spiritual things, and she drug him along to a seance.

He didn't wanna go, he resented it, and everybody had to ask one question.

When it came to his turn, he asked the psychic what the capital of Idaho was, and she didn't know.

And I think it was not long after that that he had yet another divorce.

- [Lynn] Yeah, what is the capital of Idaho?

- I have no idea.

- We'll play the Idaho game.

(laughter) We got a story about a Pennsylvanian named Clement who moved almost to Idaho.

Let's listen.

- [Narrator] Clement was born on a farm near Gettysburg in 1831.

He learned to make wagons from his father, and then went to Indiana where he made wagons and, later, automobiles.

Was Clement's last name A, Studebaker, B, Olds, C, Packard, or D, Kaiser?

- And Kevin, all we wanna know is Clement's last name!

This famous Pennsylvanian who went on to make cars.

And of course, there were cars called Kaisers and Packards and Olds and Studebakers.

- Well, Kaiser is also a roll, isn't it, so.

- [Lynn] And also a dictator of Germany.

- I'm not on a roll here at all, but Packard sticks in my mind for some reason.

And today it would be nice if something would, so let's go with C and Packard.

- Okay, C and Packard.

Bernie?

- Indiana tells me it oughta be Studebaker.

Let's try him.

And I once owned one.

- Clement Studebaker.

Okay, Nancy?

- Well, I kind of wanted the Packard too.

I'm a little nervous about Kevin and I choosing the same thing.

(laughter) - [Kevin] Might as well, you should be.

- But it says C, Packard, so maybe it's the signal.

- Okay, was Clement's last name Studebaker, Olds, Packard, or Kaiser?

Has to be one of those four.

- [Narrator] The answer is A, Studebaker.

In the 1870s, Studebaker was the world's largest wagon maker.

This Studebaker wagon in the military museum was an ambulance in World War I.

At the Swigart Auto Museum, you'll see a unique Studebaker wagon custom built in 1908 to run on batteries.

It carried passengers from the house to the Senate in Washington.

Clement Studebaker died in 1901, but his company made Studebaker cars until they closed the plant in 1963.

- And that was Bernie's old Studebaker that you saw there.

Bernie is ahead.

He has two right.

Let's hear it for Bernie Asbell, commanding lead.

(applause) - Do you remember, one of the great lines in Broadway shows had to do with that car that was just on the screen, in Guys and Dolls, and somebody says, "I hope you get stabbed by a Studebaker."

Remember that?

(laughter) - They were sharp.

Sharp fronts and sharp cars.

Mystery Pennsylvanian time.

We give you three clues throughout the course of the show to a mystery Pennsylvanian.

And panelists, if you know the answer on the first clue, write it down on line one of your mystery Pennsylvanian card.

He wrote a play about Pennsylvania's only president.

The play was called "Buchanan Dying."

But this Pennsylvania native son is better known for other kinds of writing that he did.

He wrote a play about Pennsylvania's only president.

The play was called "Buchanan Dying."

But this famous native son, better known for other kinds of writing that he did.

It'll be more apparent as we go along and get to more clues.

I love the answers to this next question.

See if you can figure out from the names what the correct answer is.

- [Narrator] John Hopkins of Williamsport did it in 1857.

Phillips Brooks of Philadelphia did it in 1865.

What was it?

A, wrote a Christmas carol, B, founded a college, C, started a clothing store, or D, went over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

- Now there's an interesting menu of choices, Bernie.

Which did they do?

John Hopkins of Williamsport, Phillips Brooks of Philadelphia.

Wrote a Christmas carol, founded a college, started a clothing store, or went over those famous falls in a barrel.

Coulda been any of those.

- Each of them did one of them.

But only both of them went over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

- I see.

D is the selection.

Nancy Czetli, which one of those four?

- I'm going for the clothing store.

- [Lynn] There is a famous Brooks Brothers clothing store, of course- - That's what I was thinking of.

- So we're going with a C. There's also a John Hopkins College, I believe, Kevin Nelson.

What are you going for there?

- Thanks, I wasn't confused enough already.

(laughter) I think they started a clothing store while they were going over Niagara Falls.

- [Lynn] That may be.

- Niagara Falls.

That's silly enough to be true.

- I see.

You're going with the premise that the sillier answer is always.

It isn't always, perhaps.

Let's see which it is.

- [Narrator] The answer is A, wrote a Christmas carol.

John Hopkins, born in Pittsburgh and a pastor in Williamsport, wrote, "We Three Kings of Orient Are."

Phillips Brooks was a minister in Philadelphia when he wrote "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem."

- Anytime you ask a panel on The Pennsylvania Game about religion, they get 'em all wrong.

It's a tradition here.

- I was thrown off, Lynn, because Niagara was spelled wrong.

I hope some of the audience noticed that.

- [Lynn] You keep pointing out my misspellings!

- It's not yours, it's whoever puts up those letters.

- But I'm the guy that puts it down for them to copy, don't you see?

(laughter) Let's embarrass our panel again this time with a sports question.

- [Narrator] According to legend, only one baseball player ever hit a home run out of Yankee Stadium.

Was that player A, Babe Ruth, B, Josh Gibson, C, Stan Musial, or D, Willie Stargell?

- Yeah, according to legend, this is, only one baseball player ever hit a home run out of Yankee Stadium.

Which one of those was it?

Who was that player, according to legend?

And I believe we're back to you, Nancy Czetli, for the first pick.

- Okay, well they're all, if I know the names, they're pretty famous, since I don't know a whole lot about baseball.

But Babe Ruth is the most legendary that I know of- - Go on with the Babe.

- So I'll go for A.

- Okay, the Bambino.

- But it's probably wrong, 'cause I'm battin' zero so far.

- Kevin loves baseball, 'cause I hear him give baseball scores over the radio every morning.

Pronounces the names of the teams wrong sometimes.

- Well.

- What the heck.

We can't all love baseball.

What do you think Kevin?

- Well, Babe Ruth and Stan Musial, that would be logical 'cause you've heard of them.

Willie Stargell, boy, he's a great pirate, and you're trying to get us to go for that.

So the only one I have no idea who he is is Josh Gibson, and let's find out who Josh is.

- Probably was a great bridge player.

- Probably sold hot guys.

- Probably did, yeah.

- I think that Kevin is right.

Josh Gibson may have been the greatest hitter in the history of baseball.

He's the only man who ever hit a home run in every major league ballpark, and was never on a major league team.

- [Lynn] Is that right?

- [Narrator] The answer is B, Josh Gibson, a catcher with both the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays of the negro league.

Gibson probably hit more than a thousand home runs.

Gibson died in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson became the first Black to play in the Major League.

In 1972, Josh Gibson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

- Bernie is right.

It was a so much a shame that he died the year the color line was broken in baseball.

Josh Gibson, if he had played in the major leagues, I have no doubt would've hit more home runs than Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.

He hit over a thousand.

And the proof is that the Black teams played the all stars on a tour of the world.

And outta about 500 games, they beat 'em something like 400.

They just clobbered them to death.

He did not hit a ball outta Yankee Stadium.

I researched that pretty carefully.

It was only a legend, but he came awfully close.

Let's give the score, because Bernie is just takin' a commanding leap.

Bernie has three right.

Let's hear it for Bernie Asbell.

(applause) Let's see if we can illuminate the panel on the mystery Pennsylvanian.

Born in Shillington, he edited Lampoon at Harvard.

His first novel was called "Poorhouse Fair."

It was about elderly folks in a nursing home fighting for their dignity.

Famous mystery Pennsylvanian born in Shillington, Pennsylvania.

He edited the Lampoon at Harvard.

His first novel was called "Poorhouse Fair."

First clue was he wrote a play called "Buchanan Dying," and best known for his other kinds of writing.

If you have an idea for us, we'd love to hear from you.

Just write to The Pennsylvania Game, Wagner Annex, University Park, PA, 16802.

Be glad to hear from you.

Okay, any ideas on the mystery Pennsylvanian?

I see some clouded, puzzled looks over there.

Well while you're thinking about that, let's give you one of the questions that you like the best.

It's about geography and Pennsylvania counties and their names.

- [Narrator] 15 Of Pennsylvania's 67 counties share their names with their county seats.

Of the following, which county does not have a county seat with the same name?

A, Forest, B, York, C, Washington, or D, Erie?

- Well, Kevin Nelson, we start with you this time, and this is your chance to get another one right.

Which county does not have a county seat with the same name?

Three of them you see do have county seats with the same name.

Only one does not.

See how that works?

- Kind of, yeah.

Well, York and Erie, certainly there's a York in York and an Erie in Erie.

- [Lynn] But are they the county seats, 'course, is the question.

- You're gonna get complicated.

Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.

I'll just.

- You're going with the Forest, A- - I'll branch out.

- [Lynn] Forest County.

Bernie, back to you.

- We've already decided that Forest has the least people and the most trees of any county in Pennsylvania.

That must mean it doesn't have a town of the same name.

- A county seat with the same, okay.

- Follows.

- That's a possibility.

Nancy, are you hopelessly confused or convinced?

- Well, the only thing I can think of is I know there is a city of York, Washington, and Erie, but I've never heard of a Forest.

So, I mean, as a city.

So therefore, I'm gonna vote for the Forest also.

- You've never heard of Forest, Pennsylvania, is what you're saying.

I see.

Well, let's see- - Well, not being a Pennsylvanian- - If they're right or wrong.

- [Nancy] I haven't heard of that.

- [Narrator] The answer is A, Forest.

Tionesta is the county seat of Forest County.

- Okay, that was indeed a question that turned out to be a very easy one for our panelists.

And I hope you got it right too.

This next one will require some explanation, some knowledge of history, and a little bit of clear logical thinking.

Let's see if our panel's up to it.

Here it is.

- [Narrator] The large limestone spring that gave Bellefonte it's name is also symbolic of the wealth seen here in the 1800s.

Luxurious houses lined the streets, streets based on William Penn's Philadelphia plan.

The central Pennsylvania economy was based on the iron industry.

From as many as 40 iron furnaces in 1820, the industry was dead by the end of the century.

What killed central Pennsylvania's iron industry?

A, competition with big steel, B, depletion of trees for charcoal, C, depletion of iron ore and limestone, or D, a decade long drought reduced water severely.

- Okay, that was the big industry in central Pennsylvania.

But what killed it?

Was it the competition with big steel, they ran outta trees, 'cause they took an acre of trees a day, depletion of iron ore and limestone, both of which were needed, or a decade long drought really put 'em outta business?

Bernie, we're up to you first.

- Oh gosh.

Some of 'em my best friends live in Bellefonte, and I gotta get this right.

I never heard of any iron ore around Bellefonte lately, so let's try that one.

- [Lynn] Have you looked lately, though, for it?

- No, I haven't, I haven't.

- (laugh) Nancy Czetli, what's the answer here?

- Well, I don't think that it would've been the competition with the steel.

Depletion of trees doesn't sound right, and the depletion of the iron ore.

I'm gonna go with the decade long- - Decade long drought, okay.

- Drought.

- Long drought, no water would certainly make a big thirst for the iron industry.

Kevin?

- I think that's true, because so much of the transportation was done in the canals, and a decade long drought would've dried most of those up.

So I think I'll take D myself.

- I'll teach you all three to get one right, all of ya.

What is the right answer?

- [Narrator] The answer is A, competition with big steel.

Limestone and iron ore were plentiful.

And although a single furnace might use an acre of trees a day for charcoal, trains brought coal from the nearby Allegheny Plateau when the trees were gone.

The curtain furnace stands today in mute testimony to the many iron furnaces that once brought wealth to central Pennsylvania, put out of business by the lower prices of big steel's mass production.

- Yeah, there's still plenty of iron ore around, and plenty of water, and plenty of trees and limestone and all that.

It was the competition with big steel.

At one time, these farms or these iron were just tremendously wealthy throughout Pennsylvania.

And if it hadn't been for the mass production of big steel, why, towns like Bellefonte and many others would still be just really booming, booming economy.

So that's what happened to that.

- Back on that boom kick from the first question.

- Back on that boom kick from this.

Do any of you know what the state bird is?

Do you know what the state bird is?

- Ruffed grouse?

- Ruffed grouse!

Well you've given away the answer, Kevin!

The answer is ruffed grouse, but there's a little twist and a second question to it for Kevin.

- [Narrator] Pennsylvania's official state bird is the ruffed grouse.

Sometimes states share official birds.

Seven states have a cardinal as their symbol, three states honor the robin, while two states, Delaware and Rhode Island, salute the chicken.

How many states besides Pennsylvania have the ruffed grouse as a state bird?

Is the number A, none, B, one, C, two, or D, three?

- There you go.

Besides Pennsylvania, how many other states have the ruffed grouse as a state bird?

Like cardinals and robins, they often share the.

And you've got a simple choice to make here.

None, one, two, or three.

And Nancy Czetli, it's your turn to start.

- I get all these good ones here.

I'm gonna go for C, and I don't know why because, I know the blue hen, it is not a chicken, of Delaware, but not anything else.

- [Lynn] And the Rhode Island Red, of course, is the official bird of Rhode Island.

And Kevin, who's a bird in his own right.

(Kevin chuckles) What do you think?

How many other states have the ruffed grouse besides Pennsylvania?

- I've said A a lot, and it's becoming a habit, and nuns wear a habit, and A is none, so.

- I see.

- I'm gonna go with A.

- [Lynn] That's the obvious logic that I was looking for.

(chuckle) Bernie Asbell, do you even understand that?

- As any well travel person knows, the southern end of Idaho celebrates the ruffed grouse.

The northern end has none.

But the answer is one.

- Papa Hemingway, who was a writer- - It may be another state.

- And you're a writer, went out hunting, how many states beside Pennsylvania have the ruffed grouse?

- [Narrator] The answer is A, none.

Pennsylvania has sole claim to the ruffed grouse since 1931.

The name ruffed refers to the black feather around its neck.

Ruffed grouse are shy birds and loners.

If you see a flock, it's probably a hen with her chicks.

- Now, we would've had better pictures of real ruffed grouse if they weren't quite so shy, 'cause they really are hard to find.

And you maybe saw that hen and her little chicks run in the bushes.

That's about as close as you can get to them.

Nice going Kevin.

The score is Bernie's still ahead with four, Kevin's right behind with three.

It's so close!

Let's hear it for our whole panel.

(applause) Great logic being used over there.

Let's see if you can logic out, figure out the mystery Pennsylvanian.

Clue number three.

And I don't see a lotta writing going on.

He's famous for his short stories.

His novels include a trilogy about a rabbit.

That should give it to somebody.

First clue was he wrote a play called "Buchanan Dying," with this Pennsylvania native better known for other writings.

He was born in Shillington, Pennsylvania, edited the Lampoon at Harvard, and his first novel was called "The Poorhouse Fair."

And the last clue, famous for his short stories, and also for his novels.

And among his novels, a trilogy about a rabbit.

Puzzled looks on the part of some of our panelists.

Kevin, we're up to you, and ready to start.

You have any idea at all?

- I have drawn a blank, completely.

- [Lynn] That's perfectly all right, this is a tough one.

Nancy?

- I have no idea.

- A blank as well.

And on the third clue, you started writing.

- Drawing a blank is the man's name.

- Drawing a blank is!

(laughter) You say it's John Updike.

- John Updike.

- And you got that on the last clue.

It was the trilogy about the rabbit that made you think of- - [Bernie] Rabbit and a couple other things.

- Rabbit Run, and okay, let's see.

- [Narrator] John Updike was born and grew up in Shillington, near Reading in Berks County.

Updike's novels and poems reflect his roots, grown deep in Pennsylvania soil, like the dogwood tree his parents planted at his birth.

When he accepted the award as Pennsylvania's Distinguished Artist in 1983, John Updike acknowledged his debt to his home state.

- [John] Though I left Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania has never left me.

There is something God given in the richness and atmosphere of Pennsylvania that I have tried to reflect in my fiction and poems.

- [Narrator] You can see the Pennsylvania of Updike's hometown in his "Rabbit, Run" trilogy.

His Broadway play, "Buchanan Dying," is about the only Pennsylvania native to make it to the White House.

His poems and short stories reverberate with the richness of nature in Pennsylvania's outdoors.

John Updike, a famous Pennsylvanian.

- I think it is such a nice idea what his parents did.

They planted a dogwood tree outside his bedroom window when he was born.

And he sort of had a sense of his own roots as he watched the dogwood tree grow as he grew.

And he goes back to visit.

It's nice, a nice tradition.

- His mother is supposed to be a wonderfully lively lady, lives in Eastern Pennsylvania.

And right up here in Bellefonte is a scholar named Peter Schnaman, who's done a wonderful illustrated lecture on John Updike.

- Yeah, a very famous Pennsylvanian.

I'm not sure I would've got that from the clues I gave, 'cause Updike is not as well known as he ought to be.

'Cause he is a major American writer, I think.

In fact, you as a writer yourself didn't get it 'til the last clue.

So that was kind of a tough one.

- [Bernie] Well, a lotta respect for him.

- I see, we thank you for that.

Thanks, audience, for being here.

Thanks to the panel.

Thanks to you too.

Hope you'll be back again to play The Pennsylvania Game, and we'll see ya then.

(applause) - [Narrator] The Pennsylvania Game has been made possible in part by Uni Marts Incorporated, with stores in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Serving you with courtesy and convenience every day of the year.

(cheerful music) And from Landmark.

And Landmark is A, a savings and loan, B, a bank, C, a leading mortgage lender, or D, all of the above.

The correct answer is D, all of the above.

People to people: It's just a better way to bank.

(applause) (mellow music)