39-09-22 Wildflowers

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Sade had promised members of the Thimble Club some names of wildflowes and a little information about them.

Well the week goes by and she's forgotten all about it.

She knows Vic will save the day though, since he grew up on a farm out in the country. But Vic doesn't know a wildflower from Wild Thing.

However, Rush's imagination - blended with half facts and truths, provides some stunning wildflower information for 6 separate Thimble Club members.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Sade gathers last-minute information about wildflowers for her Thimble Club meeting.

In this episode, we find out that Vic and Sade’s is a mixed marriage — he was raised on a farm; she was raised in town. Sade has certain misconceptions about what farm life entailed for Vic. She seems to think growing up on a farm must have made him a naturalist and a botanical encyclopedia. However, this knowledge would not have been of much use to young Vic as he labored in the fields. He only knows about a few common, garden-variety flowers…plus the repulsively-named “rotten splotches.” (My parents once owned an elderly, incontinent house pet who earned this as a nickname, incidentally. The language of Paul Rhymer has pretty much cemented itself into our vernacular.)

Since Vic can’t provide the information (and Sade’s increasing annoyance at his good-natured efforts is one of the comedic high points of this episode), Sade turns to that master schemer and quick thinker, Rush. He helps her come up with a few facts…and a lot of fiction. Sade has probably criticized Rush in the fast for doing fast, sloppy, last-minute schoolwork. But now, I’ll bet she sees the value in this improvisatory skill set of his, one that is practiced and honed regularly by anyone who is in school. 

I love the glimpse we get of Rush’s moral compass:

SADE: Both Mis’ Oliver and Mis’ Carmelson will call out stuff at thimble meetin’ that ain’t true!
RUSH: Nobody’ll check up on ‘em, though. You take the average American citizen, he wouldn’t bother to go to the trouble —
[…]
SADE: Certainly made a botch of this. Makin’ ladies call out trash that ain’t even true!
RUSH: I wouldn’t worry, Mom. You’ll never get caught. 

Perhaps young Rush has a future as a politician?

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Rush's made up names, Sade's passing off the fake information and Vic's lack of wildflower knowledge just make for a lot of fun.

Trivia:

+ Mis' Carmelson, Mis' Welch, Mis' Cryder and Mis' Oliver are all mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio. They are all Thimble Club members.

+ Vic names several flowers he thinks might be of the wild variety. The actual wildflowers he does name are too common for Sade and the others are not wildflowers at all. The flowers he names are: dandelions, bluebells, chrysanthemums, tulips, iris, rotten splotches, carnations, heliotrope, sweet pea, orchids and poinsetta.

+ One of the wildflowers that Rush names is actually the name of a marble (kinnikinnick, but see Mis' Crowe's note at the bottom of the transcription.)

+ Mis' Appelrot is mentioned as being the Thimble Club Chairman ("chairwoman", these days!)

Rush makes up little-known facts about 6 wildflowers (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

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