42-02-26 Putting Up the Porch Swing

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

It's the end of February and Uncle Fletcher suggests to Rush that they go down to the basement and haul up the porch swing and put it up, thereby making them the first folks in the neighborhood to put up their porch swing.

When Sade and Vic find out what's going on, they consider it an asinine idea. Even though Uncle Fletcher is to blame, Rush gets the literal blame for it.

During the process of putting up the porch swing, Uncle Fletcher gets something in his tooth (and thinks everyone else does too) and he tells a series of stories.

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This episode is basically an excuse for Uncle Fletcher to tell some stories.

While this episode doesn't sound very good at least it's understandable, something many of the previous episodes of the last couple of weeks have failed to be.

Trivia:

+ When I first heard this episode and heard Sade mention her "watermelon pickles," I assumed this was something made up. But lo and behold, I found several recipes for it, including here, here and several more here, plus a video on how to make them.

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Also known as "pickled watermelon rind", it's a recipe based on pickling the rind of a watermelon. Doesn't sound too good to me, but apparently, someone likes it.  In China, the product is often used as a vegetable and can be found in stir fry and other dishes.

Rush and Uncle Fletcher broke a jar of watermelon pickles and also a jar of peaches while retrieving the porch swing.

+ According to Rush, porch swings are usually put up in June. As previously stated, this episode takes place at the end of February.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Elbow Rodgers, who was from Belvidere. He died while putting up a porch swing. He was lazy and his wife (he married her when she was 16) kept telling him to put up the swing. He kept putting it off. Finally, he made plans to put it up on a Tuesday-  but he was so worried about the prospect of having to put up the swing that he died.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Howie Meebler, also from Belvidere. He married a woman 42 years old. He moved to Los Angeles, Coloarda then to Indianapolis, Ohio and then to Kansas City, Oklahoma. He later died.

+ Another story is told, this one of Vernon Scruffles, from Sycamore. He went into the powdered rabbit business and moved to San Francisco, Oregon.

Again, I figured "powdered rabbit" was a made up product but I was totally surprised to find that there is such a thing; it's used primarily as a "glue" to coat a painter's canvas because some paints will actually destroy a canvas, especially most linseed oil-based paints, which contain (or perhaps, used to contain) acid enough to eat through an untreated canvas.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Bert Yakey from Sterling. He used to wear short knickerbocker pants and a straw hat with roses in it. He married a woman 19 years old, moved to Minneapolis, Michigan and went into the evaporated vinegar business. He learned how to do after-dinner tricks with a lighted cigar. He shot his brother's big toe off by mistake and later died.

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