40-10-14 E-Z Slippers

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic finds out that he's about to become the recipient of many pairs of E-Z slippers for Christmas (just 10 weeks away).

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

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I'll bet you - like me - never realized that E-Z slippers were as popular on the show as all of this.

Perhaps you didn't realize that Mr. Sludge and Vic were 'arms around the neck, chummy.'  Well, they weren't.  But 1940 was a far different world than 2015 and beyond.  Mr. Sludge and Vic were neighbors.  They lived across the alley from each other.  Vic had talked baseball with Mr. Sludge - even though Vic had no interest in talking with him (he referred to him as a slob) {{{HEAR}}}  No, they weren't friends, but Mr. Sludge probably thought pretty highly of Vic, enough to MAKE him a pair of E-Z slippers.  I'll bet Vic didn't make Sludge anything.

Vic wasn't friends with Noah and Beulah either, but they sent him E-Z slippers.  Beulah's father rented to Vic.  That was enough of a connection to draw a homemade Christmas gift in 1940!

That's another thing about this episode - people made gifts for one another.  They took their own personal time to construct the gifts.  They didn't lay out $12 each at Walmart (Yamilton's) and purchase them by the bushel, like we might do today.

Trivia:

+  Miss Hammersweet's E-Z Slippers have little calendars on them.  They fit over the insteps like shoe buckles – small metal frames, and inside the frames are little... (we never find out the rest).

+ Who's Vic getting slippers from?  Miss Hammersweet, Beuhla and Noah, the Brainfeebles, Mr. Sludge, Ike Kneesuffer, Mr. Ruebush, H.K. Fleeber, and Mr. Gumpox.

43-11-29 A Garbage Wagon Pass

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Vic has come home early so he can be alone and do some accounting work... but things aren't going his way. He added up one of his columns wrong and put a decimal point in the wrong spot, his fountain pen is on the blink and to top off, Sade has called and he's not happy about his day.

To make matters worse, Uncle Fletcher comes over. Vic tries to pretend he's not there but is found out anyway. Uncle Fletcher senses he's intruded upon Vic's work but Vic still tries to be a good host. The two talk about an Annual Garbage Wagon Pass that Uncle Fletcher received in the mail and thinks Vic is the reason he got it from the Mayor. Vic says he knows nothing about it.

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I believe this is the first episode we have come across where the only two live characters in the show are Vic and Uncle Fletcher. Once Vic gives up on his work, the two have a fun time together.

Trivia:

+ Uncle Fletcher briefly mentions a man he knows named Walter Shoes - who he describes as a "careless painter."

+ Willis Rohrback comes to the back door of the Gook home to borrow a meat grinder.

+ The Annual Garbage Wagon Pass that Uncle Fletcher received in the mail was signed by Mayor Greecham. We find out in this episode that Vic knows the Mayor personally.

Uncle Fletcher talks about hanging up the telephone receiver: {{{HELP}}}

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42-08-06 Christmas Cards C.O.D.

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade - always on her toes to deflect Christmas card salesmen (especially during the summer months) is tricked into purchasing a set of cards from her niece, Euncie Helfer, who has deviously(?) mailed the package C.O.D.

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Sade doesn't really know if she was intentionally tricked or not. One might say then that if this really was a trick by Euncie, it worked perfectly.

Don't put it past Euncie to be devious. Recall in an earlier episode she put a nix to the letter-writing that Sade and her mother kept backing her into a corner -- by writing letters at an alarming rate.

Trivia:

+ Despite the fact that a set of the Toldeo, Ohio Christmas cards have always been ten dollars, Sade only had to pay $2.46 for her set from Euncie. Is that just the postage? We'll never know.

+ Sade received all the free gifts that come with a purchase of the Christmas card sets: a coupon entitling your initials to be pasted inside one of your hats, a coupon for one hour's worth of free parking in Toledo, Ohio and a coupon for three free handshakes from anyone you choose out of the telephone book of the St. Paul, Minnesota telephone directory.

+ Since the last episode about the selling of Christmas cards, the following people have taken up the job: Euncie, the Brick Mush man and Beulah Feeple.

+ Sade was wanting to put the Christmas cards away in the bottom buffet bureau drawer. Recall that the drawer has been relegated to a lot of items precious to Sade but also a lot of junk in the past.

+ Before she can put the cards up though, Rush wants to purchase them and give them to his friends.

+ Sade and Rush discuss the fact that "Sade is not a comical person."

+ Vic is away on an inspection tour for Consolidated Kitchenware.

+ The show's original ending has the organist playing Christmas music (this is an August episode.)

Rush and Sade read off some of the new '42 cards (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

CHRISTMAS CARDS

Before the advent of email and animated websites, people used to celebrate important occasions by using the postal service to send each other decorated pieces of sturdy paper, often featuring some sort of encouraging or celebratory verse. These notes were called "greeting cards." Do you remember them? Electronic communication has made them less prevalent, though they can still be purchased if one knows where to shop. They provided the recipient with a token of good wishes more permanent than a telephone call, or an email. Back when Vic and Sade was being produced, greeting cards were a principal way to commemorate important occasions.

Of course, I'm being facetious. Even today, the greeting card industry is far from dead. At one time, though, greeting cards were such an important part of life that they were available, not only in shops, but from enterprising friends and neighbors. A reader could hardly open a magazine without seeing advertisements for sales kits from greeting card companies. On Virginia Avenue, greeting cards – or more specifically, their sales agents – regularly figured in the adventures at the Gook home. Those magazine ads for greeting card salesmen must have been especially effective in that town. At least five of the neighbors compete for Christmas card sales, and at least five surviving episodes describe their attempts to sell cards to Sade. She is a reluctant customer, partly because she doesn't like to be coerced into a purchase, and partly because of the social politics that would be involved (after all, if she buys from one neighbor, she could offend the other ones.) She also objects to the idea of buying Christmas cards in the summer, which is when the sales pitches begin. But, most of all, Sade has no use for the absurd sentiments the cards express. They range from the insipid ("Give me a kiss and make me feel fine / This is Christmas Nineteen Thirty-Nine") to the offensive (". . .The Christmas season's here again / If I had a club, I'd smash your shin.") Even the premiums are no inducement. No one in the family has any use for an hour's worth of free parking in Toledo, Ohio; or has a desire to shake hands with any three inhabitants of St. Paul, Minnesota, listed in the telephone book. Though it's a great strain on Sade, she is able to resist the sales agents' overtures.

That is, until her young niece Euncie pulls a fast one. Maybe it was youthful naïveté, or a calculated ploy to unload her stock, but her method was to send her unsuspecting aunt a package, cash on delivery. When Sade pays the fee, she finds she has bought a box of Christmas cards. Naturally, this selection of cards has the most awful mottoes of any of them, including such warmhearted expressions as "You're ugly and stupid and mean as a fox / I wonder what old Santy will dump in your socks." Sade would never use greeting cards like these.

Now, I've always enjoyed this episode, for the observation Paul Rhymer makes, through the voice of Rush, about how men communicate. Rush points out that, when men want to show affection for each other, they do it through insults. Even Vic and his close friends frequently refer to each other as "horse thieves." The harsh expressions in these cards are, in fact, masculine endearments. To me, this was a revelation! For years, I had been troubled by the nasty things men say to each other. Even upstanding churchmen will jokingly impugn each other's intellect or character. I won't say I entirely approve of such conduct, but at least the reason for it is now clear. It really is a guy thing!. Rush then proves he is on the right path to manhood: he arranged to buy then from Sade, for use with his own circle of friends.

So, thanks to Rush, we learn that cutting cruelty can sometimes be rough kindness. In that spirit, I extend to you, at Christmas and always, this heartfelt wish:

I wouldn't' trust a rattlesnake like you any further than I can throw a rock.

Still and all, however, I hope you find two dollars, or its equivalent, in the toe of your shabby, worn-out sock! 

-  Sarah Cole 

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41-05-08 Landlord's Sneaky Trick

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Gook landlord, Mr. Erickson, drops by and tells Sade that he is giving the home the Gooks rent to his daughter Beulah Feeple as an anniversary present. He envisions wrapping up the house up in red ribbon and Rush being dressed up like Cupid to present the gift.

The bottom line is this: he's actually not giving Beulah the deed - thus, it really won't be her house. Basically, it's just another trick by the sneaky landlord but this time it's a sneaky trick against Beulah and not the Gooks.

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Erickson must really be a crumb. While Vic and Sade show no empathy to Beulah, this episode contains none of the usual derogatory comments leveled her way by Sade. So maybe there is some empathy for her, only hidden.

Trivia:

+ When Vic sees Rush coming up the sidewalk he says, "Here comes Raymond Belcher Beirman, the brainy bum from Buffalo." [Yet another reference to Beirman, who is showing up in many places in this part of the series.]

+ This is Beulah's 7th wedding anniversary.

+ Vic says, "The only advantage Beulah gets from the anniversary present is being able to say she owns property on Virginia Avenue."

+ Rush tries to tell a story about Smelly Clark (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush tells a quick story about Cracky Otto, who broke a violin over a guy's head and still tried to take violin lessons (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush tells another quick story, this one about Vernon Peggles and Leland Richards: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Freda was mentioned for the first time in the audio episodes. She is Heinie Call's sister.

Rush tells yet another quick story about Heinie at Freda's wedding: {{{HEAR}}}

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41-02-03 Wallpapering at Midnight

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Mr. Erickson (the Gook's landlord) seems to have a change of heart about the upstairs' wallpaper. Instead of apes and psychedilia, this time he brings samples of beautiful, high-quality paper. And he will have the upstairs papered quickly.

However, the one putting up the paper, Noah Feeple, Mr. Erickson's son-in-law (and husband of Beulah) has a job where he gets off at 11 pm, meaning that he would have to work after midnight for probably close to a week in the Gook's bedrooms in order to get the job done.

The wallpaper is so nice, Mr. Erickson is has been nice... now this. Sade silently cries.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:

"Has some change taken place in the chemistry of Erickson’s soul? Has some inner radiance found its way to the dark recesses of Erickson’s muddy spirit?"

"No, Vic. He’s the same old landlord."

Another sordid chapter in the saga of the wallpaper. Now, Mr. Erickson has finally brought in some attractive, quality wallpaper samples — but since Sade won’t let him skimp on the materials, he has decided to attempt to skimp on the labor. He wants to hang the wallpaper himself, together with his son-in-law and daughter…at midnight. That’s the only time, apparently, that the three of them are able to get together.

This sort of bait-and-switch technique is no surprise coming from Mr. Erickson. Recall when Sade finally wrestled him into doing some house repairs…only to find out that he wanted the family to do the bulk of the labor themselves. Of course, none of this ever flies with Sade. Eventually, she always gets her way. Erickson knows this. These stunts are just delaying techniques. Erickson knows she won’t put her foot down and threaten to move out, like Mis’ Scott — or, if she does, he’ll know that it’s nothing but a bluff. But he knows that if he keeps producing unacceptable and ridiculous solutions to the problem, and puts the onus on Sade to refuse his solutions, he’ll be able to delay the work as long as possible — maybe be able to track down a good deal on wallpaper or labor and save a little money. He’s a clever one, that Erickson.

This episode — and the whole wallpaper plot arc — illustrates a key aspect of Sade’s role in the show that I keep coming back to over and over: she is completely in charge of matters of the home. She contemplates Margaret Scott’s bluff charge at Mr. Erickson and decides that she could never pull it off herself — but never is it suggested that Vic, as the male head of the household, give it a try. Never does it fall to Vic to deal with the landlord. It’s always Sade. Vic actively avoids Erickson — he declines to go into the living room in this episode because he is “always uncomfortable in [Erickson’s] presence”. Vic even refers to the project as “your upstairs” — not “our upstairs” (“You’re no closer to gettin’ your upstairs papered than ya ever were, huh?”).

Vic is such a fish out of water in these matters that he doesn’t even know how to help, and when he sees Sade becoming increasingly upset, he resorts to the most basic solution for a lady in distress that he can pull out of the depths of his reptile brain. This, of course, is no balm to Sade’s wounds, since it’s obviously just a masculine fantasy that would have no utility in her modern, civilized world, and Vic’s desperate attempt at gallantry falls upon deaf ears:

VIC: Maybe next time I see Erickson I’d best paste him one upside the snoot.
SADE: Mm.
VIC: Whatcha think?
SADE: Oh…I don’t care.
VIC: I’ll carefully grasp him by the coat collar, I’ll draw my fist way, way back, and I’ll take careful aim, and I’ll let go.
SADE: Look at these lovely, lovely wallpaper samples…
VIC: Mmm.
SADE: [voice catching] They’re so pretty…
VIC: Mmm.

Poor Vic! Poor Sade! Poor Rush, who can’t get a word in edgewise in this episode for all the serious wallpaper talk! Poor everybody!

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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This is not a funny episode at all.  Instead, what this episode does is confuse us as to whether Mr. Erickson is a good guy or a bad guy. Did he get the quality material so that Sade would be faced with a hard letdown when she finds that Noah will paper the house only after midnight? Or does it show Mr. Erickson finally gives in to Sade and brings quality material and that he basically can't help the fact that Noah is only off after midnight?  The question is not answered so we must answer this ambiguous question for our individual selves.

Would Rush have said this?

Personally, I feel he gives in to her and brings quality wallpaper to appease her.  The fact that his son-in-law will get there late at night (he feels) is their problem.

However, the thing to do would be to hire someone to do it in the daytime.  Perhaps he could split that cost with the Gooks.  But hey, back to the blog - this isn't The People's Court.

Trivia:

+ If I still kept up with Rush being "radio abused" (which I discontinued after the 1937 season), this would certainly be one of the episodes I'd point to. Rush has insights on three different idioms used by his parents but instead of letting him enlighten them, each tell him they don't want to hear it. Vic is the most rude to him out of the two parents. Rush is virtually silent the entire episode.

+ Mr. Erickson's daughter Beulah is married to Noah Feeple (the first time he's been mentioned.) He is a telegraph operator and a general handyman.

+ Noah Feeple knows a bit about paper hanging but he is also adept at a bit of plumbing, carpentry and watch repair.

+ Sade called Beulah, "fat" again. She did not do that in the previous episode Beulah was on but did do that in Beulah's debut episode.

+ We find out that Mis' Scott/the Scotts also rent from Mr. Erickson. If you will recall this episode, the Donahues (before they moved) also rented from Mr. Erickson. So, we know he owns at least three houses on Virginia Avenue.

Since we know from the talk on the show that where the Gooks live is close to the High School and downtown, we can assume the property value there is pretty high -- meaning Mr. Erickson is probably a very wealthy man.

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41-01-15 Beautiful, Beautiful Wallpaper

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic and Sade are always frustrated at their landlord, Mr. Erickson. He's cheap and wants to take a shortcut or the least-expensive route to every house problem the Gooks have. Sade particularly has trouble with Mr. Erickson and in this episode, he avoids both her and Vic by dropping off samples of some new wallpaper at the Gook house with only Rush there to accept them.

The problem is, the wallpaper is not only cheap but ugly.  Many of the samples display pseudo-psychedlic, headache-inducing graphics or just plain ugly items, like the 2 or 3 mentioned during the show that have some sort of animated primate life colorfully displayed.

To top it off, Mr. Erickson's daughter has picked out "the best ones" and has given her fashion critique to several of the wallpaper samples. Of course, her ideas are a little off-the wall (pardon the pun!)

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic and Sade are struggling with their sleazy landlord Mr. Erickson again — this time on the matter of wallpaper. He’s brought them some options for their upstairs wallpaper, and none of them are good. 

A prime example of Paul Rhymer’s ability to paint hilarious word pictures. The humor in the episode is all visual — it’s about ugly wallpaper. But, much as we don’t need to hear the voices of the show’s secondary characters to appreciate them, we don’t need to see the wallpaper to laugh at it because the images Rhymer creates in our heads through the family’s descriptions and reactions to the wallpaper are funnier than any picture would be. I wonder if he saw any real-life wallpaper that inspired these ideas, or if it’s just a brief journey into madness. 

It’s great to listen to the whole family united in making merciless fun of something. Rush, as the holder of the patterns and the reader of Beulah’s notes, gets to hold court here and employs comic timing and deadpan delivery to entertain his parents (and us listeners). I think this is an especially entertaining episode, and the announcer, who is barely holding it together by the end of the episode, seems to agree with me.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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 TRIVIA:

+ We finally find out that Mr. Erickson's daughter is named, "Beulah."  In a previous episode, she was simply referred to as "Mr. Erickson's daughter."

+ For the first time in a long while (in the surviving audio episodes), Ruthie calls about playing "500."

Some beautiful, beautiful wallpaper: {{{HEAR}}}

HOW DO YOU PICTURE BEULAH?

I picture her as taking after her father in appearance and volume -- she is a stout woman with an unnecessarily loud laugh -- but not in character.  Her manners are a result of insecurity, rather than domination, and of familiarity rather than choice.  She is not a clever woman, and mimics her father because she knows one other model.  In fact, she most likely has never given her behavior any thought at all. - Sarah Cole

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39-03-08 Mr. Erickson's House Repairs

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic and Rush come home to find an axe by the washboard.

Sade has been after the landlord, Mr. Erickson, for a while to fix up the house. When she comes home, she tells them that Mr. Erickson has some crazy notion that the family can take turns (or make a game out of) destroying the staircase banister, to make his job easier when he finally does get around making the house repairs in the spring.  He's also left a knife for removing the wallpaper in the kitchen.

Sade doesn't like Mr. Erickson or his "fat daughter," who has gold teeth.  She called Mr. Erickson "greasy" and "oily!"

While Sade thinks this is a ridiculous idea, Rush thinks it's it will be fun and can't wait to help in the destruction.  (In later episodes we will see just how much Rush loves house destruction.)

MIS; CROWE SAYS:
Sade is concerned about landlord Mr. Erickson’s proposed plan for completing a few much-needed repairs on the house.

Although nostalgia is certainly a part of Vic and Sade's appeal, it is by no means the main feature that attracts people to the show. It's amazing to me how few episodes actually feel dated: some things just haven't changed since the 1930s. The indignity suffered by a renter is one of those things.

Mr. Erickson episodes are near and dear to my heart. I live in a college town where demand for cheap housing is high, and I am no stranger to creepy, oily, shady, irresponsible landlords; below-code apartments, fixtures falling off walls, crumbling staircases, unusable appliances, radon-filled basements that shouldn’t even have people living in them, and much-needed repairs taking eons to get done — and there’s not very much you can do about it because moving is a pain and you’re not going to find affordable housing anywhere else. Oh, Vic & Sade, how keenly I feel your pain!

For me, the best part of this is Rush’s (largely ignored) attempts to communicate to his parents that he is 100% in favor of the arrangement. He’s holding onto a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, his parents will go along with Mr. Erickson on this and he’ll get to take an axe and hack pieces out of the woodwork. His parents’ obvious dismay and disgust at the idea does not sway him — he still thinks that if he is sure to voice his opinion, he may have a chance. That’s one of the things I like about Rush — no scheme is too ambitious, no hope too high.  

Rush’s inane phone conversations with Bluetooth are hilarious in this episode too. (That’s another thing that hasn’t changed since the 30s — 14-year-olds use the phone way too much.)

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcription by Lydia Crowe)

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The issue with the house and it's repair pops up time and time again on Vic and Sade. Mr. Erickson likes to do things cheaply; hence, the axe and the knife.

While a work of fiction, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of landlord actually doing things like this!

Trivia:

+ This is the first time in the existing  audio shows that Mr. Erickson (and his daughter) are mentioned.

+ Mr. Gumpox is also mentioned. Vic and Rush suspect the axe they found belongs to him. (Mr. Gumpox is known to carry different tools in his garbage wagon, according to Rush.)

+ The Bijou is mentioned for the for time in the existing audio. Rush and Blue Tooth Johnson are going to the show.

+ The Greek is mentioned briefly.

+ Erickson's daughter (who we will later learn is named Beulah) lives on Mulberry Street.

+ So far, we know that Sade does not like Mr. Erickson, his daughter and now she's starting to turn on Mis' Applerot...

{{{HEAR}}} Rush asks if Blue Tooth Johnson telephoned...

{{{HEAR}}} Rush talks to Blue Tooth on the phone.

HOW DO YOU IMAGINE MR. ERICKSON?

Mr. Erickson sounds like a loud, corpulent man, with a round, moon-like face that always wears a smile; but with shrewd eyes constantly probing for financial gain. He thinks he impresses people with his good humor and open-handedness, but, because of his love for appearances over character, and bargains over value, he seems shabby and vulgar. - Mis' Sarah Cole

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