44-05-03 Russell Has Three Bosses

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Putting up the swing is a ritual

It's time to put up the porch swing and Russell is elected.  Despite plenty of others around to help (Sade, Vic and Uncle Fletcher), Russell must do it alone.  Why?  Because he's one rotten little trivial laborer, that's why.

SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________

Russell is at his best when thoroughly agitated.  It's shame we can't hear this one.

I imagine the ritual of putting up and taking down the porch swing was used for an episode backdrop most every year that Vic and Sade was on the radio.

TRIVIA:

* This episode implies that the Husher family lives on Virginia Avenue and is near the Gook house.  Also, the McForper family live on Virginia Ave. (To my knowledge, this is their only time mentioned).  The McForper's left their porch swing out during the winter and it's deep into spring in this episode; Sade considers this a knock on their housekeeping.

* Lodge devotee Honky J. Sponger was mentioned a few times in the script; one time his name was typed as "Honky G. Sponger".

42-12-18 Vic and Dr. Keevy

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade tries to sucker Vic to go on a trip to the Bijou (Gloria Golden, ugh!) and also visit Dr. Keevy's office, which has recently been refurnished. In the end though, Vic's well-documented fear of the dentist saves the day.

SEE THE SCRIPT: (part 1) (part 2)

 ____________________

Until now, we've been under the impression that various Dr. Keevy's office rendezvous with Lolita di Rienzi and Pom Pom Cordova were all Vic's idea.  The script here suggests the original idea for using Keevy's office as a meeting place, belonged to Sade.

+ Gloria Golden and Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman teamed up on screen for the flick, Kiss Oh Kiss These Lips of Mine, Assistant Trailer-Camp Manager Anderson.

+ Rush mentions the National Safety Council.  It sounds like they may have asked Paul Rhymer to include a PSA... and he double-crossed them:

+ Dr. Keevy's grand furnishings set him back $200. That's about $3000 today!

40-12-26 Gumpox's Traveling Bed

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

There's big-doings at the Bright Kentucky Hotel as Rush, his pals and a
newspaper reporter have been invited by Mr. Gumpox to witness occupied beds traveling down hallways, passing each other!  This is just another of the bizarre things that happen in their crazy world.

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

_______________

Yes, it's all true... and Vic and Sade are so enthralled with the story that they allow Rush to be out past 1 a.m.

Sade wants to tell the story to Mis' Donahue, who's bound to laugh out loud.

Trivia:

+ Blue Tooth's real name is William Gazelle Johnson.

+ There's yet another barber (who works at the Butler House Hotel's barbershop) living at the Bright Kentucky: Cunningham.  His bed is prone to take off too, when the long, heavy trains barrel past the run-down eyesore.

+ Mr. Gumpox says that when they are in bed and he passes Cunningham in the hall, they wave at each other and say, ''Ta ta'' and ''Bon voyage'', respectively.

+ According to Sade, it appears that sometime prior to this episode, a train jumped the tracks and plowed into Gumpox's room.  That'd be a fine how-do-you-do, wouldn't it?

+ Though we have heard and read accounts of beds traveling down the halls of the Bright Kentucky, this is the first account we have in script form.

xx-xx-xx Rush Reveals Recent Exploits of Blue Tooth Johnson

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

• Rush tells tales on Blue Tooth Johnson. 
• He took his whole Sunday School class to lunch at the Purple Room inside the Butler House Hotel Restaurant. 
• He was sitting in study hall at 2:15 and went to sleep and fell out of his chair and landed on Leland Richards' foot that stuck out in the aisle - Leland, Mildred Tisdel and Eunice Raypole hollered in fright. 
• He was called on in class by Miss Monroe to answer a question but his upper jaw was glued to his lower jaw by some homemade taffy; he was sent to Mr. Chinbunny's office where his taffy was confiscated.  - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

___________________

Blue Tooth is capable of almost any kind of mayhem.  He flies under-the-radar on the show; we tend of think of him as just a fellow that Rush tags along with to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball.  But Blue Tooth's exploits run almost the full course of the series and though he's not a hoodlum, he certainly can find trouble of all shapes and sizes.  A look at his character at the character database wouldn't be a waste of time.

The date is unknown although the show aired prior to Rush leaving for the Navy.  The title is not known and the one given here was made up by me, purely for identification purposes.  That being said, I still had detailed notes on the episode but critical data was missing.

44-03-28 Grown Men Trading Names

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic tells the Sade the news that Stacey Yopp and Y.I.I.Y. Skeeber are "trading names".  It sounds ludicrous to you and I - and it sounds just as asinine to Sade.

Though it's clear she understands, she needles Vic, probably because she thinks all of his friends are lunatics (and let's face it, most of them are). 

If you like a cold Sade, you'll love this one. 

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________

What could be more ridiculous than grown men exchanging names with each other?  Why would Stacey enjoy the name Y.I.I.Y. better?

The fact that there is a ceremony (Hank's going to sing a couple of songs, there's going to be food, etc.) is even more ridiculous.

44-03-09 Uncle Fletcher Plans Entertainment For Roy Dejectedly's Visit

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

• Fletcher still expects a visit from Roy Dejectedly.  He's riding down with Harry Giggletta, who's on his way to Springfield on business and will drop Roy off from 7 am to 7 pm.
• Planned entertainment includes a ride on Mr. Gumpox' garbage wagon, an introduction to Ernie Fadler at the Interurban Station, a visit with Pelter Unbleet at the Bright Kentucky Hotel.
• Roy and Pelter both spent the summer of nineteen-aught-nine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, yet they've never met each other.  Also a visit to B. B. Baugh at the Butler House Hotel barber shop, because they're both inventors.
• Fletcher clarifies: Roy didn't actually invent Hyena Grease, but he did discover the ingredients that make it suitable for smearing on shoes.  Uncle Fletcher wants to include a visit to Vic's office on the schedule.  Vic suggests a full inspection tour of the whole works, and Fletcher is thrilled.  "Roy Dejectedly'll scream like a half-wit panther!"
• Vic reads news article aloud: "Windsor, Ontario man experiments with raw oysters."  Sade resents interruption of her own reading.
• "Hartman L. Kacker, little-known merchant of Windsor, Ontario claims he expects to astound science in the near future with new and…"
• Uncle Fletcher on the weather: "Might sneeze itself up a light snow before morning."  - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

___________________

If this episode is any indication, the visit by Roy Dejectedly was planned four months ahead (since December 21, 1944 - this would also mean that Paul Rhymer must have had this trip planned in his head/on paper for almost four months).

You wonder why there is a 12 hour window for Gigletta to drop off Roy?

Though the entertainment for Roy seems sparse, one would imagine any of Fletcher's friends in town would enjoy that kind of entertainment; Roy probably would also.

44-02-09 Hank Hired as Detective

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

• Vic arrives happy and excited to announce that Hank Gutstop's got a job as House Detective at the Butler House Hotel.
• Sade assumes Hank will need Vic's financial help.  The Butler House manager thinks they ought to advertise the presence of a detective by having Hank wear a suit with loud checks, a fancy vest, big yellow bull-dog-toed shoes, and either a derby or a duck-hunter's cap.
• Uncle Fletcher: "Virgil McRoppstitch invented the shirt with removable pin-stripes."  He had a kit of special tools to do the job.  He also invented the shirt with removable polka-dots, which required two kits of special tools.
  Virgil's brother Ralph liked oranges.
• Uncle Fletcher tells the story about the McWilliamson County picnic.  Everybody at the annual McWilliamson County picnic was asked to make a list of the articles he was fondest of.  Ninety-nine percent wrote down "Mama," followed by candy, peanuts, Sunday school, automobile rides… Reverend Klinger preached a sermon on it: "There is one among us here in this community on the rich plains of Illinois whose heart goes out to the things of the world rather than the things of the spirit." - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

___________________

Though Hank had part-time jobs (very, very part-time) this job as a detective was the only job that lasted any amount of time.

It seems he had a place to live at least most of this time (recall he was going to live in a barbershop once and was seen sleeping near the railway and on the courthouse lawn.) He probably did some singing to scare up a few bucks every now and again - at weddings and christenings and what-all.  But  I wouldn't doubt half of income during the job drought came from Vic.

He also may have made some money playing pool for at one time, as he hung around the Lazy Hours Pool Hall. 

The job as detective would last from this date (February 9, 1944 until the end of the show's run.)

If his writing tells us anything at all, Paul Rhymer was probably fond of peanuts as they are mentioned often.  Sunday school is mention a lot too.

43-11-25 Fletcher's All Dressed-Up

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Yes!

Both Vic and Russell have just seen Uncle Fletcher on Kelsey Street all dressed up. Uncle Fletcher stops past and they try to find out why... Uncle Fletcher explains he'd been sitting on the cistern lid whittling a shoe-horn when Mis' Keller poked her head out the window and suggested it would be a good time to fix his everyday pants, which he had on. So he changed into his good pants. Figured it would make sense to put on his good shirt, too. And his good coat and shoes and vest and suspenders and sleeve-garters, and socks and hat.

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________

When someone asks you what Vic and Sade is really all about - and you tell them that it's not really about anything - and when they give you that puzzled look, you can show them this script.  That's when they shrug their shoulders and leave you as they head for the television.

This episode is simply about Sade's uncle changing clothes.  He figures he'll go ahead and get dressed up, you know, why the heck not?  Vic and Sade and Russell were a bit curious, but really, they really could have cared less!

And THIS is typical of the show.  Even so, it's entertaining as a horse.  For instance, is this not typical of Uncle Fletcher?:

But my favorite is this one:

This episode took place on Thanksgiving day.

41-xx-xx Uncle Fletcher and Sade Will Have Lunch Together

STARRING: BERNADINE FLYNN AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

It's morning and Mis' Keller, Uncle Fletcher's landlady, has just left on the train. Before she left, she packed him a box lunch.  The box includes cold chicken, bread and butter sandwiches, watermelon pickles, cabbage cole slaw, molasses cookies and coffee (in a Thermos.)  He has plans to go and visit Ed Kennedy and eat his box lunch there, because Ed owns a gas station there at the corner of Morris Avenue and Route 66.  Fletcher can watch the cars and the people while he eats.

But before he goes, he stops by and visits his niece, Sade.  After they talk, they decide to eat lunch together.

SEE THE SCRIPT

____________________

Another episode where there's not much going on.  Sade has received a postal card from her sister Bess and she tries hard to read it to Fletcher but she keeps getting interrupted by him.  He keeps talking about how he should never be trusted with a postal card because he loses them all of the time; (that's true with his other mail too.  Besides, he doesn't really want to hear the postal card, you'd imagine.)

Vic and Mr. Buller are eating at the Purple Room of the Butler House Hotel; this seems to happen every time Mr. Buller (from Chicago) is in town.

Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Steve Yowper from Belvidere; got into a "rassling" match with a fellow who had a thermometer - when the thermometer got up to 100 in the shade he got overheated, asked for a glass of cold lemonade, climbed on his bicycle, waved to the girl he was gonna marry, keeled over and kicked the bucket in "19 aught 10." He would have been 47 his next birthday.

35-03-18 Sword Too Long or Vic Too Short?

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic has gotten his ceremonial lodge sword and he's excited.  That is,
until he has several accidents.  Is the sword too long, or is he too short?

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

___________________

Announcer Ed Roberts talked a bit about this episode:  (((HEAR)))

Perhaps now we know why Vic rarely uses his sword - the thing is way too big for him!

Both Vic and Hank Gutstop seem to be very proud of their robes.  Note that Gutstop has been wearing his Little Dipper robe so much that he had to send it out to be cleaned already (he got it three weeks prior).

Trivia:

+ The sword cost only five dollars.  What a bargain!  (Depression prices).

+ The show ends in a different way, although we must remember that this was 1935:

35-02-22 Vic's Dinner Invitation to Mr. Buller

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

We're delicious!

Mis' Brighton and Mis' Chilly are expected to visit Sade this noon.  Sade has baked some "dainty, little white cakes" (with the obvious help of Crisco) for the ladies and makes it clear to Vic and Rush that they can only have the leftovers.

Vic announces he will dine lightly.  He's ordered beef punkles and Limber-schwartz cheese from Mr. Croucher, which he intends to cook and feed to Mr. Buller this eve in the kitchen while Sade entertains in the living room. However, Sade's concerned about the strong odors from the cheese. She suggests to Vic that he move his dinner to the Butler House Hotel.

Vic announces he'll cook in the basement.  Sade's not happy about this.  But Mis' Brighton calls apologetically, wanting to postpone her visit until next week.  She and Mis' Chilly heard about Croucher's special.  Beef punkles and Limber-schwartz cheese are Mis' Chilly's favorite foods!  Sade tells them to come ahead.  When she calls Croucher's to order more beef punkles and cheese, she finds they are sold out, so she offers to allow Vic to feed Mr. Buller the "dainty little white cakes" and she can feed the beef punkles and cheese to her lady friends.

SCRIPT (Part 1) (Part 2)

________________________________________

 
TRIVIA:

* We previously knew that Miss Kinney was Rush's Latin teacher in High School, but we find out (suspect, anyway) here that she was also a teacher at his Junior High.

Vernon (imagined)

* Vernon Alberts is a character I would like to know a lot more about.  We have very little to go on, but oddly, his father doctors him.  It appears as though he was only in episodes when Rush was in Junior High School; however, we know his father was a veterinarian and the young boy seems to take his cue from that.  Everything we know about this kid is animal-related -- and not in a good way.

* Wanting to "eat light", Vic was planning on eating "bread and milk for lunch.  (This could be cornbread and buttermilk...).

* Mis' Chilly is Mis' Brighton's sister-in-law.

* Mis' Drummond's first name is Ida.  "Bulldog" is her son; he was a nemesis of Rush during the first few years of the show.  The Drummond's never move (they are around in the 'Russell years') but for some reason, Bulldog is never mentioned in the later (post-1938) scripts/audio.

* Vic comments that Mr. Buller "just about goes mad" over Limber-schwartz cheese and beef punkles.  And you know, who doesn't?  According to Vic, he and Buller plan to eat the deli delights for an hour-and-a-half.

* It is inferred in the script that beef punkles give off a stinky odor when they cook, as the word "offended" is used in relation to the guests having to smell the odor, not to mention "horrible reek"; even uncooked it "smells terrible" (Rush).   As a matter of fact, it smells so bad, Sade instructs Rush to put Vic and Buller's food outside on the porch! And, much like Stingyberry Jam, it is said the punkles "crawl" all over the house (certainly a knock on it's odor).

* The cheese doesn't smell good either.  We get a glimpse into Rush's child activities when he talks about the smell of the slaughterhouse.  You can just see those young scallywags wandering down there for fun and amusement.

* Dan Quayle = doofus, right?  This script, and many others, show that writer Paul Rhymer often misspelled 'potato' with an 'e'; either that, or the 'e' was commonplace and acceptable in the Midwest at one time.  Yet, Quayle (from neighboring Indiana) is an "idiot" and Rhymer is a "genius".

34-12-03 The Coal-man Makes a Delivery

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade has some minor trouble with a foul-mouth coal delivery man.  She tells Vic, who, in anger, reasons he will confront the man the next time he sees him.

Seconds later, Vic finds out the guy is back -- and he confronts him alright, but not in an angry sort of way.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

____________________

A coal delivery wagon

Though Vic did somehow get into a fight (and won) with Mike Towers that once, we all know Vic is not a fighter. While he gets angry, it's a childish anger and he's not really made up of the stuff it takes to fist fight with any kind of success.

Basically, the coal-man looks to be a bruiser. And though he let loose a slurry of cussing, Vic would wisely rather give the guy expensive cigars then try and paste him one upside the snoot.

Trivia:

+ Even in 1934, Vic and Buller were probably eating at the Blue Room of the Butler House hotel.

44-09-21 Harry Feedburn Arrives

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Looking "as nice" as he's "ever looked," Uncle Fletcher is decked out to meet the 9:45 pm train which carries Mr. Feedburn. Wasting the time away at the Gook house, both Vic and Sade take small shots at him.

________________________

Perhaps the most insignificant of all episodes, this one seems to go nowhere. It does however, add a piece to the ongoing Mis' Keller-getting-married story.

Trivia:

+ Among the articles of clothing Uncle Fletcher is wearing are a corduroy cap and a leather necktie.

+ We already know that Uncle Fletcher is loaded down with wedding responsibilities; another of them is setting the wedding date! He has not set the date as of this episode.

+ Mr. Feedburn was coming in on the Chicago-Alton train... meaning he was coming from Chicago.

+ Mr. Feedburn is a "well-to-do" man - meaning he's wealthy.

+ Mr. Feedburn is going to share the Bridal Suite room in the Butler House Hotel with Hank Gutstop; a private fee was negotitiated but the Butler House folks will know nothing about him staying at the hotel.

+ Hank Gutstop is inexplicably still working as the house detective at the Butler House.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-09-19 Vic to be Best Man

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Uncle Fletcher has dire news for the Gooks and calls Vic to come home from the office early. Upon arrival, Uncle Fletcher tries to give the job of 'best man' of the upcoming wedding of his land lady/Mr. Feedburn to Vic, who wants no part in the wedding ceremony and does not understand why he was dragged home from the office.

Then, Uncle Fletcher really pulls the rabbit out of the hat when he suggests that Mr. Feedburn - who is arriving two weeks prior to the wedding - stay at the Gook house in the interim.

Sade, while not refusing, questions his request in such a way that we know she will eventually refuse.

________________________

Vic and Sade, while trying not to be negative to Uncle Fletcher during his busy time of helping prepare for the wedding, have to be on their guard; for Uncle Fletcher is full of surprises and is trying to brush off some of the responsibilities off on the couple.

Has he bitten off more than he can chew? Why does he care if his land lady gets married? Why did he take oceans of responsibility if he wasn't able to tackle it? Questions better left until another episode because the answers aren't in this one.

Trivia:

+ Russell asks permission to go to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball; this is the first time I recall either he or Rush asking permission to do that. As a matter of fact, the only things I ever recall the boys needing permission to do anything was for sleeping over at a friend's house and going to the Bijou on a school night (many times.)

+ When Russell arrives at the house, Uncle Fletcher wants Vic, Sade and himself to go to Vic's office at the Consolidated Kitchenware plant so they can be alone. When Vic questions Uncle Fletcher about this asinine suggestion, Sade tells Russell to "Go down cellar." It may not seem that funny to the casual Vic and Sade fan but it struck me as being one of the top 50 or so moments in the show's history; this is because of the way Bernadine Flynn delivers the line (almost a whisper to Russell) and the fact that in a previous episode, Uncle Fletcher tried to shoo Sade and Russell into the cellar to talk business with Vic.

I'm guessing that writer Paul Rhymer was shooed into the cellar in his youth or just has a warped sense of humor. Cellars are no place to congregate and spend time. Imagine the spiders and whatnot down there... Either way, the notion (to me anyway) is hilarious.

Russell, understanding he's "not wanted" during the "big news" suggests, "Why don't I go to the Miller Park lake and jump in? I'd be just about as welcome there..."

+ There are a number of lines in this episode that are funny but only if you have been following the whole "Mis' Keller is getting married" thing. Uncle Fletcher deems it necessary to talk superfluously while speaking about his responsibilities and has been repeating the phrase, "the unbearable alternative" throughout the weeks of this particular storyline. When he says it in this episode, Vic suggests he gets the meme "tattooed to his chest."

+ When talking about the two hotels in town - the Butler House and the Bright Kentucky - Uncle Fletcher says, "One is expensive and one is shabby." While this is true and it's well-known to even the casual Vic and Sade fan that reads Vic and Sade material strewn over the internet (Wikipedia for example.) This is the first time the two hotels have been compared in this exact stereotyping.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-07-20 Uncle Fletcher Talks Business

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Uncle Fletcher, who is staying in Hank Gutstop's Bridal Suit(e) hotel room and caring for his pets, comes over to the Gook house to be big, tell how 'busy' he is and 'talk business' with Vic, who does his best to humor him.

SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

________________________

One of the funnier moments in this episode is Uncle Fletcher fearing that 'talking business' will puzzle or bewilder Sade and Russell: {{{HEAR}}}

Trivia:

+ Russell reads from a 3rd Lieutenant Stanley book (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ When Russell hangs up Uncle Fletcher's hat, Uncle Fletcher didn't have a copper (penny) to give him but cajoles a "thank you" out of him anyway!

+ Hank Gutstop's bridal suite is also known as #1A Mezzanine.

+  From notes left by Barbabra Schwarz, it seems there was a part of the original script that was taken out, probably because of time constraints.

This part is where Fletcher is talking to Russell about his schoolwork:

UNCLE FLETCHER: Cipher out your arithmetic lessons to the best of your ability, solve the various examples correctly on your slate, and the professor won't find it necessary to cuff, cane, or flog you.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

44-07-19 Uncle Fletcher's New Lodging

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Uncle Fletcher informs his niece Sade that he will be staying at a hotel; she immediately thinks he is there to scare her once again into thinking that he may be moving into the dangerous Bright Kentucky Hotel.

But Hank Gutstop, who is still working for the Butler House Hotel as a house detective, is going on vacation and has asked Uncle Fletcher to stay in his Bridal Suit(e) for a two week period as he has pets that need feeding.

________________________

Uncle Fletcher still feels an important development may be stirring in regards to his landlady, Mis' Keller, and her gentleman friend who resides in Yellow Jump, North Dakota, but it could be two weeks away.

Let's see, two weeks away - the same amount of time as his stay at the Butler House. Is the whole thing with Mis' Keller-getting-married just a trick by Uncle Fletcher to have some kind of puppet string on Sade so she will pay oceans of attention to him?

Trivia:

+ Uncle Fletcher refers to Ruthie Stembottom as "Mis' Whatchamacallit" and "Mis' Whatchamafunny."

+ It is explained in this episode that Russell is away with friends at "the lake."

+ The date of this broadcast was July 19, 1944. That means that Hank Gutstop has had his detective job exactly 155 days or more than 5 months. Go figure!

+ Hank Gutstop has a parakeet, fish and a cat. It's hard to believe the Butler House Hotel would allow pets, especially a cat.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

43-12-02 Cleaning the Bookcase

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE


It's time to clean the bookcase and so Sade gets young Russell to help her do so.

Once they go digging in the bookcase, they find a myriad of books and pamphlets with unusual titles.

________________________

Fun episode where Paul Rhymer gets to play with ridiculous made-up titles.

Trivia:

+ A pamphlet was found: "Doctor Fumble - scientific chemist whose compound [is], "The Famous Raspberry Bitters for Nervous, Frantic, Run-down People, Who is Willing to Bet a Thousand Dollars You Don't Know Your Own Stomach."

+ A book was found: "Our Friend the Diamondback Rattler." It used to belong to Blue Tooth Johnson; it was given to him on his 7th birthday by his grandmother. The book provides proof that Blue Tooth's real name is "Edwin" - we also know that Rooster Davis also has the real first name of "Edwin."

+ There are two books that we can deduce probably belong to Vic: "I Marched in 48 Parades in a Single Weekend and Lived to Tell the Tale" and "The Efficiency of the Pennsylvania Lock and a Step Compared with the Redbank, New Jersey Giant Stride."

+ Another book found: "The Exhaustive Study of the Muscles of the Forearm" which belongs to Raymond Surrells. He had found the book at the Miller Park Zoo in front of the lion's cage. Recall that Sade also found a book at the Miller Park Zoo once.

+ A leaflet is found entitled: "Think of Your Toes as Sweet Flowers in the Garden and Give Them Pretty Names and You Will Drop Off to Sleep Quickly and Beautifully" - Russell contends these leaflets were given out at the Butler House Hotel barbershop to guys waiting to get a haircut.

+ The book, "A Fish and How They Got No Sense" was found and inside of it someone had written this on the flyleaf: "I found the dead crushed violets you concealed in my mashed potatoes and gravy, Howard and also the little bracelet of seashells."

Vic and Sade boasts a history of other things hidden in mashed potatoes including butter patties and olives.

+ Sade says she saw a man at Yamilton's passing out literature that looked exactly like Gus Fuss, the Consolidated Kitchenware employee from Dubuque, Iowa, who had once Visited Vic.

+ We learn that Oyster Cracker's cousin Lombard is slyly sarcastic; so much so that his victims sometimes don't realize the sarcasm until hours later.

+ Sade reveals that she keeps her best hat in the bottom buffet drawer.  That must be a huge drawer with all the stuff that's in there.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

43-11-19 Caribbean Dream Flute

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Sade reads in the paper again about Pom Pom Cordova; this time she's playing the tropical guitar at the luxurious Purple Room of the Butler House Hotel.

After bringing up the subject with Vic, she then learns that he's been meeting up with Pom Pom and Lolita di Rienzi at Dr. Keevy's office on several occasions and even on consecutive days.

While Sade doesn't seem to suspect Vic is up to no-good, she still wields the situation over his head hoping he will say the wrong thing to dig himself deeper in a hole.
But Vic is innocent and his only crime is found to be wanting to learn how to play the Caribbean Dream flute, which Mis' Cordova tells him would sound well in duets with her tropical guitar.

________________________

Like all men, even when Vic is innocent, he sounds guilty.

Vic hit the nail on the head when he says that Sade is making a big deal out of the situation because she wants drama in her life. That's not to say that Sade is a bad person but she enjoys picking on Vic, especially when there really is something there to mess with him about.

Is he carrying on some naughty tryst with Pom Pom and Lolita? Most assuredly not. Still, he did act secretly and that makes for an episode where we get to hear him try and wiggle out of something he didn't do.

Trivia:

+ Russell's absence in this episode is explained by him being at the YMCA, watching the fat men play handball. This is the first time we've heard him enjoying this activity.

+ We find out that Lolita lives in the Monte Carlo Apartments. That's the first time they've been mentioned.

+ Dr. Keevy is a candidate to become a member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way.

+ There seems to be a missing episode that has Dr. Keevy wanting to take Vic, Pom Pom and Lolita arund the country to various dentist offices so he can show them "wonderful teeth."

+ Pom Pom said she could tell by looking at Vic that he was musical.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

43-10-26 Honorary Lodge Member

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Vic's friend, B.B. Baugh, finds himself smitten with Honorary Lodge Member Pom Pom Cordova. Vic implores Sade to help him plan a party so the two people can meet.

________________________

While on the surface this doesn't seem so ridiculous, upon listening to the tale you'll find it's all preposterous.

Trivia:

+ For the first time in the surviving series, we hear Russell read from a Third Lieutenant Stanley book. This one is about counterfeiting snake charmers.

+ E. W. Smith lives in Emporia, Kansas. He's a member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way. In the past, he has had a bad habit of stealing horses. (Pom Pom Cordova though, was made an honorary lodge member because she helped him break the horse-thieving habit.) (((HEAR))) (((HEAR)))

+ Pom Pom Cordova (also originally from Emporia, Kansas) now lives in Belmont Beach in the Bahama Islands. She is one of the very, very few women to ever become an honorary lodge member. She's in town and staying as the houseguest of Lolita di Rienzi. This is the first time she is mentioned in the surviving series.

+ The Gooks pronounce Bahama as: [buh-hay-muh.]

+ Dr. Keevy's dentist office was once again used as a meeting place, this time for Vic and his friends.  I added Doctor Keevy's office to the map.

+ Two women were mentioned for the first time but nothing else but a mention: Lena Murphy and Opal McSlunk.

THE ALLURE OF POM POM AND LOLITA

Though the world of Vic and Sade is filled with people of unique talents and interests, they themselves do tend to be as familiar as a housedress. But, among these commonplace eccentrics, Lolita Di Rienzi and Pom Pom Cordova stand out as genuinely exotic women. While most women come from nearby towns, Pom Pom is from the Bahamas. When other women consider a watch fob a suitable gift for a boss, Lolita suggests "A pannier de pommes de terre." Where most women pride themselves on their housekeeping, these glamorous ladies play the Carribean Dream Flute and the Tropical Guitar. They embody the adventure and romance that may lie beyond the horizon of everyday experience -- beyond Vic's, certainly. He loves his wife, and he loves his home, but, when he is with them, he catches a whiff of sea spray and orchids. Just a hint, though, that reminds him of the safety of his comfortable family. Sade knows this, and smiles indulgently at his encounters.

On the housedress of washrag sales, Thimble Club meetings, and cornet solos, Lolita and Pom Pom are the sequins.  - Sarah Cole

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!

43-07-12 Gumpox's Lodge Regalia

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Mr. Gumpox is innocently proceeding through his garbage route wearing an old lodge robe and plumme' hat that was given to him by Ike Kneesuffer. This enrages Vic, who plans on stopping Gumpox, make him remove the regalia and ceremoniously bury a fish, per Volume 7 of the Lodge Library.

________________________

Trivia:

+ Vic is so upset, he comes in the front door. We know that coming in the front door is something Sade does not allow. The blinding rage also makes him say, "Gumbage man Garpox."

+ "Sarah" is the name Vic uses for Sade 11 different times in this episode.

+ Sade relays two previous instances where lodge regalia was worn inappropriately: Vic had asked Sade to "destroy" an old plumme' lodge hat, which she simply took and put in the trash. Mr. Gumpox retrieved it and put it on Howard as a sun hat; Hank Gutstop once wore full lodge regalia when he worked as the official greeter at the Butler House Hotel.

+ Ruthie Stembottom was once so taken with the design of Vic's Exhalted Big Dipper robe that she had patterned a dress out of it but Vic intervened to squash those plans.

+ Russell mentions a friend he played baseball with at Tatman's vacant lot, Raymond Surrells, who noticed Russell had bloodied himself sliding into second base.

Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!