37-04-07 Rush, Mildred and Eunice

Sketchy details at best, provided by the script from 37-04-08 Chef Donahue (which ran the following day after this episode) which talks about Rush sending telegrams to Mildred Tisdel and Eunice Raypole.

Why he did this is not revealed but it seems certain that both girls were wanting him to do something he wasn't inclined to do.

The date is certain but the title is one I made up purely for identification purposes.

37-04-08 Chef Donahue

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Mis' Donahue is away in Wisconsin, so Sade offers to cook for Mr. Donahue.  He ate there earlier in the week, so he tells Sade that he'll do the cooking, much to the chagrin of Sade.

While Donahue is cooking, Sade is furious.  Will her anger cease?

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________________

It's a not a big deal but take note that the episode begins with Vic and Rush walking home; in doing so, they must have a two minute or so long conversation, certainly making this the longest conversation on a walk home in the history of the show (at least that we know about).

Trivia:

* There's a great deal mentioned in the script about what happened the prior day, which was a Tuesday. Since they are talking about it in the script, I think it is safe to say that these events took place in the previous episode.

* Mr. Kuppitch was mentioned.  He's a Consolidated Kitchenware big-shot from Cleveland.

40-08-12 Sade's House is Not the Way She Left It

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Sade's come home from a trip to Carberry and notices the house is surprisingly clean but things are not exactly where they were when she left.

She comes to find out that (mostly) Blue Tooth Johnson made a mess and Rush had to clean it up.  He gets a few things mixed up but for the most part, Sade seems surprised and pleased.

SEE THE SCRIPT

____________________

Vic broke an olive and pickle plate but Sade wasn't in the least bit upset. Fifteen months later, Sade would be very upset when Rush would break her antique pickle and olive shoe and still seething, would even write a poem about it 11 months later to convey her feelings.

38-12-16 Rooster Davis' New Spectacles

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

While the Gooks wait for the noontime meat to get done,  Rush says that Rooster Davis came to school this day, wearing glasses.  That's not a big deal.

What is a big deal is how the glasses were attached to him.  Not by hooks around his ears, but by a very long black ribbon (more than 6 feet long) that was attached to a brooch with fake diamonds!

SEE THE SCRIPT

___________________

The script begins with an unusual letter from Bess; this one goes into a bit of detail about Walter's kneecap and Bess even makes a joke, saying his kneecap has "gone off the reservation" - that is, his kneecap is on the "warpath."

For Bess, who doesn't make jokes (despite her literary "ha ha's")  that was a fairly special joke.

Horse!

RUSH: I could eat a fried horse, harness an' all.

and then later...

RUSH: I'll be delighted to make it plain as a horse. 

and then later... 

RUSH: I'll be delighted to make it plain as a horse why Rooster's glasses threw a bomb-shell that hit civilization. 

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.

44-02-10 Mr. Donahue's Grudge Against Mr. Gumpox

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Russell explains to Vic and Sade that Mr. Gumpox, the garbage collector, feels that Mr. Donahue doesn't much care for him.

There's a bounty of evidence to back up this theory, including new allegations that the friendly man-next-door throws hot coal into Gumpox's window in the middle of the night, scaring the poor man to death (man, he's got it tough in that crazy hotel!)

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

___________________

Sade, not knowing if 'Pa' Donahue is a coal chunker or not, does not accept the accusations.  After all, his wife and she are arms-around-
the-neck chummy.  However, prior incidents of blowing of kisses was misinterpreted and the fact that Donahue's lunch was once eaten by Howard (because of Donahue's own carelessness), can't really be blamed on Gumpox.  By all accounts, Gumpox is a nice, generous, sensitive (albeit somewhat narcissistic) man - that everyone likes - except Mr. Donahue and perhaps, Vic.

Trivia:

+ The family discuss the fellows in town who cry a lot.  Who cries the most?  The Brick Mush man, followed by Messrs Sludge, Gumpox and - a surprise - Erickson, the Gooks' landlord.  This is the first we have heard of Erickson's emotional outbursts.

+ This may be first time Leland Richards has been mentioned since he stayed with the Gooks and became 'homesick' about a year prior to this episode.  He appears to at least be an acquaintance of Russell.

+ Both 40-01-19 Gumpox's Horse Eats Donahue's Lunch and 40-06-24 Mr. Gumpox Blows Kisses were mentioned in this episode.

42-10-14 Rush's Soggy Books

STARRING: BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

• Fletcher: "Wilbur Yang was known around Sycamore there as ‘the man with the educated elbow'.  He could tell time with his elbow. As a young fella he fell off a hay-rack and broke his elbow.  After that happened his elbow was very sensitive, see? He could tell by his elbow whether it was gonna rain, whether it was gonna snow, whether it was gonna hail, or whether it was gonna sleet. And he could also tell the time.  His wife – he married a woman twenty-six years old – would wake him up in the middle of the night and say, ‘What time is it, Will?'  Wilbur would simply take hold of his elbow with his fingers, squeeze it good, and say, ‘It's three minutes and six seconds past one o'clock.'  And he'd be right!  Wilbur Yang married this woman twenty-six years old under very peculiar circumstances.  He was standing on the railroad station platform in East Pittston, Pennsylvania.  A stranger come up to him and tapped him on the shoulder and says, ‘Beg pardon, friend. Will you light my cigar for me?  I'm going to be married in half an hour and I'm so nervous I can't strike a match.'  Wilbur lit the fella's cigar for him and then got to thinking. ‘I oughta be married myself,' he said to himself. ‘I'm thirty-two years old.'  Well sir, he noticed a young lady down the platform a piece and he strolled over to where she was standing and says, ‘I'm Wilbur Yang.  I'd like to get married.'  The young lady never blinked an eye.  ‘I'd like to get married,' she said.  So they went to a lunchroom and ate a hearty meal, got in touch with a preacher, underwent the wedding ceremony in the presence of six book agents that happened to be in the neighborhood, caught the evening train for Logwater, Missouri, and for all I know they're still in that community."
• Fletcher: "Ernie Hawfer there in Belvidere claimed everything he ate tasted like molasses.  I say he ‘claimed' because naturally he couldn't prove it. Peaches, bread, chewing-gum, ice-tea, hominy, spinach, olives, turnip-greens, they all tasted like molasses.  That would have been all right only Ernie didn't like molasses.  He went to see the doctor about it.  "Doctor, everything I put in my mouth tastes like molasses."  The Doctor asks, "What's your name, friend?"  "Ernie Hawfer," says Ernie.  "Mister Hawfer," says the Doctor, "Get out of my office and stay out."  Ernie left Belvidere late in the spring of eighteen-eighty-six. He moved to Corpus Christi, Arizona, went into the Wholesale Baling Wire business, and, as I say, he passed away in nineteen-aught-two."  
• Fletcher: "Mervin Gossbeck there in Sterling – Mervin and his brother Charlie were sittin' out behind the house one evening and they got up a game of seeing which one could keep their mouth closed the longest.  Charlie was first and kept his mouth closed an hour and a half.  Well, Mervin was a stubborn half-wit, - couldn't bear to lose. He kept his mouth closed almost a week.  He lost fifteen pounds from going without eating and finally fainted from thirst. The lame-brain bet was only a nickel.  And Mervyn didn't even collect that.  Charlie didn't have a nickel.  Stubborn nit-wits that way – they'll stick with a thing till they drop."
• Rush is down in the dumps because he left his schoolbooks outside overnight and there was a heavy rain, turning his books into "big swollen, soggy chunks of unreadable pulp."  He figures it'll cost five dollars to replace them.
• Fletcher: "Old Harvey Geager there in Dixon used to say, ‘Somebody wins, somebody loses.  Nature takes up the slack.'"
• Uncle Fletcher had found a five dollar bill earlier in the day and wants Rush/Russell to take it to buy new books.  Rush doesn't believe he found it.  Fletcher takes severe umbrage.  The boy relents and accepts the bill.
• Fletcher: "Gus Cheebawater left DeKalb to move to Tulsa, Kansas.  In Tulsa, Kansas he married a woman seventeen years old, went into the Automatic Saxophone business, taught himself to ride horseback without any horse, successfully passed fourteen nickels in counterfeit money he'd made at home himself out of ordinary gingerbread, spent one whole winter sleeping on the handlebars of a bicycle to win a fifteen-cent bet and later died." - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

___________________

This script was re-used on Christmas Eve, 1943, with Russell (David Whitehouse) taking the place of Rush.  The title therefore is different as well, being named: "Russell's Soggy Books."

This script is important for it's many stories from Uncle Fletcher.  Nine out of every ten stories he tells are worth noting, so the more we run across, the better.

As noted many times, Uncle Fletcher is a very thoughtful person.  He probably did find five dollars that day... and it would be just his way to help out anyone in need, especially his nephew.

44-08-03 Sunday School Alumni Reunion

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

When an old friend of Russell's pays him a visit, he realizes how much things have changed in two years and sees how much he has grown.

________________________

This episode has the same theme as 39-12-xx Rush Is Getting On In Years but it's not taken from the same script.

Trivia:

+ At the beginning of the episode, the announcer refers to Fred Stembottom as "Ted."

Razor ad, August 1944

+ The friend who came for a visit is Fat Johnson. He and his family moved to Quincy, Illinois two years back. He used to be quite hefty but has lost a lot of weight. He was not only close friends with Russell but also Rooster Davis.

+ Russell used to belong to the "Blue Light Sunday School" class. They called themselves "The Warriors of the Right" and the class consisted of Russell, Rooster Davis, Allen "Fat" Johnson, Smelly Clark, Mildred Tisdel, Oyster Krecker, Eunice Raypole and Lester "L.W." Trout.

+ Lester Trout now goes by the monicker of "L.W." because it sounds more business-like. At age 16, he can be found behind the counter selling magazines and candy in the Chicago-Alton depot.

+ We find out that Smelly Clark has 2 gold teeth. He shaves every 5th Sunday and carries his razor in his hip pocket.

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

41-08-26 Uncle Fletcher the Protector

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Uncle Fletcher: And still another brother... and still another brother Sadie, that didn't get drowned at all!

Vic is away, so Uncle Fletcher decides to come over and spend the night when he reads in the paper that this night might contain "sharp thunderstorms." His philosphy is that women and children are timid about thunderstorms.

________________________

I'm not sure what help Uncle Fletcher would be, even if Sade and Rush were afraid of thunderstorms. But he "reassures" them as he says, "[If there] comes up a heavy rain later on with lightning and wind, I'll be in the next bedroom, going back to sleep." He also says the same thing about burglars: "If you see any burglars, just remember I'm in the next bedroom, going back to sleep."

Trivia:

+ Sade tells Rush they can do the dishes later. This is typically a no-no for Sade.

+ Uncle Fletcher confuses Willis Rohrback in the street with Blue Tooth Johnson, twice.

+ Sade made mention that Vic has been gone a month and is expected back in a few days. This was probably just a vacation for Art Van Harvey but I'd be curious to know how the show explained away Vic's absence for a whole month? It seems the only viable excuse would be for work or lodge business. There's no way Sade would let him be gone away a month for lodge business for we can assume that the absence was explained away by Vic being on a business trip.

+ Uncle Fletcher sounds "different" in this episode. Maybe Clarence Hartzell had a cold or something.

+ Uncle Fletcher refers to Fred Stembottom as "Ted."  This is the first time this happens in the surviving audio.  He would later go on to influence everyone to call him that.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Ernie Feemer. Ernie wasn't afraid of anything - except thunderstorms. Even at age 46 he'd hide under his bed when a thunderstorm was happening.

Perhaps the oddest thing about Ernie was that he married a girl whose last name was, "Veefy." And Walter M. Veefy (perhaps the brother-in-law of Ernie Feemer) drowned in the Missouri River. He had a brother drowned in the Ohio River and yet another brother who drowned in the Mississippi River. And another brother who didn't drown in any river at all. {{{HEAR}}}

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

40-06-14 Freedom Last Day of School

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

The thrill...

Vic has special work from the office he has to do and Sade understands this; she's about to take her sewing upstairs and leave Vic to his paperwork. But before she can leave the room, Rush comes home and he's excited -seems it's the last day of school. Sade however, assures Vic she will shoo Rush outside so Vic can do his paperwork.

He never makes it outdoors. The phone rings a total of five times in this episode, all but one a call from Rush's friends as they jabber about the end of school.

Vic never gets mad - in fact, he's happy for Rush.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Hooray! It’s the last day of school! No more studies, no more books, no more teachers’ cranky looks! My first summer vacation as one of those cranky teachers begins tomorrow, so this is a well-timed episode.

Almost anyone who grew up in the United States knows exactly what Rush is feeling in this episode, and I think Rhymer did a great job distilling that euphoria into this little ten minute vignette. The tradition at Rush’s high school of bidding huge emotional farewells to everyone on the last day of school, even though it’s a small town and they’ll be seeing each other all summer long, seems like exactly the sort of goofy thing high school kids would do. Vic shows admirable patience and understanding with his son — Rush must’ve caught him on a good day (it’s certainly a far cry from his demeanor in “Office Invoices - Magnifying Glass”). It’s just a nice, pleasant episode. 

This little moment is worth mentioning:

SADE: For you, Willie.
RUSH: For me, eh? Bluetooth Johnson, no doubt.
SADE: It’s a little girl.
RUSH: [pleased] Well, well, well. Anabel Hemstreet. Thank you, Mom.
SADE: Uh-huh.
RUSH: [clears throat] [on phone] Ah, yes, Anabel [pause] Who? [pause] Oh, you, hey, Eunice?

Rush sure seemed certain that was going to be Anabel on the phone! And, of course, we know their relationship has a long and ambiguous history. Perhaps young romance is in store for this summer. And, then again, perhaps not. (And what about Eunice? Rush hadn’t even considered the possibility of a girl other than Anabel being interested in calling him at home. Does Rush have another admirer whom he didn’t even know about?)

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

Who can ever forget the feeling when school was let out for the summer?  It's one of the greatest feelings in the world.

And though nine times out of ten Vic would be as upset as a horse at the phone calls while he's busy, in this episode he simply rolls with the flow and seems to smile along the way as he remembers the feeling he had when he was younger.

Trivia:

+ Friends who call Rush in this episode: Eunice Raypole, Blue Tooth Johnson, Smelly Clark and Rooster Davis.

+ Ruthie Stembottom calls too - she makes a date this evening for the two couples to play "500."

+ Though he bid a school year farewell to both Blue Tooth and Rooster, Rush is attending the movies with them this every evening.

+ Rush said Mildred Tisdel and Hilda Reagan said goodbye, hugged each other and cried - and they live next door to each other! This is the first episode in which Hilda Reagan has been mentioned.

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

40-01-02 Painted Portrait of Big Dipper

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

 

Vic gets mail from the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way headquarters in Chicago, They are offering a hand-painted portrait from famous artist Albert N. Blush to any member for $50.00. Sade smells a lodge scam.

Meanwhile, Rush is busy trying to tell the story of Smelly Clark, Eunice Raypole and "The most dramatic moment of his entire career" (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic tries to talk Sade into letting him spend $50 on a painted portrait and Rush tells a story.

Vic tries a new strategy with Sade here — pretending that he doesn’t really want what Lodge Headquarters is offering (although he obviously does) and seeing if Sade will be convinced of the offer’s merits through a casual discussion. It doesn’t work very well.

Although the matter of the painted portrait of the Exalted Big Dipper gives the title to this episode, it’s really about the most dramatic moment of Rush’s career. He has to tell the story in bits and pieces, but he gets the whole thing out, and it’s…well, it’s one of those moments in Vic and Sade that I can’t really do justice to with words. You’ll just have to listen/read.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

_______________

When Vic reads the letter from Chicago, Sade suspects a lodge money scheme, something that seems all too frequent to the avid Vic and Sade listener. Although in this particular case, it doesn't really seem harmful at all - perhaps even beneficial. But there will be no convincing Sade.

After hearing Rush's story, Sade seemed to show some sympathy for Smelly Clark.

Trivia:

+ Albert N. Blush is a portrait painter in Chicago.

+ H.X. Slime is mentioned. He is an Exalted Big Dipper of the Naughty Narcissist Chapter. He has had is portrait painted by Blush.

+ Kleeburgers sent another bill for $2.00.

+ Mason Street is mentioned for the first time. It connects to West Monroe Street.

+ Eunice Raypole is mentioned for the first time. Smelly likes her.

+ The hammer that hit Smelly probably weighed 6 pounds, by a Rush estimation.

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