35-04-17 Lodge Library

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic is the owner of his own lodge library, which he has purchased at a discount rate.  But no matter how much of a discount he got, Sade's not happy.

SEE THE SCRIPT (page 1) (page 2)

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What we encounter here is the first time of many for the Lodge Library, which holds, for us, countless smiles, titters and guffaws.

This script seems to border on boring, to be blunt, but I believe writer Paul Rhymer did this on purpose - and he also withheld any and all funny business inside the books - so that he could employ them with wacky fraternal surprise the next times they would be used.

It's my guess that the Lodge Library would be used at least an average of once a week for the rest of the series.  That's a lot of episodes.  And a lot of mileage he got out of the endless pages.

Not pleased...

Oddly, the always-important Volume VII is not mentioned in this episode, and the books themselves point to John B. Rafunnel, Ira Guppy, James L. White and T. Lester Konk founding the lodge in 1857.  This differs than the song Vic sang in 1936 (Jolly lads, come quick to me, a story I will tell about the Sacred Stars Of The Milky Way, the organization we love so well. ‘Twas founded in 1833 by six wise men so true. Their names were Howard Conk, J.M. Dupe, L.W. Rotmyer, Anderson...)  And, of course, later, R.J. Konk would be ''rightfully'' credited.  Maybe an episode existed about a smooth, engraved stone that was found within the city limits of Sweet Esther, Wisconsin, that prove R.J. Konk was the true founder.  We may never know.

Trivia:

+ Vic lives in the "Ratfunnel" Belt; this seems to be the Great Lakes area once frequented by John B. Ratfunnel. 

+ A joke, or not a joke? (((hear)))

43-06-04 Helping Russell Adjust

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE 

Sade and Vic discuss Russell, his 'far-away looks' and how he's adjusting to his new life after his parents have died.

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

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David Whitehouse

A serious script, especially the first half, before Russell joins the conversation with Sade and Vic. The couple, notably, the more-vocal Sade, reveal their empathy and genuine care (worry/fear?) for the grieving boy's well-being.

Although the script lacks the punch of memorable lines and witty rapport, it strikes me as one of the stronger scripts I have read. While Sade is more expressive about her thoughts on how Russell is coping with his grief, Vic quietly does the same, even suggesting they all go see Gloria Golden (whom Vic doesn't like), obviously thinking that a film might help the youngster escape for an hour or so.

Coping with death is something we have not encountered on the show (unless you count Mr. Gumpox's horses), so these character insights are interesting to explore.

This tender side of Paul Rhymer's writing makes one thoughtful... however, one thing that strikes me immediately after reading the script is the couple think it might be for the best if Russell let go of his feelings, yet, later, how Vic and Sade both cut off Russell at different times when he tries to bring up specific memories of his parents. The 'talking out' of those memories is all a part of the grieving process. In a show known for it's interruption of speech (usually in a humorous way), it doesn't waver here either, as it appears the couple is either trying to protect Russell from his own words or to protect themselves from having to deal with an unfamiliar, uncomfortable situation.

Vic and Sade are loving, caring, nurturing parents, but the fact that Russell is not their own flesh and blood seems to present a wall. Sade badly describes the grief as 'home sickness'

'Home sickness' is a term Rhymer used several times in scripts, early on with Rush and later with the visiting Leland Richards and in-between, with other, minor characters.  Someone should explore the subject more deeply.  I think there's something important Rhymer is trying to tell us that we haven't figured out yet.  It may have something to do with males who cry, a characteristic found in various men around town (Brickmush Man, Gumpox and Mr. Sludge, just to name three).  I'm afraid if we were to probe, we might find Rhymer (or perhaps his father, or both) was completely dominated by some ditzy, irritating female, probably his mother...

44-02-23 Old News About Belvidere – Ugh

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

Uncle Fletcher comes over with a book of newspaper clippngs about the city of Belvidere; Russell and Sade realize it's useless to inform him that they really have no interest in the book.

SCRIPT (page 1) (page 2)

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TRIVIA:

+ Oyster Krecker's first name is Joseph.

+ Russell's on the phone and is bored with the story of Oyster's cousin Lombard in Galena buying a catfish for 15 cents.  Then Lombard got in a fist-fight with the fella he bought it from and he poked him with the catfish upside the snoot. The fella threatened to call the police and hit Lombard with the fish. Lombard smacked the guy in the face with it. Then Lombard threw his shoes at him.  They later buried the hatchet and formed a beautiful friendship.

+ Uncle Fletcher receives a phone call.  Vic guesses it's Lou Webb, the organist that can play the pipe organ with a knife and fork instead of fingers and also…  It's Mis' McFolkerson calling to say she's found eight more books of newspaper clippings about Belvidere.  Webb was really the show's organist (1943-44).

+ Mis' Folkerston also runs a rooming house in the Gook's neighborhood (Mis' Harris runs another and so does Mis' Keller.)

43-12-07 Uncle Fletcher – Veteran Man-hole Man

STARRING: DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

• Russell has been having a dull chat on the phone with Oyster Krecker:  "I've had a good many dull telephone conversations during the course of my career, but I believe this one takes the cake for being the dullest. Yeah. Beg pardon?  Repeat that dull remark, please, Oyster, I didn't quite catch it. It looked like rain yesterday?  Say, I believe that's the dullest remark you've made yet.  Let's hang up, Oyster.  Huh?  Draw a merciful curtain over this dull, sick telephone call."
• Fletcher: I expect you know what and where Detroit, Michigan are.
• Fletcher cautions Russell not to play with the telephone because he might get electrocuted.  "A little lad about your age living in Detroit, Michigan succumbed to temptation one afternoon when his mama was away from home, and he commenced to play with the telephone and what do you think happened?  Russell: (bluntly) "He got electrocuted".  Fletcher: (gently) "Yes. And all they ever found of him was one of his little patent leather booties with the tosil singed at the bottom."
• Fletcher mentions he's due at the corner of Main and Washington Streets at 4:30.
• He's carrying a red flag under his arm.  Russell thinks he's got the job of substituting for the watchman on the street gang.  Russell has jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
• Fletcher: "Art McWhinniman is going to be working in a man-hole at Washington and Main and I will serve as man-hole guard."  
• When city hall asked Fletcher to do the job, he wanted to know who'd be in the man-hole. That's important because of the need for teamwork.  He begins to explain using the example of a horse standing in the road.  
• He and Russell bicker a little over the horse's name.  Phone rings.  Fletcher insists on answering it. Russell: "Yeah, I guess you better.  I certainly don't want to get electrocuted."  Russell recognizes the voice on the phone is that of Mis' Trogle. But Fletcher, as he's inexplicably prone to do, tells her she's got the wrong number and hangs up, goes back to talking about his man-hole job, explaining he's an old hand at this business.  Why put a rookie on the job? "I'll be as cool-headed at Washington and Main as I'd be at the corner of Virginia and Kelsey in this quiet neighborhood." - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason
  

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It appears that Russell was snarky on the telephone.  As I've mentioned before, it's my opinion that Russell is as his best when he's being a jerk.

It's a known fact that people can get electrocuted through the telephone during a lightning storm; although on average, only one person is killed this way each year.

Why is it that Uncle Fletcher hangs up the phone of Sade's lady friends when they call?  You wonder if he ever answers the phone at his landlady's house and if so, does he do the same thing there to her lady friends?

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)

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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.

36-05-02 Rush Charts His Future to The Year 2000 (re-used script)

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rush charts out his life some 74 years into the future.

SEE THE SCRIPT

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Rush says he will name his future children: Henrietta, Bernardine, Clinton, Webster, Peggy and Cecil.

First, note that Rush wants to name one of his future kids, "Bernardine"- obviously this is a Paul Rhymer homage to Bernadine [or perhaps 'Bernardine' - see comments] Flynn (Sade.)

Rhymer often used names of people he knew in his sketches (Norris Goff, Urquhardt, Homer Heck, etc.)

We learn that as of this date Mr. Chinbunny was not yet the principal of the school; he was only the Superintendent.  Mr. Robertson was the High School's Superintendent before Chinbunny. Chinbunny though is described as "an up and comer."

Miss Kinney, Rush's Latin teacher, was mentioned once again.

Mis' Kilgore, who wasn't mentioned in the audio episodes until the very last episode of "Series One", was mentioned in this episode. She lives on Elder Street.

Lawrence Kirby has a sister that has a job that uses the typewriter at Edwards' Junior High School.

35-12-18 Christmas Cards for Plant #14

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic's been saddled with the task of designing the Official Christmas Card for Consolidated Kitchenware, Plant #14.

He's got the artwork down, but he's having a difficult time with the words.  Sade and Rush give Vic their ideas, but they are... rotten.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

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This sounds like a good one

Christmas, like Vic's lodge, is always taken lightly in Vic and Sade. Christmas cards especially, go sour, just as they do (until the end) on this show. So one wonders why writer Paul Rhymer did not go for the kick in the teeth in this episode, settling instead on a somewhat-legitimate card?

Trivia:

+ Like this one, episode 36-04-30 Rush – the Cartographer (which aired five months after this), mentions Hank Gutstop having his own home and having a indoor horseshoe pit.  We can presume that Hank's house was somewhere near the Gook house.

+ Sade tells Rush not to leave his overshoes on the porch because someone might steal them.  Really?

+ Sade and Rush saw a movie: Hinman Hawk starred in The Mystery of the Trampled Torso.  The script refers to the theater as the "Bijou Talkie Palace".

+ Prairie Street was mentioned as intersecting Kelsey Street.

44-07-14 Sade Short-changed

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Sade goes shopping at Croucher's grocery market and thinks the clerk at the store has short-changed her. She comes home and tries to get Vic to help her sort it out but doesn't know how much money she took with her to begin with.

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Spending money and Sade are a deadly mix.

Trivia:

+ The entire episode takes place as Vic and Russell are between games of Gin Rummy. I feel one of the classic moments of the entire series exists here as when Russell loses, he starts digging through the deck to see how he could have won: {{{HEAR}}}

+ The "lunatic" (Sade's word) cashier at Croucher's was Guthrie Woeman. It's the first time he's been mentioned. He was talking to some girl on the telephone when Sade waited for him to wait on her.

+ Mis' Barbachoke was also mentioned for the first time. She lives on Kelsey Street. She had previously went to the movies with Sade and borrowed 40 cents from her. She paid back 35 cents this very day.

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40-xx-xx Hank's $200 Wardrobe

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Hank Gutstop has gotten a $10 a week job singing tenor for a local church quartet. He needs some clothes and some other items to look presentable, so he asks Vic if he can borrow $200.

Vic doesn't seem to mind lending him the money but knows Sade will never go for it. But before Sade can give her answer, Hank calls and says he lost the job.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Hank, at last, has a job, but there’s a catch…and, of course, it involves Vic’s wallet.

How much money was $200 in 1940? I never bothered to look this up before — though I knew it must have been a pretty large amount — but thanks to the internet and the careful documentation of inflation, we can calculate it to the penny. So hold on to your hats: 200 1940 dollars, in 2014, is $3,329.97. Which is a semester at a reputable public university. Two round-trip tickets to Europe plus car rental and hotel room. More than a month’s pay for a comfortable middle-class worker. This is what Hank Gutstop is asking to borrow from Vic. To pay for a wardrobe. For a job that pays $10 ($166 today) a week.

All I can say is Vic sure has one heck of a blind spot when it comes to Hank Gutstop. There was absolutely no way that he could have framed this proposal that would have made Sade consent to it. How dare he suggest that her reaction amounts to “hysteria” and imply that she’s just tired and cranky (as one might say of a four-year-old). But bless him for asking her permission in the first place.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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While the running gag (in every episode that Hank Gutstop gets a job he loses it at the end of the program) is funny, there's an even better gag below the surface. Vic wants to loan useless Hank $200 but neither he or Sade will give Rush a dime! This joke is woven in so slyly by writer Paul Rhymer, that it's barely noticeable.

Trivia:

+ Vic had been playing indoor indoor horseshoes at Ike Kneesuffer's house.

+ It's inferred her that Leland Richards lives on Kelsey Street.

+ The singing job Hank acquired was at the Ellesworth Avenue Church. That's the first time that street or church has been mentioned in the surviving episodes.

Hank can sing... {{{HEAR}}}

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39-11-07 Smelly Makes a Speech

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Rush tells the story of Smelly Clark getting up in front of the neighborhood boys and giving a superfluous about himself, much to the dismay of the gang.

Rush's story possesses the entire episode as he interrupted time and again. The gist is, Smelly gets his comeuppance.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Smelly makes a brave speech to his friends. It doesn’t end well.

I really like how, based on what I can infer, Rush and his friends are not what you’d call “popular.” Of course, what we think of as school popularity would have looked different back then, I’m sure. But I’m guessing that schools have always had cliques. There have always been groups of higher social status and those of lower social status. There have always been those who know how to fit in and those who do not (or do not feel the need to). Based on what we know about Rush and his friends, they seem like a pretty weird, goofy bunch of teenagers (my kinda kids). Rush himself is rather dramatic, interrupts, goes on and on, and frequently drops $50 vocabulary words into his everyday speech (which was not a habit that got ME into the “in crowd” at that age…). Nicer constantly tells outrageous lies that do not endear him to anyone (but since he always seems to be around when Rush and his friends get together, it seems like they accept him anyway). Bluetooth is sensitive and cries easily. And, as we find out here, Smelly Clark compulsively lets his tongue hang out, to the revulsion of many around him. Not only does this make Rush and his friends more relatable, but it shows that Vic and Sade raised him right — he’s not afraid to be himself, and he accepts his friends for who they are, too.

Which, of course, is not to say that he doesn’t draw the line SOMEWHERE…

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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There are several Paul Rhymer episodes in which Rush tries to tell a story that will take the entire episode to tell. Generally, those stories are pretty good.

Here's Rush relaying the Smelly speech (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

You kind of know what will happen in this one but it's still a lot of fun.

Trivia:

+ Smelly Clark has a habit of letting his tongue hang out.

+ Ollie Sorgut is mentioned for the first time. He lived in Dixon.  He died because he tipped his hat to his Aunt Lucille and took sick immediately, according to Sade.

+ Ralph Sorgut.  Brother of Ollie.  Married Edna Gilbert (Dixon.)

+ The Butler House Hotel is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio.

+ Mr. Buller is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio. According to Sade, he will make a big, enormous speech when people are least expecting it.

+ The Brick Mush man is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio.

Sade imitates Mr. Buller: {{{HEAR}}}

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37-06-04 Sade's Trip to Dwight

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Mis' Appelrot

It's Friday and Sade is going to make a car trip with Mis' Appelrot to Dwight on Saturday, which we learn is 37 miles away. Mis' Appelrot must physically hand over a house deed to "some man.". [We know from later episodes, Miss Appelrot is probably the person Sade likes the least in the world of Vic and Sade.]

doodle?

Sade is obviously excited about the car trip.  She tells Vic that she must get up at 5 a.m. in order for Miss Appelrot to be back by noon.

Sade asks Rush to get some pencils and both he and Vic are to write down "1001 things" that need to be done while she is away.  Neither Vic nor Rush can seem to keep their minds on the task at hand; Vic actually draws a hybrid kangaroo and corkscrew with his pencil and paper while waiting for Sade to divvy up the instructions to the two male Gooks.

Sade decides maybe she should get up at 4 a.m. so she can decide what to wear.  She thinks out loud:  "My blue with the pink" (sound distorts here) "looks kind of automobilish."  Later she decides 4:30 a.m.

After a short, needless list is compiled, Vic and Rush let Sade know that if she leaves at 5:00 a.m. she is likely to get back by 8:00 a.m. or so.  Sade doesn't seem to believe them.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Sade tells Vic and Rush about her upcoming car trip to Dwight with Mis’ Appelrot and it becomes evident that she may be overpreparing a little.

There are a few interesting historical details in this episode. Particularly telling to me is just how much responsibility Sade feels for managing the house and how much she feels she has to prepare just to be absent for one morning. Vic and Rush can’t even prepare their own hot cereal? (I’m sure they could if they had to, but the expectation is that Sade should handle almost everything for them.) Being a homemaker in Sade’s time truly was a full-time job. How different from today, when some parents are barely able to spend a few hours at home, and children are expected to be much more self-sufficient. Heck, I was making most of my own meals by the time I was 12.

Also interesting is that Vic evidently works on Saturdays, which is something I didn’t realize until I listened to this closely in order to transcribe it. Is this a little error, or was it normal for office workers to have work on Saturdays in the 1930s? Of course, in the Depression, I suppose you’d want to work as much as you could.

One recurring theme/joke in Vic & Sade is Sade’s relative shelteredness and lack of education (she has said that she never graduated high school), and much of the humor here rests on this. While Sade’s poor understanding of some aspects of the world is often played for laughs, the humor never feels especially cruel towards her, and Rush and Vic’s attempts to enlighten her are usually gentle and good-natured, as they are here. When Sade grew up, before the rise of the automobile, a trip to Dwight and back probably WOULD take all day. She has, like any adult in any time period, simply been left behind by the rapid currents of progress.

Finally, we see two of Vic’s tendencies that become running jokes in the show exhibited here. One is unsuccessfully fixing alarm clocks (the first reference to this hobby in the available recorded episodes). The other is waxing rhapsodic about American geography, which he is allowed to do only for a short time before getting cut off by Sade:

VIC: One of the geographical showplaces in the United States, Dwight.  Dwight is a priceless jewel set in a silver necklace in wooded —

We’ll see this in its full-blown glory later on in "Vic’s Geographical Trip"…

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Certainly not the best show in the series. The poor sound takes away a lot of the fun as it can be a trial just listening to this one. The whole point of the episode is about Sade not realizing how fast a 37/74 mile journey is by car in the early hours of a Saturday. Harmless, but not that much fun.

Trivia:

+ This is the first audio episode in which we hear that Vic has a fascination with working on clocks.

+ Never knew this: a door-to-door coffee man would deliver coffee to your house.  He makes his delivery at the Gook household on Saturdays.

+ Mis' Donahue is mentioned for the first time as living next door.

+ Vic informs Sade that he has 8 pencils in his pocket.

+ Kelsey Street is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio. It's the street before the alley, seemingly behind the street the Gooks live on.

+ Vic suggests that Greeley, the nightwatchman at his work (which is not mentioned by name) give Sade a wake-up call. Sade quickly poo-poos this idea.

VIC'S 8 POCKET PENCILS ARE JUXTAPOSED AGAINST SADE'S BAD MATH...

Vic (who's an accountant) uses a pencil as his tool of trade and has an abundance on hand in case of emergencies. On the other hand, Sade is not the most up-to-date person in the world of technology. Those newfangled automobiles and the breakneck speeds that they travel just confound her. In the horse and buggy days, it could have easily taken a whole day just to get there and another day back. Sade is just preparing for the worst, and in the most low tech way. - Keith @ Retro Radio Podcast

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