44-05-05 Rish Fish's Short Career

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUSSELL MILLER

Almost the very same story as 39-06-21 Hank's Job Royal Throne Barbershop, except Rishigan Fishigan gets the job instead of Hank Gutstop and Russell Miller is in the episode instead of Rush.

SEE THE SCRIPT  (part 1) (part 2)

40-03-08 Rush's Slumber Party Enters by the Window

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Rush's slumber party gets out of hand. There are 12 boys plus Rush.

Rush has tried to do the courteous thing by putting the ladder up to his window, that way it cuts down on the wear and tear of the carpet and prevents the boys from tracking in dirt. What it does though is attract the neighbors, who fear the Gooks might be getting robbed or attacked.

SEE THE SCRIPT

___________________

Thirteen boys can create considerable noise and damage.

Sade is embarrassed the neighbors are calling.

Rush was only trying to do what he thought was the right thing.

39-03-01 Rooster's Block of Theater Seats

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Rooster Davis is about to "rock the foundation of civilization" again with a stunt that's never happened before in the history of the United States: he's going to rope off a big section of the Bijou, come in wearing a big long coat with a fur collar and be the biggest bigshot ever.

Vic and Sade, at first, deduce a scheme to get out of studying, but slowly they are sucked into the drama that Rush is able to create - and by the end of the script Vic and Sade have made plans to go to Bijou to watch the proceedings.

SEE THE SCRIPT

____________________

Paul Rhymer wrote many scripts 1937-1940 where Rush takes the lead role and tells a tantalizing story about one of his friends.  Those stories are some of the best; this one being no exception.

Rooster has a bit of his big brother Rotten inside of him!

40-06-21 Hank's Job - Royal Throne Barbershop

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Vic is excited.  He's just gotten off the telephone with his pal, Hank Gutstop, who informs him that he's gotten a new job at the Royal Throne 25 Cent Barbershop.

He procured the job by coming up with ideas to help improve business, plus he knows so many fellows in town that Ed Holvey, the shop owner, decided to give him a job.

But Hank, who has a bad history with holding a job, may not last the whole afternoon...

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Hank has a new job as a publicity manager for the Royal Throne Barbershop. Vic shares some of his ideas.

Hank has stumbled upon yet another job opportunity that will benefit him more than it will benefit his employers (free room and board, free lunch, and free haircuts included), but he can’t even hang onto that for a whole episode. Vic’s unending faith in him, given his employment history, is touching. Hank’s ideas are intriguing, but I’m not sure how well they’d actually work. Free lunch in a barbershop seems a little unsanitary. I’m worried you’d end up with hair clippings in your sandwich.
I’m always struck by this little moment in this episode:

SADE: I had quite a little conversation with Mis’ Eapers today.
VIC: How’s she?
SADE: All right. Little leaner than she was, I thought.
VIC: How’s TJ?
SADE: I never asked after TJ. Kinda afraid to, don’t ya know. After he was in jail those four times a person anymore kinda hates to inquire. Might make it embarrassin’.

"Vic and Sade" is full of little details like this — just passing comments that help add depth to the fictional community. Often they’re humorous or idyllic, but not always. Small towns all have those little things that everybody knows about but are too afraid, embarrassed, or polite to talk about. This moment always feels a little jarring to me because Vic and Sade talk about things like this so seldom. It’s also jarring because of the actors’ line readings — it’s the kind of thing that could have been played for laughs or not, depending on how the actors read it, and it is definitely not a humorous read (because Vic and Sade wouldn’t joke about this kind of thing). Listen to Vic’s voice, low and serious and sounding as if he’s anticipating bad news, when he asks "How’s TJ?", and Sade’s concerned tone as she answers. Notice, also, that she waits until Rush is out of the room before she even brings this subject up. Much like Rhymer’s rare and oblique references to World War II, this reference reminds you that darkness exists in Vic and Sade’s world — it just stays in the background, in other people’s lives. It’s these little details that add verisimilitude to "Vic and Sade" and make it the great portrayal of life that it is.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

Trivia:

+ Rush infers that Hank once had a job selling homemade candy.

+ Some of Hank's barbershop ideas include:

• Free lunch - there was no talk of what this may constitute.
• Improving the appearance of the barbershop - no details were given
• Every 50th haircut free - Rush worked it out that it may take three years to get a free haircut.

+ Ed Holvey is always sleeping in the barber chair.  Rush says he lives there - Hank had plans to live there too (also sleeping a barber chair) as part of his payment.

+ Mr. Sludge came home crying again this day.

+ The barbershop is a hot place, according to Rush - no breeze can get in there.

+ Jim Skooner at the Butler House hotel barbershop is Vic's regular barber.

+ Sade called the shop 'dirty' and 'dingy.'

Perhaps it's a joke but a look at Google and "royal throne" brings up as many toilet references as royalty references.

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39-12-28 A Vic and Sade Christmas Show

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rush realizes he has no money to spend on friends and relatives for Christmas, so he devises a plan: switch his savings account over to a checking account and write checks for Christmas.  He and Blue Tooth Johnson have decided that adults will not cash the checks ($25 each!) thinking it to be a ridiculous amount, therefore, no money will ever change hands.

As for friends his age, he will send the checks to their parents, who will not cash the checks, thinking either it's bogus or inappropriate.

SEE THE SCRIPT (This is a pdf file - please give it a minute to load)

___________________

I've never thought about it until now but Rush's scheme to get a hold of his savings account is very much like Vic trying to get a wide-brimmed hat!

This appears to be the first episode for Vic after his first stint with heart trouble and long lay-off.  They let him out of the hospital in time for Christmas, it seems.  Or since "Vic" only uttered one line, perhaps it was another actor.

Though this may have not been him, it does appear that he was around the next day (Christmas.)

37-07-07 Smelly’s Tonsil Operation

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

In an episode that's very related to the previous one, Smelly Clark is in the hospital about to have a tosilectomy.

Rush, Rooster Davis, LeRoy Snow, Mildred Tisdel and Milton Welch will all be on hand to watch the operation. So, it's a big day for everyone.

SEE THE SCRIPT

________________________________

Another great script by writer Paul Rhymer. Smelly is at the mercy of his chums (especially Rush and Mildred) who take his caramels, flowers and virtually triumph in his pain.

It seems though that Smelly is more brave than the other kids, and they will have a tough time trying to take him down a notch.

The script will probably remind you of your childhood and the anticipation of the very simple surgery. [My tonsils grew back and I had to have them out a second time!]

Sade mentions three alarm clocks that Vic had broken.  That's at least six of the alarm clock-variety of clock we know he broke in the show's history.

In a previous episode, Dr. Doud was an eye doctor (or at least one would suspect so.)  It could be that back in the day, family physicians did all kinds of things, including prescribe glasses, pull teeth, etc.

37-02-19 Rush's New Men's Shoes

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade buys Rush some men's shoes, which excites him.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

___________________

According to Wikipedia, radium dials for watches were around as early as 1917.

By 1922, the company that made the radium dials had moved to Ottawa, Illinois which is only a hop, skip and a jump from Bloomington - the city the Gooks probably live in.

Both Rush and Russell liked to have written proof concerning their clothing.  Russell once wanted documentation from Vic and Sade that in his lifetime he had owned sixty pair of pants.

MAN

The episode when Rush graduated from Eighth Grade truly was a turning point in the series. Thereafter, Rush has tried to prove himself as part of the adult world. The transition in shoe sizes may be a small step for mankind, but it's a giant leap for the man Rush is becoming. - SARAH COLE

37-02-01 Rush Determined To Save Tatman's Vacant Lot

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BILL IDELSON

Vic arrives home to find Rush phoning the Mayor to check on a rumor that a building will go up on Tatman's vacant lot, his gang's last strong-hold for baseball.   The gang has elected Rush to reason with Mayor Mills before it's too late. 

 

SYNOPSIS 

___________________

TRIVIA:

+ Rush explains there used to be a Williams' vacant lot, which was made into a playground for little kids.  Later, they played at Seymour's vacant lot until a gas station was built on the site. Tatman's vacant lot is their last refuge.  The gang will have to go to the corner of Sangamon Street and Warner Avenue – at least four miles away "an' they got a tough crowd of individuals over there. Just as soon break both your legs as look at ya."

+ Rush: "Why Uppy Doyle that plays quarterback for the Peoria Panthers is 48 years old.  He's got a son 26 that preaches religion in a church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin… Smitty Johnson, left-end for the Cincinnati Cyclones is bald-headed.  Graduated from Knox College before the World's War.  Fat Swilly, the best drop-kicker in the league is going on 50, an' I read by yesterday's paper he's been signed up again this year with the Syracuse Steam-Engines."  Vic stops protesting.  Rush: "You certainly threw the tomahawk at the wrong redskin when you said baseball an' football were boyish pastimes.   

Drop-kicking pretty much died in the NFL by 1941.  According to Wikipedia, only one successful drop-kick has occurred since that year.

And the answer is: 29.1 years old...

+ Rush: "Why, take baseball. Do you know the average age of the players on the Chicago White Sox pitching staff?"

Thanks to the millions of baseball geeks on the internet, that information is readily available.

44-06-20 No More Pretty Boy

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Sade is stuck between two conversations she cares nothing about: Vic is constantly reading about the exploits of Willis H. Hunk from his Kitchenware Quarterly paper and Russell goes on and on about LeRoy Snow who is happy because he's getting glasses, a mouth brace, his ears taped down and his head shaved (it's a deterrent to having ladies hugging and kissing him.)

________________________

Trivia:

+ Willis H. Wunk was mentioned for the first time. He works for Consolidated Kitchenware (probably not plant #14) and is someone Vic seems to have a lot of respect for, not only because he is smart but Vic seems to think he's witty. He also got hit by a train once, got up and slapped the engineer.

Here's a quote from Hunk: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Dr. Price was mentioned for the first time. Dr. Price is an optometrist who has an office on Washington Street.

+ According to Russell, LeRoy Snow won six "Beautiful Baby" contests as a baby.

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

42-07-xx Mr Chinbunny Eats Ice Cream

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade and Rush sit on the front porch swing and watch Mr. Chinbunny over at Freda's old house eating ice cream. He eats it with such delight and exagerration that the family sees it as being fake.

Meanwhile, Vic is on the phone to Rishigan Fishigan and finds out about a publication that lists parades all over the United States. He wants to subscribe to it but Sade and Rush can't see the point in it.

________________________

The funny part of the episode is listening to Vic treat parades as though he is Mr. Chinbunny eating an ice cream. Vic just loves a good parade - and apparently, so does Rishigan Fishigan.

Trivia:

+ Sade mentions Mis' McCall from Dixon. She exaggerates her expression to show how much she likes things.

+ Vic picked this story up from Rishigan Fishigan:  One man marched in 5 parades in 5 cities within a space of 96 hours. Marching along in his 5th parade, he fell exhausted to the pavement and died. The National Parade Lovers intend to erect a statue to him as soon as they raise $10,000. As of now, they only have 85 cents in their treasury.

+ We find that LeRoy Snow plays the violin. 

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41-11-20 Rush Humiliated on Thanksgiving

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Nicer Scott has been over at the Gook house and notices that Rush uses a small set of eating utensils; something like a small child would use.   The utensils even have an angel on them.

Nicer takes this information, spreads it across the neighborhood and hopes to smear and humiliate Rush.

Meanwhile, Rush is infuriated with Nicer and plans to go over and "wang him one upside the bean." Instead, he has to answer degrading phone calls that inquire if he does other baby activities.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:

Nicer Scott is at it again. He has discovered a dirty secret about Rush and is spreading it all over town.

I love what this episode says about families, and the way that each family has its own unique quirks that no one ever mentions because they’ve always done something a certain way. It can be either eye-opening or embarrassing to have the outside world come into your private family sphere and look with fresh eyes at the way you do things. It never even occurred to Rush that his little knife and fork were unusual, until someone else called attention to it.

What did you find out was weird about your family later in life? I learned that most families don’t put weird-tasting dead bacteria on their popcorn, that animal skulls are not as widely-used in home decor as I thought, and that cars that don’t work anymore usually go to the junkyard, not just the backyard. 

SEE THE TRANSCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

Sarah Cole said it best:

[Rush] is in a rage at the neighbor boy, who has passed the word among his friends that Rush eats with a baby knife and fork. As it turns out, Rush DOES eat with baby silverware, because that's what Sade has always put by his plate, and he didn't want to make a fuss about it. His struggle is the struggle we all face, or that remind us of what our children are confronting.

Freedom From Want

Trivia:

+ The episode title mentions Thanksgiving. Although Thanksgiving isn't mentioned on the show, November 20, 1941 was indeed Thanksgiving.

+ It's worth pointing out that this was the very first Thanksgiving since Franklin Roosevelt's famous Four Freedoms speech (January 1941.) The Four Freedoms would be masterfully depicted by Norman Rockwell in 4 paintings two years later, including the famous, "Freedom From Want" Thanksgiving scene.  This was also the last Thanksgiving before rationing and World War II, so this Thanksgiving embodied a freedom from want.

1941 US Postage stamp

You could imagine families talking about this Thanksgiving during the war as the Thanksgiving where various foods were in abundant supply.  In the war years, there would be little butter, sugar, meat etc.

The Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor 17 days from the day this episode aired, forever changing the world and certainly changing Thanksgiving dinners for the next four years.

+ It's well known that Rush dislikes Nicer Scott a lot. So, one wonders why was Nicer over at the Gook house to begin with?  The answer might simply be: Thanksgiving.  Perhaps the Scott family was invited over.

I can imagine a missing episode where Rush protests inviting them over, much like he whined about Nicer having to sleep over when the Scott's had company.

+ Sade is preoccupied reading the paper and about a local wedding.  Mentioned in the list of wedding guests Sade reads is "J. Cadwalader Urquart" - reminding one of "Otis J. Cadwalader" who was Molly's old boyfriend on Fibber McGee and Molly (and played by Gale Gordon both on radio and in the motion picture, "Here We Go Again." )

Oddly, the first Fibber McGee and Molly motion picture was Look Who's Laughing that came out the day after this episode aired.  (November 21, 1941.)

Isn't it likely that Paul Rhymer saw a pre-screening of the film (in Chicago, the home of both Vic and Sade and Fibber McGee and Molly at the time) and was influenced to use the name, which he had heard many times on the radio?  Perhaps the name was used in "Look Who's Laughing?"

+ Sade reads that the bride and groom rode away from the wedding on a motorcycle.  That was probably a very funny idea in 1941 but really doesn't seem that odd today...

+ The back of the fork has "Darling Baby" inscribed on it. Why would the fork say this if Rush was adopted at 7 years old? And if the utensils are for a baby, why are they 2/3rds the size of regular forks and not 1/3rd or smaller?

+ Dismal Seepage, Ohio is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio. It will later go down in Vic and Sade lore more than places like Grovelman, South Carolina and East Brain, Oregon.

+ It's mentioned that Mr. and Mrs. John M. Weeper lives on South Center Street.  They held the wedding party that Sade read about in the paper.

+ This episode didn't just occur on Thanksgiving, but on the very first Thansgiving that those in the United States observe.

Sade mixes up her metaphors: {{{HEAR}}}

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41-09-09 Vic Gets Gift "Rap" Again

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The gang at work has elected Vic to buy a gift for Mr. Ruebush at Christmas. While he and Sade discuss possible gifts to buy, Rush is busy in the background, almost constanly using the telphone to collect debts that will allow him to buy Defense Savings Stamps.

________________________

This is sort of an unusual episode.

For one thing, Rush is there the whole episode but the action seems to be taking place around him.

For another thing, this seems to be some sort of propaganda episode for Defense Savings Stamps.

Even though this episode took place about three months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor (and thus the Declaration of War against the Japanese), the United States began selling Defense Savings Stamps in May of 1941 to help support the production of military equipment, most of it for the British Allies and the Lend-Lease deal.

Some stamps could be had for as little as a dime.

The photograph on the left shows that less a week after this episode aired it was, "Defense Week."

It was common for radio shows to be used for government propaganda purposes - although as a rule, it seems that Paul Rhymer and his Vic and and Sade program were not usually a part of such campaigns.

Trivia:

From 41-08-26 Uncle Fletcher the Protector

+ Sade mentions that Vic had went on a trip with Mr. Ruebush. This seems to imply that perhaps the recent Art Van Harvey vacation could have been (and probably was) explained away using that excuse.

+ Mr. Ruebush likes candy.

+ The Thimble Club (with Sade as one of the committee members) bought Defense Savings Stamps.

+ Cracky Otto is described as wearing a skull cap (a beanie, most probably) and tennis shoes.

+ Sade suggests (jokingly) that she and Vic should sit in the basement in the evenings in order to elude phone calls for Rush.

+ Here's a list of the gifts Sade suggests that Vic buy for Mr. Ruebush for Christmas:

• easy slippers 
• pipes 
• cigars
• valice (luggage) 
• handkerchiefs 
• candy 
• chair 
• footstool 
• umbrella holder 
• picture 

+ Rush calls several friends in this episode and that provides us with a list of telephone numbers that we haven't known before this episode:

• Smelly Clark (#2457-J) 
• Vernon Peggles (#2596-W) 
• Arnold Shipley (#7329-L)
• LeRoy Snow (#6509-R) 
• Heinie Call (#5542-L)

I love it when Vic gets frustrated when the telephone rings. His expression can't be beaten!: {{{HEAR}}}

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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}}}

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41-05-xx Rush, Bulletin Board Monitor

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic comes home from work early in order to do a little work on the lawnmower and presumably, he or Rush would mow the lawn soon after it was fixed.

However, Vic instead lounges around talking over the bulletin board material Rush has brought home to sort out.

________________________

Not a memorable episode but an informative one in which we get to hear some of the unheard characters say things about themselves, via the bulletin board material.

Trivia:

+ Sade mentions she could hear the courthouse clock when it struck 4:30. The courthouse building is on Virginia Avenue, roughly 2 blocks from the Gook home.

+ Rush is the Bulletin Board Monitor at school.

+ Vernon Peggles' bulletin board material included these facts: He plans on moving to Alaska after he gets married; his Uncle and Aunt (James and Bertha Wyatt) live at 226 N. Mason Street and recently cooked dinner for them. His favorite foods are grapes, butter, ketchup and celery.

+ LeRoy Snow's "facts" include bragging that he is getting smarter, isn't afraid of snakes or poisonous insects and has 3 uncles that are barbers.

+ Charlie Razorscum can be seen painting his window screens.

+ Rush reads a notice from the school that states, "Several Freshman girls have developed the habit of monopolising the second floor drinking fountain at the west end of the building. They crowd around and keep thirsty students from getting water."

+ Mr. Chinbunny stated that there would be severe penalties for students who are caught tampering with the delicate instruments in the physics lab.

+ Mis' Engle was mentioned for the first time. She is the school librarian.

+ Rush has a pair of ice skates for sale.

+ It seems perhaps Nicer Scott (recall, he claims to be acquainted with more than 2 billion individuals) may be a bit of a narcissist: {{{HEAR}}}

🎙 Hear the Vic and Sadecast 076 – Bulletin Board Monitor (11/15/17)

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41-05-30 Five Men from Maine

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Homer U. McDancey from East Brain, Oregon calls the Gook household trying to get in touch with Vic. Instead, Rush, who is home alone, takes a message.

The message: five men from Hunkerman, Maine want to meet up Vic. They aren't from the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way and they aren't from Consolidated Kitchenware.

 The mystery ensues... who are these men and what do they want?

WHAT MIS' CROWE SAYS:

Vic receives a very strange phone message.

This is one of my favorites. We never find out who these five men from Maine are and how they know about Vic. We aren’t even offered any convincing explanations. The entire episode is just Vic, Sade, and Rush being mystified about it. This is also another instance of the number five as a comedy device in Vic & Sade, which supports my husband’s theory that five is the funniest number.

Rush offers the possible explanation that McDancey’s story is an effort to get him into Maine for an “ambush,” and as proof comments that the names sound “fictitious as a horse.” Sade agrees with him. I like how they are so convinced that these names sound fake when they are no more ridiculous than most of the names in the Rhymer universe – in fact, they’re quite tame for Vic & Sade, except for the last guy, who has the same first and last name, and seems to have the middle name “Pew” (I listened to this so many times – I’m convinced he’s saying “Pew” and not “Q”). 

At the end, we get a little bit of pathos from Vic, as he obviously knows that the story of five men across the continent who are dying to shake his hand can’t be true, but obviously wishes that it was. We know how much Vic loves attention and admiration! Although he never had any real intention of going to Maine, he’s still a little sad and disappointed that it will never be.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

The men from Maine mystery is never solved (at least in this or other surviving episodes.)  One guess is that the five men from Maine are book publishers and would like Vic to write a book - possibly about parade ingenuity - but that's only a guess.

[In November of 2014, I found in the 'Schwarz Notes' that Vic did contemplate writing a book on parade procedure, as remembered by a Friends of Vic and Sade alumnus...]

McDancey, who has written at least one book and a is fellow member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way All-Star Marching Team, may have told his own publishers about Vic's prowess as both a writer and as a parade enthusiast. Of course, that's only a shot in the dark but we have so few facts to work with that almost anything is a possibility.

Trivia:

+ There is no Hunkerman, Maine according to Google Earth.

+ The five men from Maine are:

• Ollie J. Yawk
• V. Donald Gicks 
• Q.L. Cunningham
• D.S. Slank
• Erkhardt Q. Urquhart 

click to enlarge

+ As of at least 1940, the Vic and Sade producer was named Charles Urquart (see photo.)

+ Sade mentions Mis' Scott's brother, Erkhardt  (you may recall, he's the fellow with the bed in the back of his car) and notes that he's from Iowa.

+ Sade tells "the funniest thing she's ever heard", but Vic and Rush seem to care very little about her story about Mis' Elders storming out of an argument, only to find she had retreated from her own house. Vic seems to be far more intrigued as to who the 5 gentlemen from Maine could be and what they want with him.

+ As she has said in the past about Mr. Buller and H.K. Fleeber, she thinks Homer U. McDancey is a bit crazy.

Rush thinks that Homer U. McDancey has an ambush set for Vic: {{{HEAR}}}

🎙 Hear the Vic and Sadecast 074 – Five Men from Maine (11/12/17)


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41-04-04 Dinner Invitation Withdrawn

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNADINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Gooks are invited at the last minute to a big meal over at Mis' Harris' rooming house only to be uninvited again before they can leave the house.

_______________

Though there was total confusion, I don't see how Mis' Harris can univite the Gooks.

Episode is loads of fun for listening to Vic complain about having to remove his easy slippers and put on a suit.

Trivia:

+ Mr. Breep was mentioned for the first time. He's a roomer at Mis' Harris' house and is also (probably) a lawyer.

+ Dinner at the Harris house was to include steak, biscuits, ice cream "and all the tasty trimmings."

+ Rush inquired whether Mis' Harris would be making "trick mashed potatoes that look like rice" - I wander what he was talking about?

+ The Gook meal included meat (beef punkles?), potatoes, raisin bread, pickles, olives and watermelon.

+ The easy slippers that Vic was wearing had tassels and Indian heads on them; he had gotten them from his in-laws, Bess and Walter Helfer.

+ Before they are about to leave, Sade wants to make sure the front door is locked. There was a time when middle America did not bother to lock their doors but by early April 1941 (the time of this episode), Americans were being rounded up in Germany and Italy, spies were being spotted all over the globe and the world was becoming a smaller, more crime-ridden place.

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40-xx-xx Ice Cream and Salted Peanuts at Midnight

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BILL IDELSON

Rush gets home late at night and Vic wants to know why.  Seems that Rush and few of his friends have been invited to eat the salted nuts and ice cream that will be left over from the party at the Husher house.

The party isn't quite over, so Rush drops by the house to inform Vic (at 11:20 at night) while his friends are out in the Gook yard, skulking around.

Vic, reluctant at first, lets Rush skulk about a bit longer.  Vic will wait for Rush to get back because the faces, noses and tongues in the windows have frightened him.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
A carnival atmosphere descends upon Virginia Avenue as Rush and his friends await free snacks at midnight. Vic is disturbed by the turn of events.

This is an old favorite of mine, as I love anything involving Rush’s goofy friends, and Vic’s reaction to the situation lets us see him much more jumpy and on-edge than he usually is. As in “The Davises are Asleep Upstairs,” Vic proves himself to be a little helpless against Rush and his friends when Sade is not around. He is highly flustered by all these people skulking in his yard in the darkness, but he also can’t bring himself to ruin Rush’s summer vacation fun. I doubt he believes himself capable of going up against 12 teenagers anyway.

I wonder what the scene was like at Mr. and Mis’ Husher’s when all 12 boys barged into their kitchen in the middle of the night…

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Sade is not in this episode but if she would have been, she would have no doubt reminded Rush that, "Ice cream gives nightmares."

Vic and Sade do not like Rush's friends skulking around. Recall a previous episode, where Rush's friends were out in the yard late at night, spooking Vic and Sade.

What's Sade doing? {{{HEAR}}}

+ The kids skulking in the yard are: Blue Tooth Johnson, Smelly Clark, Rooster Davis, Heinie Call, Willis Rohrback, Nicer Scott, LeRoy Snow, Leland Richards, Milton Welch and two new friends to the surviving audio series: Arnold Shipley and Cracky Otto.

+ Arnold Shipley lives on East Emerson Street. Rush owes him 6 cents but Arnold would "call it even" if he could be allowed to enjoy the ice cream and salted nuts with the gang.

+ This is the first time East Emerson is mentioned. There's already been a SOUTH Emerson Street mentioned; one wonders how there could be an EAST Emerson?

+ Rush claims that Willis Rohrback always flattens his nose against windows when he looks in them. Claims that it gives a "pleasent sensation." Rush also claims that Leland Richards presses his tongue against windows.

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44-05-06 Rish Fish's Short Career

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUSSELL MILLER

Almost the very same story as 39-06-21 Hank's Job Royal Throne Barbershop, except Rishigan Fishigan gets the job instead of Hank Gutstop and Russell Miller is in the episode instead of Rush.

40-05-29 Nicer the Goader

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Rush and his enemy Nicer Scott are going at it again. The fight occurs over the fact that Nicer makes ridiculous claims and Rush is tired of it.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Prelude to the afternoon of a paste upside the snoot.

I can’t help but feel a weird tinge of pride that thorn-in-Rush’s-side Nicer Scott comes from Burlington, Iowa, which is just a stone’s throw away from my hometown, though I feel the need to clarify that he in no way represents all Southeast Iowans.

Sometimes Nicer Scott makes me think of this story that ran on This American Life, “The Super Always Rings Twice.” It concerns a blustering braggart of a New York building superintendent, who tells all kinds of stories about his lethal power and prestige back in his home country of Brazil, stories which absolutely no one in the building believes. And then it turns out — spoiler alert — that they were all completely 100% true. What if Nicer Scott’s stories are all true, too? Well, the ones that are not factually impossible, anyway. What if he has got 87 pairs of pants in cold storage back in Burlington, Iowa? 

It always strikes me that Rush never actually gets punished in this episode. He gets a good talking-to, but he is actually given a lot of opportunity to talk and to defend his actions to his parents. Although they claim not to sympathize with him, I can’t help but think that by the end of the story, they do!  They can’t seem to think of anything else to tell him besides “You’re a pretty good boy” and “Try not to do it again.” While I would never advocate violence…some people really do just need a paste upside the snoot. Not that it seems to be a deterrent for Nicer.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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This episode has amazing similarities with 39-11-07 Smelly Makes a Speech.

That being said, the ridiculous claims made by Nicer and Paul Rhymer's art of the preposterous saves the day.

Trivia:

A Mohawk Indian in a cage!

+ In days prior, Mildred Tisdel had teased Rush and made him mad.

+ Leroy Snow has a girlfriend.

+ We find out that Heinie Call lives across the street from the Gooks.

+ Claims made by Nicer that were revealed in this episode:

• claimed to have various blood in him: Cuban (3 gallons), Eskimo (quart and a half), French (pint) and Greek (2 teacups.) 
• claimed to have never looked at himself in the "looking glass"/mirror.
• claimed to have 87 pairs of pants in a cold-storage vault in Burlington, Iowa.
• claimed he can chin himself 35 times.
• claimed to have owned a live Mohawk Indian and kept him in a cage.
• claimed to have slept 26 hours at a stretch.
• claimed that in Burlington, Iowa he could stick out his tongue and touch his ear with it.

+ In the episode 39-04-03 Rush Draws List of Acquaintances, Nicer mentioned relatives and acquaintances to Rush in several parts of the country, but none of them were in Burlington, Iowa (which is mentioned twice in this episode as to where he came from).

+ Rush says the Brick Mush man is nearly bald.

Another point of contention: The number of hairs on Nicer's head... {{{HEAR}}}

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40-03-27 Vic Fakes the Cornet

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

L.W. Sloan is sick and can't play in the band concert. Vic volunteers to take his place...even though he doesn't know how to play the instrument. He decides he will fake it with the band.

Sade says this is "cheating."

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic is going to pretend to play cornet in a local band concert. Sade is not a bit pleased about it.

I think this is one of the funniest episodes. The announcer, who is barely holding it together at the end of the episode, seems to agree with me! I love that Vic seems to think an elementary school music education must have bestowed the gift of perfect pitch upon his child (“What’s this note?” “B.” “What’s it sound like?”). It’s another case of Vic and Sade being mostly unaware of what goes on in Rush’s academic life. Rush seems to understand that no matter how much he explains that he remembers nothing about music, Vic won’t take no for an answer, so he just begins dispensing musical advice that is about as valuable as his wildflower facts.

Vic’s fraud, and Sade’s intense disapproval, remind me of Uncle Fletcher Gets a Job Offer, in which Uncle Fletcher is extremely disturbed to have been offered a job playing piano at the Five and Ten Cent Store, in which he is to sit at the piano with bandaged hands. Sade’s family is highly scrupulous in all matters musical.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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This is one of those nonsense episodes that really isn't important to the whole scheme of things but it's fun listening to Vic being exciting before his gig.

Trivia:

+ The cornet belongs to L.W. Sloan - this is his first time mentioned.

+ The cornet cost $100.

+ Ed Winnie is mentioned (for the first time) as being the leader of the band.

+ The tunes that Vic is going to fake:

• The Green Gilded March
• Hunkleman Academy Salute
• Three Little Girls Trippin' to School
• Bright Birds in the Forest
• Clark Street Stomp
• Rhapsody in F# Major
• Dance of the Primroses

Rush "sings" out a few notes (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

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