Drivers collide, head-on, right in front of the Gook house. Rush is excited and Vic and Sade watch out the window, expecting a knock-down-drag-out fight.
While waiting for events to unfold, Mis' Call phones and wants to bet the Gooks which driver will win the fight.
Sadly, for those watching, no fight takes place. All gawkers must resume their normal duties.
The title is one I gave purely for identification purposes.
[The gist of this episode is revealed in the book,Vic and Sade on the Radio: A Cultural History of Paul Rhymer's Daytime Series]
"Vic and Sade" was the most unique radio program ever, (1932 - 1944), written by the most-underrated writer of the 20th Century, Paul Rhymer.
Showing posts with label Mis Call. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mis Call. Show all posts
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
Sade is embarrassed the neighbors are calling.
Rush was only trying to do what he thought was the right thing.
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
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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.
32-xx-xx Casting the Pageant "Shining Waters Flowing to the Sea"
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Vic is full of oats and informs Rush that he is going to be in a pageant at Mrs. Driscoll's house. Mrs. Driscoll is rich and is in high society. The pageant is called, "Shining Waters Flowing to the Sea." Vic's part is to be the 'Voice of the Congo.'
Vic must call and cancel an appointment with the junk man, who was scheduled to come over and remove some rubbish.
Sade comes home and wants Vic to meet Elton Wheeney, a man who will be teaching chemistry at the high school. Wheeney, who is the brother of Mis' Call, needs a place to stay for a while and Sade wants to board him as a roomer at the Gook house.
Vic wants no part of a roomer, saying several times that they are always 'under foot.'
Vic brags to Sade about being invited to be in the play at the Driscoll home. Then Mrs. Driscoll calls and wants to talk to Rush. He too has been invited to be in the play; his part will be as 'The Mississippi and it's Tributaries.'
Vic's ego takes another turn when Elton Wheeney calls and says he can't come over and meet Vic for he too has been invited to be a part of the pageant. His part is to be the 'Breath of the Euphrates.'
But it gets even worse for Vic's ego as before Vic can call the junk man, the junk man calls him and backs out of his appointment; he too is in the pageant. His part will be the 'Moonlight on the Ganges.'
This meant something special writer Paul Ford (his website, his Twitter.) The Manual has given me permission to reprint this wonderfully written piece:
Lesson
An old radio show about nothing gained widespread popularity during WWII. Today it offers some relief from the dissonance between everyday life and a broader, broken world.
I’ve been listening to this old radio show called Vic and Sade. It’s a hard show to explain. It ran for fourteen years, 1932–1944. It ran on weekdays in the middle of the soap operas. It was fifteen minutes long. And it had seven million listeners. It was a big part of America and very influential. The people it influenced went on to be influential themselves. Yet not many of the recordings survive. It’s mostly a memory, a footnote.
The show is focused on only a few characters: Vic, an accountant; Sade, a housewife; and their adopted son, Rush. There were other characters later, a wacky uncle and so forth. The man who played Rush went off to fight in WWII, so they replaced him for a while. Every single episode was written by a man named Paul Rhymer.
Nothing happens. Not Seinfeld nothing, but nothing nothing. Someone wants to buy a hat. Or they sit on a porch. No jokes. The characters are only half-listening to each other. They repeat themselves. It’s a signature of the show that the characters repeat themselves.
During the whole run, America is basically in hell. In 1941, British commanders are raiding Bordeaux. The USAF is intercepting Luftwaffe patrols off Algeria. There is a tank battle at night for El Alamein. And on Vic and Sade they get a letter from Aunt Bess or talk about cherry phosphates. All this ephemeral stuff. It’s almost designed to disappear, and most of the recordings are gone, along with a few scripts, like this one:
RUSH: What’s Mrs Driscoll want ya for?What was that? Commentary on world affairs? Small-town satire? Exploration of the meaning of family? All of the above?
VIC: I have nothing to conceal; I’ll tell ya.
RUSH: [Chuckles] She stuck on ya?
VIC: She didn’t say. However, I’ll disclose what I know of the matter. Mrs Driscoll is putting on a pageant an’ your pop has been asked to take one of the principal parts in it.
RUSH: You’re gonna be in a play, huh?
VIC: Right. Tonight promptly at seven I appear at the Driscoll mansion for the first rehearsal.
RUSH: Whatcha gonna be in the play?
VIC: The Voice of the Congo.
RUSH: [Chuckles] What?
VIC: There’s nothing humorous about this, Ralph.
RUSH: The Congo is a river.
VIC: Mrs Driscoll is aware of that.
RUSH: She’s gonna give a play about a river, huh?
VIC: A play about many rivers. It’s called Shining Waters Flowing to the Sea. The idea is that the whole world is a network of streams. Somewhere all these streams join one another. That kinda makes us all cousins, see?
RUSH: No.
VIC: Well, it does. Reflect.
RUSH: Huh?
VIC: Think about it. Ya know the Mackinaw River, don’tcha?
RUSH: Sure.
VIC: Well, the Mackinaw flows into the Illinois; the Illinois flows into the Mississippi; the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico; the Gulf of Mexico also receives the turbid waters of the Snake, the Rio Grande, an’ the White. All these flow into the Pacific Ocean an’ join, through devious routes, the Nile, the Niger, the Amazon, an’ the Elbe. Follow me?
RUSH: No.
VIC: It matters little. Nevertheless, by means of all these shining ribbons of water, every man on earth is joined by strong bonds to every other man on earth.
Most of what the show does is comment on how people communicate: how they listen or don’t, the way they might nap for a few minutes and rejoin the conversation, the triumph of the neighborhood over the global in terms of news. (Do Nazis want to spy on Canada? Well, the Mayor wants to join Vic’s lodge.) And the characters are self-aware—for example, Vic is the “Exalted Big Dipper of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way,” a position of supposed great importance. He’s also fully aware that his club, the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, overcharges for everything to the point of scamminess—yet he remains an absolutely loyal member. The characters know their own faults and the faults of each other, and that makes easy jokes impossible; they can see it coming.
Since I started listening to these shows, on no particular schedule—often I pop them up on my phone and fall asleep to them—I’ve noticed how many of my own conversations are like those on the show. The world is going on, parachutes dropping from the sky, and I’m talking with my wife about the trash can, or about whether I should put up new curtains. It’s not that the big world isn’t there. But the dramas of my life are over the smallest things, the things I do control. The color of the paint, the disposition of the children, the condition of the cats. I try to keep up. I do keep up. I read the paper.
When I moved to New York City, I became, suddenly, quite depressed about the world, and I told my father about my condition. “That’s easy,” he said. “You started reading the Times.” Meaning that the world was now at my doorstep, in all of its weird, baffling anger. And I still see it.
As the smaller ways of getting the news have folded, and the larger ones have engorged themselves, I keep feeling more pressure to care, to become engaged or—change that first “g” to an “r”—enraged, about things over which I have absolutely no power. It’s not wrong to be aware of them, to think of ways that you might contribute or alter the flow of human effort. As a writer I have the privilege of getting a small group of people to think about B when otherwise they might have thought of A. None of it means that I stop flowing to the sea, but perhaps one of the hardest lessons of life is that I am a river, not the ocean.
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By all accounts, this episode was from 1932, meaning this was one of the first of Paul Rhymer's scripts that have the formula as we know it today.The script's humor, mainly focusing on Vic's ego getting slowly crushed, was a favorite go-to for Rhymer.
37-07-07 Smelly’s Tonsil Operation
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
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.
36-12-17 Sade Goes Christmas Shopping (Joyeux Noel)
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
SEE THE SCRIPT SYNOPSIS
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You will find a lot of similarities with this episode and 44-07-18 Fantastic Sale at Yamilton's. TRIVIA:
* One of the funnier conversations in the series appears in this episode:
RUSH: I been playin' basketball in the gym ever since school let out. I can hardly drag one foot after the other.Joyeux Noel:
VIC: I been manipulating large business enterprises. I can hardly drag one brain after the other.
was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides – as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units – independently ventured into "no man's land", where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of football with one another. (Source: Wikipedia)
36-04-30 Rush – the Cartographer
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
 |
| Promo map - click to enlarge |
- Vic is helping Rush draw a picture map of the city. (Rush refers to teacher – librarian? – Miss Gustman)
- Vic complains The guy yanking the fish out of the Kickapoo Crick is out of proportion. Rush wants it like that because Hank Gutstop's layin' on the baggage truck, Mis' Fisher leanin' out her front window, an' Mr. Donahue in the cab of his locomotive are all out of proportion. But they give the picture some punch.
- Rush is to deliver the map to Miss Gustman at the library by seven-thirty.
- Vic starts to fill in street names – Rush says Miss Gustman will do that.
- Sade wants to know what's playing at the picture show, where they intend to go after dropping off the map. The men are busy and try to satisfy her curiosity with an invented title. Vic compliments Rush on his ability to draw Mis' Call's chickens.
- (The phone rings.) Hank wants Vic to come to his house to play in an indoor horseshoes tournament. Vic wants to play and creates a story that he can't go to the Bijou with Rush and Sade because of important lodge business. Rush advises him not to mention Hank's name to Sade.
- Sade recommends protecting the map by wrapping it in newspaper because there's "soft-coal dust smoke in the air."
- Hank is waiting on the line. Sade wants to know why the phone's off the hook. She picks up the phone, finds out it is Hank and explains Vic won't be coming to the indoor horseshoe tournament. Rush is amazed at her deductive powers. Sade instructs Vic to get his coat. - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason
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The map the family describes is a real one; a promotional item given away (or sold) by Proctor and Gamble during this time period.It's interesting that Hank Gutstop not only (surprisingly) has a house but he has indoor horseshoes.
Mis' Call has chickens; we learn in another episode that Mis' Keller also has chickens and Mis' Harris probably had chickens as she has a chicken coup.
This won't be the last time that Vic tries to lie to Sade, Of course, it never works!
32-12-10 Locks of Sidney's Hair as Party Favors
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS
___________________
literally
This episode reminds me, that for some reason after 1934, all of
- Sidney Call? Sister of Heinie and Freda Chinbunny. She was much older than Rush (8 years) and it appears he had a crush on her. She was cool with this and was sweet to him. The Call family lived right there near the Gooks. Did she die or get married or...
- Elton Keefer is the son of the Brickmush Man. Where did Elton run off to?
- Bulldog was Rush's "great enemy". The Drummonds did not move because Mrs. Drummond is seen in the alley in an episode that Russell is in. The Drummonds live on University Blvd./Street (yes, both), the same street that Mis' Harris lived on - in other words, Bulldog lived nearly right across the alley, but apparently, became a hermit - or died.
- Link? Link was Rush's best pal. They spent hours together. But Link and his whole family aren't ever mentioned again that we know about after 1934.
All of the friends on the list (above right) are important people in Rush's life (look 'em up on the character website if you don't believe me).
Trivia:
+ The phrase "given the mitten" is explained in detail, here.
+ When Vic sees Rush's baldish head, he tells him he "looks like a peeled onion" - the exact phrase Sade uses when she talks about Vic's choice of hats.
46-09-26 August Invoices
Vic is all alone at home and settled down to do some office work. He has two hours to complete it. A nearby street has been shut down (actually 2 of them, making the traffic lighter in front of his house), Sade's away on a car trip with Ruthie Stembottom to Towanda and Rush is at school.
He calls his secretary, Miss Hamersweet and instructs her to hold all of his calls. Peace and quiet.
But things go downhill the moment he hangs up the phone. First, Rush comes home and he does so with a yell.
Instead of being upset, Vic gets Rush to read him off some figures and he imagines this will make his job easier.
But wait! Sade comes home unexpectedly.
After Sade breaks a large gravy boat in the kitchen and Rush falls off of his chair, Uncle Fletcher arrives.
Then the telephone and front door bell ring at the same time.
Just when you think matters can't get worse for Vic, Uncle Fletcher has brought walnuts over and plans to crack them.
Then, Mis' Kessler lets herself in the back door. She wants to go to Mis' Call's house but a coal truck has stalled out between the Gook and Donahue house and Mis' Kessler can't go that way and Mr. Erickson is putting in a new sidewalk(!) on the other side of the house and there are wooden horses everywhere. Mis' Kessler eventually asks to go through the Gook living room, disturbing Vic even more.
Uncle Fletcher goes out back to crack nuts.
As soon as the Gooks get rid of Mis' Kessler, Orville Wheenie arrives. He too wants to get to Virginia Avenue (from the alley) and asks to come through the house.
As soon as Wheenie exits, Mr. Sprawl comes in the back door.
Mis' Kessler has returned the mop she borrowed from Mis' Call and now must re-enter the Gook home to exit out to University Avenue.
As soon as she leaves, Mr. Sprawl then returns looking for a penny he forgot. He finds it in his mitten.
And as Mr. Sprawl is leaving, Uncle Fletcher returns. He wants to go out front.
As soon as he leaves, Sade returns, apologizing for disturbing Vic. Then a complete stranger shows up and goes right through the house!
Then a woman walks through the house, asking the Gooks for directions to the underwear department.
Then, a strange man whom knows Uncle Fletcher (calls him 'Fletch') and Mis' Kessler knows wanders in to use the telephone. Later it is found out that he's Mr. Thompson. He and Mis' Kessler have a very, very strange conversation.
Then... Uncle Fletcher shows up and almost immediately leaves.
After Mr. Thomspon leaves, another strange man enters the house and then another guy... After they leave, in comes Mis Kessler again.
Then... Mr. Sprawl shows up again.
And so goes Vic's day.
__________________
Not a bad episode, despite all the real characters, of which there are many. The only thing is : I have a hard time imagining that Mr. Erickson would spend the money to put in a sidewalk. Trivia:
+ While he is the school principal, Rush has always referred to Mr. Chinbunny simply as, "Mr. Chinbunny" - until this episode, where he calls him "Principal Chinbunny."
+ Sade said Ruthie's car wouldn't "begin" because the propeller was broke.
+ Sade drops a gravy boat in the kitchen and smashes it. It was a Christmas gift to her from Charlie and Irene (first time either has been mentioned, unless she was referring to the Razorscums; but that's only a guess.)
+ The person ringing the doorbell was a stranger who wanted to know where the Burtons lived. Rush directed him across the street. The Burtons haven't been mentioned before.
+ It's Emerson Avenue (first time mentioned) and Oak streets that are shutdown. Virgina Avenue sits between the two streets, probably one east and one west.
+ Unlike in this episode, Mis' Kessler has no problem in remembering Orville's name.
+ A strange man came inside to use the phone. Uncle Fletcher and Mis' Kessler both knew him as Mr. Thompson. He calls his daughter on the telephone.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
46-09-19 Uncle Fletcher Farmed Out
Uncle Fletcher's landlady, Mis' Keller, plans to spend the winter in Ohio. How will Uncle Fletcher get fed? He fears she will stack up his meals in advance: one on top of the other ad infinitum.
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| Fletcher Rush (Clarence Hartzell) |
But Uncle Fletcher isn't too happy about it all. He claims she has him staying with people he doesn't know and even claims that she has him taking a train out of state to eat!
Meanwhile, Mis' Kessler comes over and offers to let Uncle Fletcher spend the winter at her house and Sade counters by saying he can spend the winter with the Gooks. This show of caring by the ladries makes Uncle Fletcher cry.
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This episode aired about three weeks later than the previous surviving episode... and the two episodes are coincidentally very much related. Trivia:
+ Sade mentioned a Reverend Harold Kidneyslide. He got caught between two cyclones on Sept. 19 and ended up in Tazewell County; rolled up in the shape of a hoop at 50 miles an hour and passed away.
Recall that Uncle Fletcher's friend Andreson L. McFlutcher was also killed by getting stuck between two cyclones.
+ Mis' Kessler comes to the Gook house, returning Sade's "wringer." I suspect this refers to a laundry wringer. But she never actually borrowed Sade's wringer and she didn't bring the wringer over anyway; she brought over a fly swatter!
+ Mis' Kessler also seems to be having the darndest time remembering Orville Wheeney's first name.
When inviting Fletcher to spend the whole winter at her house, she says she has a balloonascope (like a telescope), a broken cornet, a parrot and seashells (hold them up to your ears and it sounds like Lake Eerie.)
+ Mis' Keller is planning on visiting her brother in Dismal Seepage, Ohio. He has 5 girls.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
45-11-21 Jimmy Custard, City Callestorker
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL
Confused Jimmy Custard, the town's calistoker, comes to visit the Gooks and take statistics just as they are about to leave the house. Sade's patience finally runs out (ish!) and they leave the disoriented statistician to Uncle Fletcher as they depart.
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There's an interesting book online called, Tales from the City Calistoker; in it's very first paragraph in chapter one and in many more after that, it refers to Jimmy Custard but not in a Paul Rhymer or Vic and Sade way. What I get is that either Rhymer used the name "Jimmy Custard" in his plays as a joke about calistokers or calistokers became known as "Jimmy Custards" after Vic and Sade. And I really don't know which one is true - but I suspect one or the other must be true.
Unfortunately, not much else can be found on the internet concerning the subject but I do find it most interesting.
At any rate, the Jimmy Custard in this episode is far crazier than Uncle Fletcher and when the two are compared, you realize that Fletcher isn't crazy at all.
Trivia:
+ The episode begins with Rush reading from a Third Lieutenant Stanley novel. Of course, he's being harassed by six counterfeiters.
+ The Gooks destination is the Stembottom home; we can assume they are going to play "500."
+ Sade notices that Mis' Donahue has now put up a curtain and a light in her attic and vows to ask her "what's going on?" Recall the earlier episode where Mis' Harris was alerted to strange activitity in the Donahue attic.
+ Someone calls the house for Fat Jackson and accuses Sade of being "Adeline."
+ When Jimmy Custard arrives, the Gooks and Uncle Fletcher are all in the living room; Custard simply walks in without knocking.
+ Custard confuses Rush with "Mr. Gook" on two occasions.
+ Custard is wearing another person's hat as there was a mix-up at the Bijou between a man and a woman and himself. Each got the wrong hat.
+ Earlier in the day, Mis' Harris refused to allow Custard entrance into her home because she didn't believe who he was.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
44-09-05 Sade's Debtors
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN
Sade tries to figure out who owes her money and how much. She gets Vic to help.
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In another episode, Russell and Vic talk about Sade being tight-fisted. While she's not selfish, she certainly proves in this episode that she keeps track every penny owed to her.This episode is full of interesting trivia.
Trivia:
 |
| spondulicks |
+ Mr. Croucher (ie. Croucher's grocery store) is actually a butcher. Croucher's grocery is probably a butcher shop that also sells other items.
+ The cost of a single brick of mush costs ten cents. The Brick Mush man adds three cents to each brick for "tax," yet the money goes into his pocket. The Brick Mush man is called, "shrewd" by Sade but it's pretty obvious that he's actually a crook.
+ Mis' Call is the kind of person who doesn't want anyone to owe her anything and doesn't want to owe anyone anything.
+ Mis' Donahue likes pecans on her chocolate ice cream.
+ Mis' Otto and her young son Clarence were mentioned for the first time. Clarence is obviously Cracky's younger brother.
+ Sade uses the word 'spondulicks' twice in this episode, making the 5th and 6th times in the surviving series.
+ The owner of Kleeburger's is Mr, Kleeburger and this was the first time he was mentioned by name.
+ Sade and Mis' Heddles made a bet about which side of the street a house was on. The house in question was an odd number address. Sade said she won the bet because odd numbers are always on the right (that's incorrect, they are on the left) - however, they were probably going down the street "the wrong way" meaning everything was backwards. Either way, the bet was only for a penny!
This episode confirms that Mis' Heddles is a member of the Thimble Club.
+ The Greek has a weighing machine outside his confectionery.
+ Russell wears neckties to school.
+ Sade is owed a total of $9.82 by her friends; $9 of which is owed to her by Ruthie Stembottom, who is afraid to pay up because her husband Fred will notice the large amount.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
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)
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[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
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| click to enlarge |
+ 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)
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
40-02-27 Deep Currents of High School Life
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
This is not news to Rush, who knows all kinds of gossip about the goings on at his school and proceeds to tell it all during this episode.
Sade is most interested.
Trivia:
+ The Board of Education had previously fired Miss Adams for wearing too much jewelry. She became really blatant about it right before she got married. She married T.J. Unkers and they live at 719 N. Willoughby Street. This is the first time either has been mentioned.
+ Edwin Stovely was mentioned. He got caught hiding butter patties (stealing) in his mashed potatoes; he came clean about previous thefts and paid up $1.75 and promised to "turn over a new leaf."
+ Sade claims Fred Stembottom steals olives from the cafeteria (hiding them in his mashed potatoes) and Ruthie is afraid he'll get caught.
+ The manual training teacher from high school, Mr. Fletcher, is mentioned. His wife beats him with a vacuum sweeper.
Rush tells a story about a butter patty thief at school (edited): {{{HEAR}}}
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
High school is a hotbed of politics. Wheels within wheels. Crossed wires. High school is a seething river of emotions. - Leland RichardsSade has some gossip: She found out from Mis' Call that Mr. Chinbunny got bawled-out for letting the newspaper print his picture and was severely criticized by the Board of Education.
This is not news to Rush, who knows all kinds of gossip about the goings on at his school and proceeds to tell it all during this episode.
Sade is most interested.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
Rush enlightens Sade and Vic about the “labyrinthine complexities” of daily life at a public high school.
As a public school teacher, I hold this episode close to my heart. Our days in public school are, with some exceptions, the only time that most of us are packed into a small, confined space with other people from every walk of life, every economic bracket, every race, and every creed (at least every one represented in our district). Bound to be wheels within wheels. Bound to be crossed wires. “A seething river of human emotion” is about the best concise description I’ve ever heard of a public school, and I use it often.
It’s not surprising that Sade’s mental image of school is so wildly different from reality, as it’s been a while since she’s been there. She never graduated high school, and we’re not sure how far she got. Maybe this chat will enlighten her about why it is Rush has such a hard time concentrating on his studies to the degree she desires…
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Both Sade and Rush love gossip. It's in their nature. While Sade does it more often, the stuff we hear from Rush in this episode is just as juicy as what Sade usually emits, perhaps only because Sade gives him a chance to talk.Trivia:
+ The Board of Education had previously fired Miss Adams for wearing too much jewelry. She became really blatant about it right before she got married. She married T.J. Unkers and they live at 719 N. Willoughby Street. This is the first time either has been mentioned.
+ Edwin Stovely was mentioned. He got caught hiding butter patties (stealing) in his mashed potatoes; he came clean about previous thefts and paid up $1.75 and promised to "turn over a new leaf."
+ Sade claims Fred Stembottom steals olives from the cafeteria (hiding them in his mashed potatoes) and Ruthie is afraid he'll get caught.
+ The manual training teacher from high school, Mr. Fletcher, is mentioned. His wife beats him with a vacuum sweeper.
Rush tells a story about a butter patty thief at school (edited): {{{HEAR}}}
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40-02-02 Mr. Donahue Gets a Promotion
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Sade is very excited for Mr. and Mis' Donahue; Mr. Donahue has been promoted to the more prestigious job of Traveling Inspector of Locomotives.
The Gooks gaze out the window to see Mr. Donahue wearing nice clothes for a change, as he prepares to tackle his new job on the freight line. His first trip is to Kansas City.
Why is Sade so excited? I've always thought it was because the Donahues had a "dream realized" - something the Gooks actually never seem to have happen to them. So in a way, Sade is living vicariously through Mis' Donahue.
That's not to say that Vic isn't successful - we know that he is; he's the chief accountant at Consolidated Kitchenware Plant #14 and he is a most prominent member of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of his lodge; he is often written up in magazine features of both places.
However, the rewards Vic reaps seem silly to Sade (i.e. the lodge is silly.) Plus, whatever leftover income Vic receives seems to be blown on lodge schemes or lodge frivolity.
Trivia:
+ There's a washrag sale at Yamilton's.
+ We can assume that Mis' Elders lives across the street as well (also the first time mentioned in surviving audio.)
+ Mr. Husher is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio.
Sade imitates Mr. Donahue (edited): {{{HEAR}}}
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
Sade is very excited for Mr. and Mis' Donahue; Mr. Donahue has been promoted to the more prestigious job of Traveling Inspector of Locomotives.
The Gooks gaze out the window to see Mr. Donahue wearing nice clothes for a change, as he prepares to tackle his new job on the freight line. His first trip is to Kansas City.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
Mr. Donahue gets a much-deserved promotion to Traveling Inspector of Locomotives.
We so often hear about the bad side of small-town gossip — backbiting and public shaming and libel. But Paul Rhymer shows that there’s a good side, too. Neighbors share in each other’s good fortune and experience it as if it were their own. Mr. Donahue is moving from blue-collar to white-collar, from the overalls class to the derby hat class. He’s achieved the American dream, and in the time of the Depression and World War II, it’s a nice reminder for Sade and others that that Puritan work ethic of theirs really does pay off.
This episode exemplifies “Vic and Sade” as the original show-about-nothing. A neighbor got a promotion. Sade talks about how she’s really happy for him. That’s it. That’s all there is for ten minutes. No conflict. No resolution. And yet it’s STILL entertaining and funny.
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Why is Sade so excited? I've always thought it was because the Donahues had a "dream realized" - something the Gooks actually never seem to have happen to them. So in a way, Sade is living vicariously through Mis' Donahue.That's not to say that Vic isn't successful - we know that he is; he's the chief accountant at Consolidated Kitchenware Plant #14 and he is a most prominent member of the Drowsy Venus Chapter of his lodge; he is often written up in magazine features of both places.
However, the rewards Vic reaps seem silly to Sade (i.e. the lodge is silly.) Plus, whatever leftover income Vic receives seems to be blown on lodge schemes or lodge frivolity.
Trivia:
+ There's a washrag sale at Yamilton's.
+ We can assume that Mis' Elders lives across the street as well (also the first time mentioned in surviving audio.)
+ Mr. Husher is mentioned for the first time in the surviving audio.
Sade imitates Mr. Donahue (edited): {{{HEAR}}}
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
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