42-07-2x Vic's Inspection Tour

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Consolidated Kitchenware has made plans to send Vic on a month-long business tour.  Just days earlier, Vic was given a shower by the Thimble Club ladies (which I'm certain he felt uncomfortable about). And now, they plan to see him off on the train as well and part of the plan is throw sawdust all over him.

Vic has strong reservations about this, since his bosses Misters Buller and Ruebush will be with him and he doesn't want them covered in sawdust!

But it gets even more dicey - "the girls from the office" (including Lolita di Rienzi) are also coming along for the ride!

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Trivia:

+ Rush says people might get the impression Vic has just gotten married (because of the sawdust).

+ The "kids from the office" may be carrying flowers, according to Vic.

+ At the end of the episode, Sade says she isn't mad and does not seem mad, so we assume she is NOT mad.  So why is that Vic is upset, when he mutters, "Dog gone! Dog gone! Dog gone!"?
 
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44-01-04 Vic's Bottom Dresser Drawer Violated

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND  DAVID WHITEHOUSE

• Despite a sacred agreement not to fuss with Vic's bottom dresser drawer, Sade's housekeeping sense caused her to violate the pact.  She saw a necktie sticking out and went into a cleaning frenzy.  She tries to blame Vic for saving an entire Sunday paper just to preserve the line "B. B. Baugh of the Bright Kentucky Hotel spent Tuesday in Peoria."  Vic insists Sade abide by their agreement and return everything:  loose tobacco, shoe-horns, belt buckles, chewing gum, table knives, a tennis ball…
• Vic asks Russell to read more facts from his book, "My Golden Treasury of Startling Facts," to keep him calm and not dwell on the violation of his dresser drawer.  Russell reads:
• "Ladies in Texas have bluer eyes than ladies in Oklahoma."
• "The origin of ‘giddap' is attributed to Charles S. Giddap of Sweet Esther.  Giddap was a great friend of all animals.  He was born July 11, 1803 and died December 2, 1880."
• "Kissing among Eskimo tribes of the far north is gradually dwindling. Sam Slurper, noted explorer, reports that he saw only one kiss exchanged between these hardy people in all the years he spend in that frosty region."
• "Hogs enjoy eating coal, lemons, paper plates, and that gray, feathery substance one sees underneath the bed before Mother dusts."
• Vic (referring to Morry Flootcher at the office): "He's been bald-headed ever since he was eighteen years old and isn't any more sensitive about it than your undershirt."
• Russell continues reading:  "The use of water to extinguish fires dates back over eighty years."
• "In southern Indiana and northern Kentucky little children address their mamas as ‘papa' and their papas as ‘mama'.  This quaint custom is a source of much confusion and hearty laughter on the part of visitors from other sections of the country."
• "Certain Indian tribes of North America eat cigars as well as smoke them."
• "Beautiful women on the island of Punkly – 39 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico prepare a deadly poison from sliced bananas, rain-water, and old people."
• "The use of the term ‘square' as applied to boxes is derived from boomix, a by-product of petroleum."
• "Arnold L. Shoppe of Dismal Seepage, Ohio was the first man east of the Mississippi river to wear shoes.  His brother, Ernest, holds the distinction of being the first man east of the Mississippi to wear a hat, and his sister Bessie claims to be the first woman east of the Mississippi to wear gloves.  All three passed away August 11, 1905, while appearing in a tent-show near Fiendish, Indiana."
• "A simple way to manufacture mucilage at home is boil a pair of ordinary leather shoes eight hours in…"
• "Contrary to popular belief, Michigan is south of Texas." - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason
  

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

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A wacky episode which may remind you of 40-03-29 No, Vic, No Trip to Chicago where Rush is reading from his book, "Interesting Facts About Darkest Africa."  Both books indeed contain some amazing "facts."

Sade seems to disappear after she's been busted for violating Vic's drawer.  I wonder where she went?

43-12-09 Winter Picnic Plans

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

• B. B. Baugh calls, suggesting a winter picnic.  Vic (at end of call): "Bee bee, bye bye – I mean Bye, bye, B. B."
• Vic tells Sade and Russell they're not invited.
• The picnic's only for the Sweet Esther, Wisconsin crowd.
  B. B. Baugh and Pom Pom Cordova were born there.
• Russell: "I heard of a fella that went to Colorado with the idea of staying an hour and a quarter and ended up staying forty-seven years."  Sade: "Um."  Russell: "That case is on record, and the public is welcome to go to Washington, D. C. and read all the details in the Congressional Record."   Sade: "I guess I'll do that."  Russell (approvingly):  Uh-huh, and you could visit Grant's tomb at the same time."  Vic: "Grant's tomb is in New York."  Russell: "I disagree."  Vic: "O. K."  
• The invited crowd: Sade suggests: Dr. Keevey, Lolita DiRienzi.
• Russell suggests: "Our grocery boy, Irvin, Miss Hammersweet and the girl at the cigar counter."
• Vic says two more who share Sweet Esther as their birthplace have been uncovered: Mis' Harris' roomer, Mr. Breep, and Fern Mudstudy, the girl that plays the piano at the Ten Cent store (born 11-21-1910.)
• Russell lists all eight invitees: "grocery boy Irvin, Fern Mudstudy, Vic, Pom Pom, B. B. Baugh, Morgan Perron, the girl at the cigar counter in the Unity Building, Mis' Harris' roomer, Mr. Breep, and Mis' Olive Hammersweet (Vic's secretary.)
• Sade notes there'll be two musicians there: Pom Pom and Fern.  Vic doubts they'll take a piano out in the woods.
• Russell: "The Chicago & Alton shop employees had an outing at Howton's Lake, and they hauled a piano there on a truck."
• Sade bristles when Vic says "four boys and four girls". Russell says it's 1 boy, 3 men, 3 girls, and a woman.
• Mr. Breep telephone Vic, who suddenly realizes he wasn't born in Sweet Esther, Wisconsin.  He was born in Union Grove, Illinois. - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

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Strange doings.  Take a long look at the list of folks on the picnic... look up some particulars at the Character site. There is a definite theme with the picnic - the people's names, their occupations and where they come from are all important. 

Trivia:

+ Fern Mudstudy will later be mentioned in an episode and her description will be nearly identical.

40-10-14 E-Z Slippers

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic finds out that he's about to become the recipient of many pairs of E-Z slippers for Christmas (just 10 weeks away).

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

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I'll bet you - like me - never realized that E-Z slippers were as popular on the show as all of this.

Perhaps you didn't realize that Mr. Sludge and Vic were 'arms around the neck, chummy.'  Well, they weren't.  But 1940 was a far different world than 2015 and beyond.  Mr. Sludge and Vic were neighbors.  They lived across the alley from each other.  Vic had talked baseball with Mr. Sludge - even though Vic had no interest in talking with him (he referred to him as a slob) {{{HEAR}}}  No, they weren't friends, but Mr. Sludge probably thought pretty highly of Vic, enough to MAKE him a pair of E-Z slippers.  I'll bet Vic didn't make Sludge anything.

Vic wasn't friends with Noah and Beulah either, but they sent him E-Z slippers.  Beulah's father rented to Vic.  That was enough of a connection to draw a homemade Christmas gift in 1940!

That's another thing about this episode - people made gifts for one another.  They took their own personal time to construct the gifts.  They didn't lay out $12 each at Walmart (Yamilton's) and purchase them by the bushel, like we might do today.

Trivia:

+  Miss Hammersweet's E-Z Slippers have little calendars on them.  They fit over the insteps like shoe buckles – small metal frames, and inside the frames are little... (we never find out the rest).

+ Who's Vic getting slippers from?  Miss Hammersweet, Beuhla and Noah, the Brainfeebles, Mr. Sludge, Ike Kneesuffer, Mr. Ruebush, H.K. Fleeber, and Mr. Gumpox.

46-09-26 August Invoices

STARRING ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN , BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

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.

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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.

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45-11-27 Parade of Interruptions

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Sade complains to Vic that she can't get any work done because visitors keep interrupting her.

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And she aint kidding! Sade is interrupted by a total of nine people, including Vic.

This is a better than the average show, although, it's not one of the better ones.

Trivia:

+ Vic came home early from work because workmen were hammering on the steam pipes.

+ Sade complains to Vic about the visitors simply walking in the house without knocking. This was never a problem before 'Series 2' because there were no real people (save the Brainfeebles and Leland "I Want My Mommy" Richards.) This "problem" was created by Paul Rhymer!

+ Those who had bothered Sade before Vic arrived:

• The Brick Mush man
• Mr. Sprawl (he came to bring embroidery hoops that Mis' Harris had borrowed.)
• Vernon Korkell (not to read the meter but to kiss-off time.)
• Mr. Gumpox (he just noticed the big chip knocked out of the garbage box. That incident occured July 28, 1944, almost a year and a half prior to this incident!)
• Mr. Erickson (wanted to see if the back porch really needed to be fixed.)
  
• Rishigan Fishigan (came by to see if the Gooks needed their windows washed.)
  
• A cosmetics saleman (he had some stuff to smear on your face to make you look pretty.)

Once Vic got to the house, more visitors (all real characters) arrived:

• Orville Wheenie (he came by looking for Vernon Korkell who was long gone)
• Uncle Fletcher
• Mr. Gertner (The City Water Inspector; his first appearance. He seems to know Uncle Fletcher pretty well, since he calls him "Fletch.")
• Jimmy Custard (Still confused, he's lost his glasses and thinks Sade is called, "Mrs. Emerson.")
• Harry Dean (A telephone repairman; his first appearance.)

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44-09-25 Saving Blue Tooth from Tragedy

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Russell and five of his friends plan to congregate and formulate plans to save Blue Tooth Johnson from the tragedy that is his public adoration of Mildred Tisdel.

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A hard-to-understand episode because of sound quality but one thing you won't miss is that "nature has given ____ (fill in the blank) the beautiful gift of laughter!"

Trivia:

+ Russell is anxious to call Heinie Call on the telephone, despite the fact that in previous shows the two did not get along.

+ Sade said Ruthie accidentally fell asleep in Yamilton's a few days earlier while exchanging stockings (during the downtime between all the red tape.)

+ Blue Tooth wrote Mildred a note, a poem, gave her a birthday present and walked home with her.

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44-09-08 Vic's Business Trip

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Vic gets overly-excited about a business trip to Chicago with Mr. Ruebush.

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Though he gets over-excited, he doesn't act childish and Sade seems to show empathy for him, which is out of character for both. Someone calls for Fat Jackson near the end and neither Vic nor Sade seem upset.

Easily one of the strangest episodes.

Trivia:

+ Sade gossips on the phone to Ruthie Stembottom about Mis' Toopleforth (her first time mentioned) and the fact that she keeps gaining weight.

+ Sade makes plans for the Gooks and the Stembottoms to play "500."

+ Sade mentions the muted silver moonbeam chimes from a couple of episodes back.

+ Sade wants Vic to take an orange, a banana and a washrag on the train trip. He refuses them all.  Why would he?  Uncle Fletcher knows better.

+ Again, some guy calls for Fat Jackson.

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44-07-05 Visiting Dignitaries

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

After finding a telegram from Honky J. Sponger (lodge headquarters) that had been sent hours earlier to his secretary, Vic rushes home from work to gather his lodge regalia and try and learn a speech from Volume 3 of his lodge library.

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The avid Vic and Sade listener will find many parallels with this episode and 39-01-02 Lodge Regalia Out On Loan, except, in the latter episode, his regalia wasn't at home but lent out to several people.

Trivia:

+ We find out that as of this date (July 5, 1944), Sade is 36 years old. In reality, actress Bernadine Flynn was closer to 42 years old in this episode, having been born January 2, 1904.

However, in this episode, Sade's birthday is August 20th and she was already 34 years old in 1934, meaning she would have been born in 1900 instead of 1904.  Who knows?

+ The Volume 3 official lodge greeting for a dignitary:
Oh lemon-colored messenger from celestial galaxies, oh sweet-fingered zither player from the skies, let the hem of your garment touch my flesh. Scream defiance to the yellow stars and kick your heels in savage delight. Crush a crazy moon between your great white teeth and roll your eyes at the Milky Way. Stop little brother, while the red...

The above is different from the official lodge greeting for a dignitary in Volume 7 of the lodge library, which you may recall:

Oh little frenzied brother of mine, bring your clutching hand and listen for the call of the golden oriole as the maiden stands by the splashing pool as the mischevious tarantella...

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44-05-30 Lolita di Rienzi Compliments Vic

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Lolita di Rienzi suggests to Vic that he write a series of articles or even a book about his recent experiences on his trip to the Midwest with Mr. Ruebush.

Although the things that happen to him are quite routine, the impetus of Lolita's suggestion has him in very good spirits. Of course that ends quickly enough once he's home and begins to tell Sade and Russell, who rib him into leaving the house.

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Vic once took a trip where he wrote a long article about it; the newspaper editor Ed Greefer was not at all impressed.

Trivia:

+ Vic's lunch hour at work is over at 1:00; we certainly have assumed that but now we know.

+ "Old Man" Chieferson was seen in the neighborhood. He lives on Oakland Avenue now but apparently used to live on Virginia Avenue or thereabouts. He has a daughter named Louise McDermott.

+ Lolita works in the boxing department of Consolidated Kitchenware.

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43-03-05 Vic Entertains Dottie

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUTH PERROT

Sade has an obligation to the church bazaar and since Dottie Brainfeeble is visiting, needs Vic to stay home and keep her company for nearly 5 hours.

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Of course like any sensible man would do, Vic leaves Dottie less than a minute after Sade has walked out the door. There's nobody (aside from Sade and Dottie's feeble-brained husband Chuck) that would want to stay around Dottie more than a minute.

Trivia:

+ Hank Gutstop calls and borrows $2 from Vic. Vic says he keeps a tally of how much Hank owes him - but in at least one previous episode, he had no idea how much Hank owed him.

+ Chuck and Dottie are talking about moving next door to the Gooks, meaning that in a missing episode, we lost someone moving away.

+ Dottie is very affectionate. She kisses Vic and gently crushes his cigars in his coat pocket.

+ Dottie is under the impression that Vic sells lumber.

+ It must have been very impressive and in some ways "sexual" (if I can use that term here) for men during this time period (1932-1944) to wear a clean white shirt everyday. Sade has said her sister Bess mentions it and Dottie mentions it in this episode and it's always mentioned in a sensual kind-of way.

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42-10-27 Christmas Suggestions for the Boss #1

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Vic and Sade read through Vic's pile of Christmas gift suggestions for the boss that he collected at work.

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I don't know why but this strikes me as a strange episode. It lacks the bite of a normal episode and ends without a punch.

Trivia:

+ Sade ran into Rishigan Fishigan downtown.

+ We find out that Vic's secretary, Miss Hammersweet, has the first name of 'Olive.'

+ Irving, an office boy, is mentioned for the first time. He's a "funny guy" who works at Plant 14.

+ Lolita di Rienzi is also mentioned for the first time. All we know is that she uses purple ink in her pen and works at Plant 14.

+ Here is a composite list of gift ideas:
Candy
Cupie doll
Curry comb
Diamond ring
Dictionary
Fingernail file
Flowers
Fountain pen and pencil set
Garters
Gentleman's heavy leather hair brush
Golf clubs
Hair net
Horse blanket
Housecoat
Initialized gold cuff links
Leather collarbox
Magazine rack
Mahogany desk
Reading lamp
Sheet music
Shoe horn
Shotgun
Smoking jacket
Smoking stand
Suit and bathrobe
Toothbrush
Toothpick
Traveling bag (said to have been mentioned twice - but wasn't really)
Umbrella urn
Un caff(?)
Un champeau de pluey(?)
Un pantier de palms decare(?)
Undershirt
Wallet (mentioned twice)
Wardrobe trunk
Wrist watch
Yardstick holder

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42-02-17 Hank Gutstop, Hostess

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic comes home and invites Sade and Rush out to eat at the town's new restaurant, the Little Tiny Petite Pheasant Feather Tea Shoppy. Hank Gutstop has gotten a job there as a hostess!

Before the family can leave, Hank predictably calls up and informs Vic that he's already been fired because he ate six meals his first day before 5 o'clock!

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Another fun episode, probably in the top 15 best, although hampered again by horrible sound that cannot be fixed.

Trivia:

+ The film playing at the Bijou is Gloria Golden and Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman in Take This Dropping Heart Of Mine, Assistant Straw Boss Williamson.
 
+ This is the first mention of the Little Tiny Petite Pheasant Feather Tea Shoppy, which is notorious in Vic and Sade.

The restaurant is located at Monroe and Madison Streets.

+ The restaurant is owned by Idler Grice, who also is the cook. This is the first time she has been mentioned.

+ The restaurant has just 3 tables.

+ Hank does not get a salary, instead he is to be paid in meals.

+ Sade says Hank is sometimes seen sleeping on the courthouse lawn, something that was not previously known.

+ Sade has blue eyes, according to Rush.

+ The meals at the restaurant are just 35 cents. The basic meal includes: soup, salad, meat, potatoes, two vegetables, dessert and a beverage.

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41-12-01 Vic's Trip to Plant Number 17

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic is in a rush because his boss is sending he and Ike Kneesuffer on a trip to Dubuque, Iowa (Plant Number 17) at the last minute. However, the Gooks have visitors and Sade keeps inisisting Vic take the time to say hello to them. He hasn't the time! And Ike is outside wanting Vic to hurry up - the train leaves in 15 minutes!

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Whenever Vic is in a hurry, it seems that it's because of his boss and Sade is always in the business of delaying him!

Trivia:

+ The Gook kitchen has a gas stove.

+ Plant Number 17 is in Dubuque, Iowa. In the past, we found out Gus Fuss and L. Wiley Phapp work there and each are mentioned in this episode also. We also learned, in an earlier episode, that there is the Soverign Saturn Chapter of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way in Dubuque and 4 of it's members are Cully Gratch, E.M. Blurk, H.B. Slyze and Axel Fungal.

+ Visiting the Gooks are Bert Tyson, his wife Winnie Chugman-Tyson and Bert's cousin, Mis' Geck, who is asleep upstairs in Vic and Sade's bed. It's the first time these three have been mentioned.

+ The telephone number for the taxi service in town is #6759-J.

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41-11-xx Strictly Business Christmas Loan

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rush needs $25 to buy Christmas presents and visits Vic at his office, since he views this as strictly business. While in the office, Rush sees that Vic is a master at "conducting business."

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This is a most unusual episode as we find ourselves in Vic's office at Consolidate Kitchenware, other than the Gook household.

Trivia:

+ Mr. Hudson calls Vic in his office. This is the first time he's been mentioned.  He works for Consolidated Kitchenware.

+ Mr. Willis (Consolidated Kitchenware in Chicago) called Vic in his office.

+ Vic talks to Sade on the phone and finds out the Gooks are playing "500" with Fred and Ruthie Stembottom that evening.

+ Rush has his Christmas list divided up this way: Sade - $8, Vic - $5, Uncle Fletcher - $3, Bess (Helfer) - $2, Walter (Helfer) - $2, Euncie (Helfer) - $1, Mis' Neagle - 50 cents. The remaining money ($3.50) will be split up among his friends: Blue Tooth Johnson, Smelly Clark, Leland Richards, Rooster Davis, LeRoy Snow, Vernon Peggles, Willis Rohrback, Milton Welch and Heinie Call.

+ This is the first time Mis' Neagle's name has been mentioned as his Sunday School teacher.

+ Hank Gutstop called from the Lazy Hours Pool Hall and asked Vic if he could borrow a couple of bucks.  Vic surmises he was playing bottle pool.

+ Mr. Burroughs (J.K., Plant #14's president) was kept waiting outside of Vic's office while Rush was talking to Vic!

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41-11-xx No Hooky For Vic & Rush

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Sade is surprised to see not just Rush but Vic come home early in the morning and finds out neither has been to school or work, respectively.

Uncle Fletcher shows up too and Sade finds out they are all planning to head around the corner to watch men clean out a building!

Sade tries to restore the men to their responsibilities and can't; only a phone call from Vic's secretary gets them in motion because Rush's excuse hinges on Vic missing work.

Mis' Crow Says:

Vic & Rush make plans to skip school & work to watch a spectacle downtown. Sade puts her foot down.

A noteworthy detail in this episode is that Fletcher seems to understand more of what’s going on than he lets on. While he pretends to be oblivious while it is in his best interest to do so, he shows himself to be particularly attuned with the emotions of the room here. The second the conflict between Vic and Sade comes to a head, Fletcher attempts to make a hasty departure. (Maybe he’s worried that if he waits long enough, Sade will detect his part in the scheme and set her sights on HIM!)  Then he stays back, trying to see which way the argument is going to go. As it becomes clearer and clearer that Vic isn’t going to get away with this, he keeps trying to leave – but keeps getting interrupted, to his chagrin. It’s a great Fletcher episode!

Vic really displays his hubris on this one. Did he really think Sade would let him get away with setting this example for Rush? And then he has the gall to try and use Sade as his personal secretary to call work and make excuses for him! This plan was doomed from the start. They should have just gone downtown and suffered through the cold. (Then, of course, Vic’s work would have called home anyway, Sade would have been worried about why he didn’t show up to work, and his head would have been on the chopping block anyway!)

SCRIPT (Transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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The whole situation of playing hookey seems to be the fault of Uncle Fletcher, even though technically he's not the one to blame.

Vic should've stepped up and told Rush to go to school and Vic should head off to the office.

Uncle Fletcher probably innocently goaded Vic and Rush into playing hookey. He was the one excited about watching men clean out an office building. It's not they are tearing a building down or anything exciting; this leaves me to believe this would be more in the nature of something Uncle Fletcher would be interested in, since he does nothing all day long but goof off.

Also, it's worth pointing out that this episode proves one of two things: either Uncle Fletcher acts senile as a complete excuse to do and say anything he wants or he really is devoid of any kind of reasoning and or hearing abilities.

Trivia:

+ The Cutler Building is the name of the building that is being cleaned. It seems to be located just off Kelsey Street and downtown, between Virgina Avenue and Rush's high school.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Ollie Wilmurdon, a man from Belvidere. He was a real tall, skinny fellow that wore and overcoat in the summer and just a seersucker suit in the winter. He had cards printed and would hand them out on the street. The cards read:

Hello Friend, my name is Ollie,
Life is beautiful and life is jolly,
Howdy stranger, yes by golly!

Vic is not responsible for Rush playing hookey! (EDITED): {{{HEAR}}}

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41-04-xx 40 Pounds of Golf Clubs

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic's boss, Mr. Buller, sends a telegram asking Vic to be at the train depot that evening to get a set of golf clubs he wants to drop off.

The problem: the train will be roaring past the station in darkness at 60 miles per hour and the golf clubs weigh close to 40 pounds!

________________________

The act of throwing the 40 pounds of golf clubs out of the train going 60 miles per hour and hitting someone with them would be murder. While Sade and Vic discuss Buller's eccentricity, consider that perhaps Buller also had a sense of humor and only wanted to frighten Vic (or make him laugh) rather than actually thinking of doing such a thing.

Trivia:

 + The telegram Buller sent to Vic:

SEE NO POINT IN CARRYING GOLF CLUBS TO SAINT LOUIS AND BACK STOP SUGGEST YOU MEET MISSOURI FLYER AND TAKE A POSITION ON THE DEPOT PLATFORM TO CATCH THEM AS I GO BY STOP I WILL BE STANDING IN THE THIRD VESTIBULE OF THE THIRD CAR FROM THE END AND DEPENDING ON YOUR SKILL AS A CATCHER BECAUSE MY GOLF BAG IS A NEW AND EXPENSIVE ONE AND I WOULDN'T WANT TO GET IT SCRATCHED STOP BULLER.

Assuming telegrams cost 30 cents plus 2 cents a word, this telegram would have cost around $1.70.

George "Babe" Ruth

+ Rush mentions it would be hard for Babe Ruth to catch the golf clubs under the conditions the best hitter in baseball history and was also one of the better pitchers in history but was not at all noted for his fielding. As a matter of fact, statistically speaking, he was about 3% (to be precise 2.8/100ths) worse than all of the other corner outfielders in baseball at the time he played.
presented in this episode. Consider this: Babe Ruth was

+ Vic estimated the 19 golf clubs and bag weighs 35 to 40 pounds.

+ Alec was mentioned for the first time. He (or she) answered the phone when Vic called Consolidated Kitchenware.

ticket puncher

+ Buller has been known to do some "eccentric" things: he pulled his own tooth with a ticket puncher on a train and another time, insisted on paying a quarter to ride on a merry-go-round when the admission was only five cents.

+  Rush tries to quote "Albert" (it's actually, "Alfred") Tennyson but is stopped before he can say it.  I assume he was trying to say:

"Nor is it wiser to weep a true occasion lost, but trim our sails, and let old bygones be."

 HIS FAVORITE EPISODE

It is right in character, though for Mr. Buller who pulled his own tooth with a ticket punch "without turning a hair." The insult-to-injury was "and I am counting on your ability as a catcher because it is a new and expensive one and I wouldn't want to get it scratched." It's good that Vic was willing to stand up to Buller at least this once. - Yaakov

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

41-01-24 Boss Waits in the Car

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade is excitingly telling Rush the big news: Ruthie Stembottom finally had enough of Mis' Appelrot and blew up on her right in the Underwear Department of Yamilton's and then quit the Thimble Club! That's pretty big news in Sade's world.

The Thimble Club in disarray

Meanwhile, Vic comes home, dropped off for a second by his boss, Mr. Ruebush. Vic has to get some papers and go right back to what he was doing and where he was going.

Sade, however, wants to tell Vic the story about the improbable happenings between Ruthie and Mis' Appelrot. While Vic is most-intrigued, he must immediately return to his boss and his job as he promised he would be just a second.

Of course it doesn't stop there. The telephone rings twice - both times for Vic - and he takes so long in the house that his boss finally drives away.

____________________

A very intriguing episode with juicy gossip about Public Enemy #1, Mis' Appelrot. Ruthie going off on her... but quitting the Thimble Club seems a bit like a MacGuffin, as I totally can't see that happening. I think it's writer Paul Rhymer's way to make the news juicy enough to almost force Sade into making Vic listen to her news. So perhaps in a way, he employed an Alfred Hitchock trick in radio before others later began to do so (this is evident in shows like The Lives of Harry Lime, The Adventures of Superman and others.)

It's too bad the show is hampered miserably by terrible sound quality. I was able to fix what I could but the damage is so bad, it seems to make little difference. I did fix the opening (half of it was missing - I replaced the missing half with an existing half of another episode) and there was a quirky tape speed-up toward the end which I restored as best I could. The hissing gets really bad towards the last quarter of the episode. I did what I could - mostly in-between the family talking.

Trivia:

+ Since Ruthie quit the Thimble Club, Sade, who is the club's President, is thinking about resigning as well.

+ The suit salesman who calls and talks to a harried Vic was named Mr. Weefer.

+ Miss Hammersweet (the other caller who talked to Vic) is a secretary at Consolidated Kitchenware.

+ Sade uses wild vivid exaggerations in describing Ruthie's anger (EDITED): {{{HEAR}}}

TELEPHONE'S RINGIN'

"Telephone's ringing!" I don't know of anybody who ever [yelled] that in real life. I think if they did, it was so rare that I never noticed. Usually if the telephone was ringing, someone either went straight for it to answer it, or if they couldn't they just yelled out, "Hey, somebody pick up the phone, and see who it is."

Sometimes, as a joke and a salute to Vic and Sade, I'll comment that the telephone is ringing. I'll even try to use Vic's tired out voice as it does, until either I, or somebody picks it up. I even made a ringtone for my cell phone of a montage of Vic, Sade, and Rush saying, "Telephone's ringing."

Now that I'm thinking of it, I've noticed people do something like it when a cell phone rings. Cell phones can have any number of chirpy or musical riffs for the ring tone. Anything from a traditional telephone bell to a persons favorite rock and roll band playing a sound bite. Because the tone can be surprising, the people around might look up, or at the source of the intrusion and comment that someone's cell phone is ringing.

Cell phones have been around since the 1980's, and you'd think we'd be more used to the unexpected range in ring tones. Consider that the telephone wasn't invented until the 1870's or so. By the 1930's the novelty was still slowly spreading, and it might not have been so uncommon of a thing for folks like Vic and Sade to say, "Telephone's ringing!"

Telephones and phone conversations became a comedy gag from the time of Mark Twain. He once wrote about the odd, one sided conversation his daughter had as she took a phone call. In the vaudeville and early radio days of the 20th century, George Jessel did a bit where he phoned his mom, and the audience only caught the monolog of his side of the conversation. When necessary for getting the laugh, he might sometimes repeat what his mom might have reacted to him with. Probably Fibber McGee's telephone calls to Myrt the phone operater more closely resembles Mark Twain's short story.

I say all that to compare the time of the telephones early days from it's invention, up to Vic and Sade, to the cell phone in the early years of the 21st century. It might sound so far fetched to state the obvious. "Telephone's ringing." But it does parallel our response to the oddity of the cell phone. - Keith Heltsley@Retro Radio Podcast

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

41-01-24 Boss Waits in the Car

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Thimble Club in disarray

Sade is excitingly telling Rush the big news: Ruthie Stembottom finally had enough of Mis' Appelrot and blew up on her right in the Underwear Department of Yamilton's and then quit the Thimble Club! That's pretty big news in Sade's world.

Meanwhile, Vic comes home, dropped off for a second by his boss, Mr. Ruebush. Vic has to get some papers and go right back to what he was doing and where he was going.

Sade, however, wants to tell Vic the story about the improbable happenings between Ruthie and Mis' Appelrot. While Vic is most-intrigued, he must immediately return to his boss and his job as he promised he would be just a second.

Of course it doesn't stop there. The telephone rings twice - both times for Vic - and he takes so long in the house that his boss finally drives away.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Some major drama goes down in the underwear department at Yamilton’s. All the major drama on this show seems to go down in the underwear department of Yamilton’s.

This is one of those episodes where Sade acts so dense and inconsiderate that it bothers me a little. Would she really show this little understanding of Vic’s situation? I guess it boils down to the old trope: Sade’s whole world is her home and community, and when a bombshell like this goes off in her circle of friends and neighbors, it IS important to her — just as important as Vic’s work is to him. Still, it’s hard to believe that she could be quite this silly!

All that off to one side, though, it’s great to hear that someone finally told off Mis’ Appelrot, and even better to know that that person was Ruthie Stembottom. We could be seeing the beginnings of a civil war in the Thimble Club, or at least a great rift, where the Appelrot-loyal split into their own Thimble Club and the Ruthie-loyal crowd forms a new Appelrot-free club of their own. Of course, they’d never actually do that, and Sade probably won’t quit the Thimble Club. That would be much too confrontational an action for the peace-preserving Midwestern ladies of the Thimble Club. My guess is they’re all going to pretend this never happened and (hopefully) Appelrot will try to be a little nicer to Ruthie from now on.

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

____________________

A very intriguing episode with juicy gossip about (sometimes) Public Enemy #1, Mis' Appelrot. Ruthie ''goes off'' on her... but quitting the Thimble Club seems a bit like a MacGuffin, as I totally can't see that happening. I think it's writer Paul Rhymer's way to make the news juicy enough to almost force Sade into making Vic listen to her news. So perhaps in a way, he employed an Alfred Hitchcock trick in radio before others later began to do so (this is evident in shows like The Lives of Harry Lime, The Adventures of Superman and others.)

It's too bad the show is hampered miserably by terrible sound quality. I was able to fix what I could but the damage is so bad, it seems to make little difference. I did fix the opening (half of it was missing - I replaced the missing half with an existing half of another episode) and there was a quirky tape speed-up toward the end which I restored as best I could. The hissing gets really bad towards the last quarter of the episode. I did what I could - mostly in-between the family talking.

Trivia:

+ Since Ruthie quit the Thimble Club, Sade, who is the club's President, is thinking about resigning as well.

+ The suit salesman who calls and talks to a harried Vic was named Mr. Weefer.

+ Miss Hammersweet (the other caller who talked to Vic) is his secretary at Consolidated Kitchenware.

+ Sade uses wild vivid exaggerations in describing Ruthie's anger (EDITED): {{{HEAR}}}

TELEPHONE'S RINGIN'

"Telephone's ringing!" I don't know of anybody who ever [yelled] that in real life. I think if they did, it was so rare that I never noticed. Usually if the telephone was ringing, someone either went straight for it to answer it, or if they couldn't they just yelled out, "Hey, somebody pick up the phone, and see who it is."

Sometimes, as a joke and a salute to Vic and Sade, I'll comment that the telephone is ringing. I'll even try to use Vic's tired out voice as it does, until either I, or somebody picks it up. I even made a ringtone for my cell phone of a montage of Vic, Sade, and Rush saying, "Telephone's ringing."

Now that I'm thinking of it, I've noticed people do something like it when a cell phone rings. Cell phones can have any number of chirpy or musical riffs for the ring tone. Anything from a traditional telephone bell to a persons favorite rock and roll band playing a sound bite. Because the tone can be surprising, the people around might look up, or at the source of the intrusion and comment that someone's cell phone is ringing.

Cell phones have been around since the 1980's, and you'd think we'd be more used to the unexpected range in ring tones. Consider that the telephone wasn't invented until the 1870's or so. By the 1930's the novelty was still slowly spreading, and it might not have been so uncommon of a thing for folks like Vic and Sade to say, "Telephone's ringing!"

Telephones and phone conversations became a comedy gag from the time of Mark Twain. He once wrote about the odd, one sided conversation his daughter had as she took a phone call. In the vaudeville and early radio days of the 20th century, George Jessel did a bit where he phoned his mom, and the audience only caught the monolog of his side of the conversation. When necessary for getting the laugh, he might sometimes repeat what his mom might have reacted to him with. Probably Fibber McGee's telephone calls to Myrt the phone operator more closely resembles Mark Twain's short story.

I say all that to compare the time of the telephones early days from it's invention, up to Vic and Sade, to the cell phone in the early years of the 21st century. It might sound so far fetched to state the obvious. "Telephone's ringing." But it does parallel our response to the oddity of the cell phone. - Keith Heltsley@Retro Radio Podcast

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