38-11-28 Mr. Erickson, Sneaky Collector

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Gook's landlord, Mr. Erickson, is annoying the Gooks by storing loads and loads of junk in the cellar, outside and everywhere he can.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

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While the Gooks are kind of annoyed, they don't seem to be really annoyed, as they will later when we suspect Erickson was up to no good with delaying house fix-ups.  Erickson owns several properties in the neighborhood and he probably bothers those renters as well.

Trivia:

* Mr. Erickson seems to like to hold onto junk.  He puts a variety of items in his hatband, including pins, matches, paperclips and "things he's found in the street".  He also has a collection of shabby suit coats and overalls that are 'stored' at the Gook home.  Sade believes his wife told him to get rid of them and believes he hides them out over at their house.

Erickson item?

* When Sade "talks" like Mr. Erickson in the script, she uses the semi-archaic term, "by Jingo[e]", which is listed in Wikipedia.

* Mr. Erickson not only left a wagon wheel, he left a hitching post as well.  Sade describes it as being made of iron and a "darky boy holdin' out his hand".

* East Grove [Street] was mentioned for the first and only time.  The street is known for it's large houses.

* Rush relays a story told to him by Nicer Scott about freaks from the circus eating in a restaurant.  The story isn't that funny until you begin to imagine Bill Idelson's voice in 1938 telling America this ridiculous tale.

* Sade says, "speaking of little green angels..." (as one would say, "speak of the devil...").  I did a bit of research and could not find the definition in Google Books, Wikipedia, etc.

35-04-17 Lodge Library

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

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

SEE THE SCRIPT (page 1) (page 2)

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

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

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

Not pleased...

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

Trivia:

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

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

40-xx-xx Uncle Fletcher's Meals

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

An angry Uncle Fletcher comes to the Gook house complaining that his landlady, Mis' Keller, upon leaving for a two-week vacation, has set out his meals all over the house on various objects and platforms.

SEE THE SCRIPT

____________

In Series 3, there is an episode that is very much like this one but it has a far-different ending.  In this 1940 episode, it is Uncle Fletcher who plans to break down the porch in a show of force in front of Mis' Keller.  In the 1946 episode, the same thing occurs, but it is Mis' Keller who has the fit of rage and inexplicably destroys the porch railing.

Trivia:

+ This episode is the only instance we have where a "Mr. Keller" has been mentioned.  He's obviously referred to as being Mis' Keller's husband. If this was not some sort of anomaly, it is quite possible -- even probable -- that an episode exists after this one where Mr. Keller passes away and Uncle Fletcher vows to become her protector, or something similar.  

+ This is first instance we know of where Uncle Fletcher tells someone to "go down cellar".  He tells this to Rush (and later, to Vic).

+ Uncle Fletcher refers to his meals being scattered like "anthracite coal" -- the exact kind of coal that was extracted from the coal mine in Bloomington. 

+ Mr. Erickson has been doing house repairs for about a year at the Gook house and in this episode, has a crew of five to help.  What's gotten into Mr. Erickson?

+ Not only is the Ohio Home for the Agreeable mentioned (it was mentioned also in the 1946 version) but so is Wisconsin State Home for the Obstinate (in Sweet Esther, of course).

 

42-01-14 Landlord to Store Paint in Gooks' Basement?

The Gooks' landlord, Mr. Erickson, having some leftover paint after fixing up the Scott's home, is set on storing the paint that remains in the Gooks' basement.  He does, after all, own the place.

Sade though, doesn't think it's right and is preparing herself to confront him, and to tell him he can't do such a thing.  The basement at the Gook home is full enough.

The title is one I gave the episode 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]

39-07-13 Vic Explains How a Doorbell Rings

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Mr. Erickson, the Gook landlord, gifts Sade with a brand new doorbell.  Vic is going to install it but wants to school Sade and Rush on how the thing works.

As usual, they aren't really listening and instead want to either tease Vic or Vic simply isn't explaining it the right way.

Either way, he quietly gets infuriated with them, just as Rush was infuriated with Nicer Scott earlier in the day.

SEE THE SCRIPT

__________________

Nicer claims to have no sense of taste. He also claims to have 89 pairs of pants in cold storage (what is with Paul Rhymer and pants in cold storage?)

Vic says in this episode:

VIC: I know electric bells like I know the palm of my hand. 

This in reference to the doorbell gift Sade received from Mr. Erickson.  Recall there was the time that he could not fix the Donahue doorbell.  And many clocks have alarms, even electric ones.  And we know the problems Vic has with clocks.

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.

39-08-29 Two Tons of Coal #4

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

'Ma' Donahue?

Mr. Erickson doesn't want to lose Mr. and Mis' Donahue as tenants, so he's agreed to fix up their house, including the coal room.

Therefore, the Donahue's coal room needs to be completely cleaned out; this, of course, means the two ton pile of coal must be moved.  So, Mis' Donahue is giving the coal back to the Gooks as a gift.  

(Insert panther screams here)
 
SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

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Move the coal again?

Sade acts like coal was expensive.  I've looked and couldn't find the price of a ton of coal in 1939.  But I did find that the price for a ton of coal today is about $25.

I think a reasonable, liberal estimate is that in 1939, 1 ton of coal might be $5 delivered.  Perhaps $8-10 dollars for 2 tons, delivered.

Also remember, there was a coal mine and a coal company in the town they lived in, so prices were probably pretty cheap.  (And this would be a pre-war year as well.)

At any rate, $8-10 dollars would save a lot of work.

Trivia:

+ The only other time we know of where Sade escaped the men by going upstairs for solitude was when they wrote silly letters to Walter in 39-xx-xx Letter To Walter.

39-08-16 Two Tons of Coal #2

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Dog gone the dog gone luck!

Sade has surprising news that the Donahues, their former next door neighbors, who had moved away just about a month prior, are moving back into their old house.

Rush realizes that he and Vic will be stuck moving back the two tons of coal that they were "gifted" with and Vic knows the boys will also be forced to help the Donahues move furniture.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND THE SYNOPSIS

_________________

Of course the men will scream like panthers!  Maybe Rush can come up with a better excuse than his "overalls are wrinkled" -- the flimsy excuse he used when he first had to move the large pile of coal.

Trivia:

+ Nicer Scott is up his old, narcissistic tricks - this time, claiming he's "The Most Popular Youngster on Virginia Avenue". Four months prior to this episode, Nicer extended his popularity farther than his street by claiming to have over 2 billion acquaintances.

+ Here's a bit of trivia you may have read before but forgotten:  Vic enjoys playing golf now and then.  It's mentioned in this script that he had a date with Mr. Buller to play at the end of the week.  Let's hope Vic wasn't asked to catch Buller's clubs from a fast passenger train...

+ It turns out that reason the Donahues moved back was they simply missed their neighbors.  (Never mind the fact that Mulberry Street is less than a mile away).

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

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

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

SEE THE SCRIPT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

46-08-29 Pre-arranged Meals

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

Uncle Fletcher arrives at the Gook house and announces he's in "open rebellion against his landlady (Mis' Keller.)"

She's going out of town for a few days and in a classic Vic and Sade moment, Uncle Fletcher reveals (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

Mis' Keller has laid out all his meals for 5 days!

________________________

This is one of the best of the post-original series episodes. It's unfortunate the sound cannot be better than is here.

Though Uncle Fletcher plans on showing his muscle, it's Mis' Keller who inexplicably winds up breaking up everything in a show of violence.

Trivia:

+ Sade saw Mr. Erickson in the alley and he told her he got a hold of some lumber and promises to be there the next morning with carpenters to rebuild the railing on the front porch.

Rush is going to remove the old porch before the workmen get there.

[Considering that the swing is on the front porch, might it be the railing has been compromised by Rush, Russell and Uncle Fletcher sitting on it through the years?]

+ Uncle Fletcher is so mad at Mis' Keller that he seems to want to threaten violence. Rush brings him a rickety, old card table so that he can destroy it front of her when she arrives at the Gook house.

He also planned to kick the porch railing, since it's going to come down anyway.

The plans quickly went awry after Mis' Keller came to the Gook house and took over.

+ Mis Keller was played by actress Viola Berwick.

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

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.)

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

44-07-28 Garbage Box Mystery

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Sade notices a monstrous, big chunk of the garbage box is missing. She, Vic and Russell play detective to find out what happened.

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Average episode with few memorable moments but still fine listening fare.

Trivia:

+ Blue Tooth Johnson told Russell that some fellow swallowed an alarm clock and it still kept time. They know this because they x-rayed his stomach.

+ Russell (who obviously reads the newspaper a great deal) read in the news that a fellow trained his adam's apple to keep the beat of music!

+ While doing their detective work, Vic sits down on the grass six different times.

+ We're not sure where, but the Husher family lives very near the Gooks.

+ A four year old girl named Dorthy is mentioned as staying with her grandparents on University Avenue. According to Sade, she pulled up a handful of flowers from Sade's garden at one time and Sade considers her a suspect in the garbage box mystery.

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

44-06-22 Gaggle of June Christmas Card Sellers

It's June and Sade is besieged by a bevy of people trying to sell her Christmas cards.

She comes up with the perfect solution to it all. She goes and gets her own set printed and will offer to sell those to her hounders!

SCRIPT (page 1) (page 2)

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 It's June - so you know what that's time for in the world of Vic and Sade!

*Great* ending in this one - one of the best.

Trivia:

+ Russell is writing Blue Tooth Johnson an insulting letter - for amusement.

+ Mis' Freely is mentioned for the first time. She is selling Christmas cards and Sade went shopping to avoid having to deal with her. However, she has added enticement when you buy cards from her: a free cup and saucer.

+ Sade's sister Bess Helfer is selling Christmas cards for her church again.

+ Mr. Erickson, Mis' Elders and Mis' Harris are all selling cards. Mis' Harris' enticement is your choice of a free lemonade stirrer or a map of Montana with each two dozen cards ordered.

+ The girls in Russell's Sunday School class made their own Christmas cards and are selling them.

+ Sade suspected Hank Gutstop of selling cards but we find out from Vic that wasn't the case.

+ Miller Printing Company is mentioned for the first time.

+ The original ending had the organist playing "Jingle Bells" (this is a June episode.).

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

41-05-08 Landlord's Sneaky Trick

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

The Gook landlord, Mr. Erickson, drops by and tells Sade that he is giving the home the Gooks rent to his daughter Beulah Feeple as an anniversary present. He envisions wrapping up the house up in red ribbon and Rush being dressed up like Cupid to present the gift.

The bottom line is this: he's actually not giving Beulah the deed - thus, it really won't be her house. Basically, it's just another trick by the sneaky landlord but this time it's a sneaky trick against Beulah and not the Gooks.

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Erickson must really be a crumb. While Vic and Sade show no empathy to Beulah, this episode contains none of the usual derogatory comments leveled her way by Sade. So maybe there is some empathy for her, only hidden.

Trivia:

+ When Vic sees Rush coming up the sidewalk he says, "Here comes Raymond Belcher Beirman, the brainy bum from Buffalo." [Yet another reference to Beirman, who is showing up in many places in this part of the series.]

+ This is Beulah's 7th wedding anniversary.

+ Vic says, "The only advantage Beulah gets from the anniversary present is being able to say she owns property on Virginia Avenue."

+ Rush tries to tell a story about Smelly Clark (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush tells a quick story about Cracky Otto, who broke a violin over a guy's head and still tried to take violin lessons (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush tells another quick story, this one about Vernon Peggles and Leland Richards: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Freda was mentioned for the first time in the audio episodes. She is Heinie Call's sister.

Rush tells yet another quick story about Heinie at Freda's wedding: {{{HEAR}}}

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

41-02-03 Wallpapering at Midnight

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Mr. Erickson (the Gook's landlord) seems to have a change of heart about the upstairs' wallpaper. Instead of apes and psychedilia, this time he brings samples of beautiful, high-quality paper. And he will have the upstairs papered quickly.

However, the one putting up the paper, Noah Feeple, Mr. Erickson's son-in-law (and husband of Beulah) has a job where he gets off at 11 pm, meaning that he would have to work after midnight for probably close to a week in the Gook's bedrooms in order to get the job done.

The wallpaper is so nice, Mr. Erickson is has been nice... now this. Sade silently cries.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:

"Has some change taken place in the chemistry of Erickson’s soul? Has some inner radiance found its way to the dark recesses of Erickson’s muddy spirit?"

"No, Vic. He’s the same old landlord."

Another sordid chapter in the saga of the wallpaper. Now, Mr. Erickson has finally brought in some attractive, quality wallpaper samples — but since Sade won’t let him skimp on the materials, he has decided to attempt to skimp on the labor. He wants to hang the wallpaper himself, together with his son-in-law and daughter…at midnight. That’s the only time, apparently, that the three of them are able to get together.

This sort of bait-and-switch technique is no surprise coming from Mr. Erickson. Recall when Sade finally wrestled him into doing some house repairs…only to find out that he wanted the family to do the bulk of the labor themselves. Of course, none of this ever flies with Sade. Eventually, she always gets her way. Erickson knows this. These stunts are just delaying techniques. Erickson knows she won’t put her foot down and threaten to move out, like Mis’ Scott — or, if she does, he’ll know that it’s nothing but a bluff. But he knows that if he keeps producing unacceptable and ridiculous solutions to the problem, and puts the onus on Sade to refuse his solutions, he’ll be able to delay the work as long as possible — maybe be able to track down a good deal on wallpaper or labor and save a little money. He’s a clever one, that Erickson.

This episode — and the whole wallpaper plot arc — illustrates a key aspect of Sade’s role in the show that I keep coming back to over and over: she is completely in charge of matters of the home. She contemplates Margaret Scott’s bluff charge at Mr. Erickson and decides that she could never pull it off herself — but never is it suggested that Vic, as the male head of the household, give it a try. Never does it fall to Vic to deal with the landlord. It’s always Sade. Vic actively avoids Erickson — he declines to go into the living room in this episode because he is “always uncomfortable in [Erickson’s] presence”. Vic even refers to the project as “your upstairs” — not “our upstairs” (“You’re no closer to gettin’ your upstairs papered than ya ever were, huh?”).

Vic is such a fish out of water in these matters that he doesn’t even know how to help, and when he sees Sade becoming increasingly upset, he resorts to the most basic solution for a lady in distress that he can pull out of the depths of his reptile brain. This, of course, is no balm to Sade’s wounds, since it’s obviously just a masculine fantasy that would have no utility in her modern, civilized world, and Vic’s desperate attempt at gallantry falls upon deaf ears:

VIC: Maybe next time I see Erickson I’d best paste him one upside the snoot.
SADE: Mm.
VIC: Whatcha think?
SADE: Oh…I don’t care.
VIC: I’ll carefully grasp him by the coat collar, I’ll draw my fist way, way back, and I’ll take careful aim, and I’ll let go.
SADE: Look at these lovely, lovely wallpaper samples…
VIC: Mmm.
SADE: [voice catching] They’re so pretty…
VIC: Mmm.

Poor Vic! Poor Sade! Poor Rush, who can’t get a word in edgewise in this episode for all the serious wallpaper talk! Poor everybody!

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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This is not a funny episode at all.  Instead, what this episode does is confuse us as to whether Mr. Erickson is a good guy or a bad guy. Did he get the quality material so that Sade would be faced with a hard letdown when she finds that Noah will paper the house only after midnight? Or does it show Mr. Erickson finally gives in to Sade and brings quality material and that he basically can't help the fact that Noah is only off after midnight?  The question is not answered so we must answer this ambiguous question for our individual selves.

Would Rush have said this?

Personally, I feel he gives in to her and brings quality wallpaper to appease her.  The fact that his son-in-law will get there late at night (he feels) is their problem.

However, the thing to do would be to hire someone to do it in the daytime.  Perhaps he could split that cost with the Gooks.  But hey, back to the blog - this isn't The People's Court.

Trivia:

+ If I still kept up with Rush being "radio abused" (which I discontinued after the 1937 season), this would certainly be one of the episodes I'd point to. Rush has insights on three different idioms used by his parents but instead of letting him enlighten them, each tell him they don't want to hear it. Vic is the most rude to him out of the two parents. Rush is virtually silent the entire episode.

+ Mr. Erickson's daughter Beulah is married to Noah Feeple (the first time he's been mentioned.) He is a telegraph operator and a general handyman.

+ Noah Feeple knows a bit about paper hanging but he is also adept at a bit of plumbing, carpentry and watch repair.

+ Sade called Beulah, "fat" again. She did not do that in the previous episode Beulah was on but did do that in Beulah's debut episode.

+ We find out that Mis' Scott/the Scotts also rent from Mr. Erickson. If you will recall this episode, the Donahues (before they moved) also rented from Mr. Erickson. So, we know he owns at least three houses on Virginia Avenue.

Since we know from the talk on the show that where the Gooks live is close to the High School and downtown, we can assume the property value there is pretty high -- meaning Mr. Erickson is probably a very wealthy man.

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41-01-22 A Very Pleasant Noon Hour

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

It's noon and the Gooks have finished eating. It's time to relax and talk and try not to nod off...

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Just a pleasant lunchtime (or, as they’d say, dinnertime) conversation.

This is a fun episode even though nothing happens in it. I think this one is especially interesting from a historical standpoint — so many “Vic and Sade” episodes are timeless, but this one really tell s us a lot about how people lived in their time. The whole family comes home, eats lunch together, and even has some time to laze around in the living room and chat, a ritual very similar to the Spanish siesta — just a little shorter and with no nap (as much as Vic wants one). This tells us that Vic’s and Rush’s lunch hours were probably a lot longer than those in modern times (most of us get a thirty-minute lunch, and elementary and high school students are lucky to get twenty). Vic and Rush walk home from the office and school, showing us that people’s commutes were much more reasonable back then. Vic expresses shock that Rush, a high school student, “cannot differentiate between Greek junk and Latin junk,” which tells us that the expectations of public school were changing from Vic’s generation to Rush’s — Latin and Greek were probably foundations of a good education in Vic’s day, but not so much now. One detail that surprises me a little is Sade’s mention of a “fancy grocery store” that she will pass by on her errands today. I think of the specialty grocery store as a product of our time, interested as we are today in trying exotic foods and buying organic, natural products. I wonder what kinds of items Sade’s “fancy grocery store” carried, and how similar or different it would be to a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods. 
I’m starting to notice that Paul Rhymer uses the “eccentric smart person” trope quite a bit:

RUSH: …He’s funny about stuff. Wears garters but no socks.  Wears a necktie but no collar. Wears cuffs but no sleeves. Wears bicycle pants clips and don’t own a bicycle. Smokes away on a pipe that’s got no tobacco inside.
VIC: Is he a halfwit?
RUSH: Yeah.
SADE: He is not! Smart as a whip. Took all the honors when he graduated from high school. What do they call the fella that does that?
VIC: Valedictorian.
SADE: Sure. No, when it comes to brains, there’s no flies on Frederick Henderson. 

Recall the episode “Mr. Sludge Calls his Mother,” in which we find out that Mr. Sludge — an eccentric if there ever was one — was quite the intellectual in his younger days. I wonder if Rhymer encountered a lot of people who excelled academically but floundered when it came time to enter the “real world.” This is, of course, not uncommon. Maybe Sludge and Henderson ought to have been sheltered in a university somewhere.

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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Uncle Fletcher-type stories, without Uncle Fletcher!

Trivia:

+ Sade says Mr. Erickson was there the day before and this morning also; he is trying to make excuses on how to avoid wallpapering upstairs, including the ruse of informing Sade that there is a shortage of wallpaper and the South Americans are hanging on to their supply.

+ It is inferred that Mis' Heddles lives on West Monroe Street. Mis' Trogle also lives on that street. Sade plans to visit them both.

That street is almost infamous because that is the street where Smelly was accidently hit in the head with a falling hammer.

+ Mis' Heddles is married to Charlie and Mis' Trogel is married to Alvy. Vic knows both of the husbands.

+ It is also inferred that Mis' Trogle either has a daughter or daughter-in-law named Margaret who recently had a child and has some new photos to show Sade.

+ Sade says "slippery as an owl" rather than perhaps the better simile, "slippery as an eel." She then says Mis' Donahue says it too: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Market Street is the home of  a "fancy grocery place", but it went unnamed.

+ Rush seems to like very large black olives.

+ Rush (Billy Idelson) sounds like he may have a cold or some other sinus sickness in this episode.

+ The show keeps incorporating Sade's eccentric Uncle Fletcher, even though he doesn't appear. We know that he actually will appear within 4 surviving audio episodes. Brace yourself!

+ Fletcher may or may not be coming over for dinner at the Gooks. He's hard to pin down.

+ Frederick Henderson is mentioned. He's described as very odd. Wears bicycle pants clips but doesn't own a bicycle, puffs on a pipe without any tobacco, wears garters but no socks, wears a necktie but no collar and wears cuffs but no sleeves. Vic and Rush assume he is a "halfwit", but Sade says he was Valedictorian of his graduating class!

+ People who live in the Henderson household: Al, George, Cora and her man, Henry and his college chum and the college chum's cousin, Edna and her man and baby, Charlie and his wife, the old folks and now Frederick, his wife and two kids.

+ Vic infers that Volume 7 of his lodge "libary" contains R.J. Konk's wisdom about the noon hour, then recites at least part of it from memory, in Latin.  It includes the "Latin" phrase, easy money: {{{HEAR}}}

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41-01-15 Beautiful, Beautiful Wallpaper

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic and Sade are always frustrated at their landlord, Mr. Erickson. He's cheap and wants to take a shortcut or the least-expensive route to every house problem the Gooks have. Sade particularly has trouble with Mr. Erickson and in this episode, he avoids both her and Vic by dropping off samples of some new wallpaper at the Gook house with only Rush there to accept them.

The problem is, the wallpaper is not only cheap but ugly.  Many of the samples display pseudo-psychedlic, headache-inducing graphics or just plain ugly items, like the 2 or 3 mentioned during the show that have some sort of animated primate life colorfully displayed.

To top it off, Mr. Erickson's daughter has picked out "the best ones" and has given her fashion critique to several of the wallpaper samples. Of course, her ideas are a little off-the wall (pardon the pun!)

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic and Sade are struggling with their sleazy landlord Mr. Erickson again — this time on the matter of wallpaper. He’s brought them some options for their upstairs wallpaper, and none of them are good. 

A prime example of Paul Rhymer’s ability to paint hilarious word pictures. The humor in the episode is all visual — it’s about ugly wallpaper. But, much as we don’t need to hear the voices of the show’s secondary characters to appreciate them, we don’t need to see the wallpaper to laugh at it because the images Rhymer creates in our heads through the family’s descriptions and reactions to the wallpaper are funnier than any picture would be. I wonder if he saw any real-life wallpaper that inspired these ideas, or if it’s just a brief journey into madness. 

It’s great to listen to the whole family united in making merciless fun of something. Rush, as the holder of the patterns and the reader of Beulah’s notes, gets to hold court here and employs comic timing and deadpan delivery to entertain his parents (and us listeners). I think this is an especially entertaining episode, and the announcer, who is barely holding it together by the end of the episode, seems to agree with me.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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 TRIVIA:

+ We finally find out that Mr. Erickson's daughter is named, "Beulah."  In a previous episode, she was simply referred to as "Mr. Erickson's daughter."

+ For the first time in a long while (in the surviving audio episodes), Ruthie calls about playing "500."

Some beautiful, beautiful wallpaper: {{{HEAR}}}

HOW DO YOU PICTURE BEULAH?

I picture her as taking after her father in appearance and volume -- she is a stout woman with an unnecessarily loud laugh -- but not in character.  Her manners are a result of insecurity, rather than domination, and of familiarity rather than choice.  She is not a clever woman, and mimics her father because she knows one other model.  In fact, she most likely has never given her behavior any thought at all. - Sarah Cole

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40-06-18 June Christmas Card Pressure

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade: Now who in name of Detroit, Michigan is trying to sell us Christmas cards?

It's the middle of June and Vic has left a Christmas card sample book in the Gook living room. It seems his boss Mr. Buller has a niece that's selling them.

Add her to the 8 other people who hound the Gooks to buy Christmas cards.  Or as Sade says: {{{HEAR}}}

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Paul Rhymer’s take on the “Christmas Creep.”

We all have friends and family who hate Christmas. Maybe you’re that person yourself. While some people find Christmas depressing, other people are annoyed by all its commercial trappings — the obligation to waste money on presents that the recipients might not actually want or need, the artificial merriment and the forced sentimentality, the push for special foods and decorations to make the holiday perfect,

and…Christmas cards. Oh, Christmas cards. Has anything else caused as much strife for the Gook family as Christmas cards? It’s only June and already Vic and Sade are arguing about Christmas cards.

Paul Rhymer’s Christmas-themed episodes are usually about this stressful side of Christmas. There is little starry-eyed sentimentalism around Christmas to be found in Vic and Sade. For the Gooks, Christmas means unnecessary expenditures and endless social obligations — the buying of presents, the arrangement of visits, and, of course, the purchasing and sending of Christmas cards. These things are not treated as kind gestures that make the doer feel happy, but as chores that must be done in order to maintain one’s place in the social hierarchy.  It’s a pragmatic take on the holiday season, but one that I think a lot of people can sympathize with.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

The Gooks are being overrun with Christmas card salesman! It seems the pressure starts mounting right around the first of June every year.

Put yourself in Sade's shoes - would you not buy from poor Mr. Gumpox? What about your neighbor Mis' Harris?

Luckily, Rush has stopped selling Christmas cards. I can imagine a destroyed episode we missed somewhere that has Sade telling Rush he must not sell Christmas cards anymore because the Gooks can't afford the extra ten spot.

Trivia:

+ Vic is going to supper with Mr. Buller at the Butler House Hotel this evening.  They are dining in "the fashionable Purple Room."

+ It's only June and Mr. Erickson (the Gook landlord) and Sade's sister Bess are already starting to put the pressure on the Gooks to buy Christmas cards. 

+ There are at least two gimmicks the Toledo-based Christmas card company uses to attract people to sell the cards: Their name in gold-lettering  and an hour's worth of free parking in downtown Toledo, Ohio,  Whoo!

+ Mr. Gumpox also sells Christmas cards. (For a complete list of those who sell cards visit this link.)

+ The family figures out they need to spend $80.00 on Christmas cards in order to patronize friends and family so that feelings won't get hurt.

Rush reads some 1940 Christmas cards: {{{HEAR}}}

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39-10-30 Five Christmas Card Salesmen

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON  

Sade is surprised to find five letters in the mail written to her. Upon
opening them she realizes they are all from that crazy Christmas card company in Toledo, Ohio.

The letters appear to be "softening her up" for the five Christmas card salesman in town; Grandpa Snyder, Mis' Harris, Mr. Erickson, Mis' Wheeler and Mis' Scott.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Sade receives five letters attempting to butter her up in preparation for Christmas card sales.

Not one of those rolling-on-the-floor episodes, but great nonetheless. The form letter Sade receives is full of Rhymerian humor. The overwrought language, the unctuousness, the fake poetry quotations. All funny. My favorite part is Sade trying to stumble through the fake Robert Burns poem in Scots.

This seems like a great deal of trouble to go to in order to sell Christmas cards — after all, it’s a seasonal product. You buy it once a year. Invest maybe a few dollars a year. How can this company afford such aggressive sales tactics? I greatly fear that their Christmas card salespeople are doing a lot of the labor for very little compensation. But they must get something out of it, if they continue to hound Sade year after year.

I have tagged this episode with the word “five.” My husband has a theory that five is the funniest number and that Paul Rhymer knew this. Five is a number that arises frequently in these shows, and I intend to make a closer study of it. So, here it is…the first recorded episode with the number five as the center of a joke.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcription by Lydia Crowe)

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Run-of-the-mill episode with no big laughs to speak of. Still, an enjoyable program just because it's Vic and Sade.

Trivia:

+ When Vic sees he has a bill from Kleeburger's Department Store, he has Rush throw it in the garbage.

+ Sade gets a coupon in the mail from the Lazy Hours Pool Hall for a free dish of cole slaw with every game of billiards on Thursday night.

+ The letters Sade receives from the Christmas card company in Toldeo, Ohio are all addressed to her differently:
to: Mrs. Victor Gook
to: Mrs. V. R. Gook
to: Mrs. Victor R. Gook
to: Mis' Victor Gook
to: Mrs. V. R. Cook

+ Mis' Harris and Grandpa Snyder both call hoping to meet with Sade about Christmas cards.

+ Mis' Wheeler is mentioned for the first time. She sell Christmas cards.

Sade tries to read one of the letters from the Christmas card company that has part of a Robert Burns poem in Gaelic: {{{HEAR}}}

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