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Showing posts with label Raymond Belcher Beirman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raymond Belcher Beirman. Show all posts

41-xx-xx Sade and Ruthie Mail Each Other Five Dollars

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN 
There's deep confusion between Sade and Ruthie Stembottom over their recent muddled shopping money.

Ruthie, feeling bad about the whole thing and in order to set confusion aside and make things right between the ladies, mails Sade a five dollar bill.  She spends the episode explaining the money confusion to Vic (who acts like he cares but we know he could really care less) and explaining to him that she also sent Ruthie five dollars in the mail.

SEE THE SCRIPT
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Vic has the solution for the ladies but they never take his advice: use your own money to pay for your own items.  As simple as this sounds, the ladies simply cannot resist doing otherwise.

The ladies (plus Mis' Trogle) bought gum drops, a spool of thread and weighed themselves on the penny weighing machine.

+ Rush is at the YMCA watching the fat men play handball.

+ Raymond Belcher Beirman is mentioned again here but Vic uses his name as a figure of speech rather than referring to a real person.  Beirman must be a very mystical figure if we take him literally.

41-12-25 North Dakota River Bottom Revel

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Y.I.I.Y Skeeber calls to inform Vic that they are in line to be a part of the North Dakota River Bottom revel, which consists of eight participants. A revel is like an old-fashioned shivaree/chivaree; that is - a time of loudness and partying, usually reserved for newlyweds of "unnatural" marriages (those with large age differences, for example.) At any rate, they are to be expected at 11:30 pm.

The situation soon changes and Y.I.I.Y Skeeber informs Vic that there's only five participants and it will be about midnight. Those details change again and it's only two participants and they will be there about 12:30 AM. And that too changes later and only Rishigan Fishigan will show up and it will at 1 AM.
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Perhaps a reworking of the 41-09-25 Bright Kentucky Hotel Speaker script that has people backing out left and right on Vic. (It seems that it's just coincidence that mostly the same parties were involved in both scripts -- but who knows?)

Trivia:

+ The original eight man North Dakota River Bottom Revel party were: Y.I.I.Y Skeeber, Alf Musherton, Raymond Beirman, Stacey Yopp, Ben Webster, Cincinnati Dave Kepper, Q.H. Hodewalk and Rishigan Fishigan. All eight men live in the Bright Kentucky Hotel.

+ Yes, Raymond Beirman is mentioned again.

+ No one at Rush's school believes in such a man as Rishigan Fishigan of Sishigan, Michigan.

+ Ben Webster, Cinncinati Dave Kepper and Q.H Hodewalk were all mentioned for the first time.

+ Salted peanuts is all the food a revel party expects, according to Vic.

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!

41-05-02 Vic's Picture on Kitchenware Quarterly Cover

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic receives good news. He's been picked to adorn the cover of the Kitchenware Quarterly magazine.

But after further reading, it looks like there are 29 people ahead of him. To make matters worse, every other issue will be a scene from nature and the like. And as Rush points out, (since it's a quarterly magazine) Vic isn't scheduled to appear on the cover until 1956.
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Bum luck for Vic as Sade is actually gushing over him because of the honor. Usually snide, Sade is happy about the cover and mentions sending the magazine to her sister and brother-in-law on three separate occasions.

Trivia:

+ Mena, Arkansas was mentioned again - recall that Mena is the home of Chet Lauck and Tuffy Goff (Lum and Abner.) The connection between the shows continues.

+ Rush says Mr. Gumpox has a collection of magazines with girls in bathing suits on the cover.

+ There are more than 50 Consolidated Kitchenware Plants.

+ The hierarchy at Consolidated Kitchenware Plant Number 14 looks like this:
J.K. Burroughs (President)
S.B. Price (General Sales Manager)
Samuel B Grook (Director of Personnel)
Edson G. Thomas (Vice President in Charge of Plant Coordination)
N. W. Kilgore
Chrles J. Flinch
O.I. Chievly
J. Lewis Otto
Harrison U. Loope
M.S. Dawson
Felix Flank
R. B. Plugge
Howard U...
The name "Raymond Belcher Beirman" again pops up. Recall that name as the driver of the milk wagon who gave the bad news to Mr. Gumnpox about Bernice (horse) dying.  Not only that, but the name  "RAYMOND BELCHER" mysteriously shows up in the Latin in Homer U. McDancey's A Manual For Wives of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way. So now, his full name shows up as one of the hierarchy at Consolidated Kitchenware, Plant Number 14... Very mysterious.

+ Vic plans on practicing facial expressions in the mirror for his cover picture.

Rush asks his father for a dime, then a nickel (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

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

41-02-16 Manual for Wives of Sky Brothers

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
The men on the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way Marching Team can do more than march. Take for example, Homer U. McDancey of East Brain, Oregon. He's written a book for the wives of Sky Brothers, a handy guide called, A Manual for Wives of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way.  
MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Could the Lodge’s more eccentric members (Robert and Slobert Hink, J.J.J.J. Stunbolt, Hank Gutstop) come from nobler stock than we think? This episode just leads to further questions. All we can conclude about Homer U. McDancy from this episode is that he is incredibly out-of-touch. Most of the All-Star Marching Team, we know from a later episode, are bachelors, but McDancy’s assumptions in this manual about what wives need to know suggest that he hasn’t even met any modern middle-class women, let alone married them. Why this isolation from the larger society? Was his upbringing so far removed from the working class that he assumes all the women are dirty-faced slatterns who never sweep the floor? Or has he just surrounded himself with exclusively male company for so long that it’s warped his perception of things? This episode just adds to the mystery of where all these weirdos in Vic’s Lodge came from. 

I like how puzzled Vic is about how Headquarters let something as silly as this book through their rigorous editorial process. We have had plenty of ridiculous nonsense from Lodge Headquarters before this, so Vic shouldn’t be so surprised, but he does have a bit of a blind spot about his Lodge. Maybe seeing it through Sade’s eyes heightened its absurdity for Vic.
SEE THE SCRIPT
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For only $3.75, Sade can purchase the book. It is full of practical rules that all wives of Sky Brothers should live by.

Trivia:


+ Here are the rules stated in the pamphlet sent by the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way:
 + To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will takes pains with the neatness of her person. She will never appear in her husband's presence with soiled hands or a dirty face.
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will refrain from stealing property belonging to others, using coarse language and engaging in rough street brawls.
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will acquaint herself with The Treasury of Latin Phrases to be committed to memory and recited at meal times. Here are a few typical examples:
in hoc spittle dum cluck eve ad adra cola spinach es spogle raymond beirman ich ickle yam live tax om cornacopia feef
[Recall that Raymond Belcher Beirman was mentioned as a milk wagon driver (and bearer of bad news) in the episode, 41-01-21 Demise of Bernice. Now, he shows up in the middle of a "Latin" phrase!]
Some mashed potatoes Latin...
 {{{HEAR}}}
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will see that her home is kept swept and dusted at all times. It is suggested Madam purchase a broom and use it regularly.

+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will at all times be cheerful, truthful and obedient. She will be on the alert to anticipate her husband's slightest wish.
+ While the book itself is $3.75. you can obtain an autographed book by Mr. McDancey for $4.25. A book and autographed photo of Mr. McDancey in full lodge reglaia for $5.10. And for $6.50 you can get an autographed book and an autographed photo of McDancey in full lodge regalia.

+ When Sade reads the "Latin" for "Would you mind passing the butter, please?" she says:
yah plummer e pluribus humor hoc in hoc signal vini vidi webster stockdale horse if extra curricular feef
+ Sade says H.K. Fleeber sent her a pair of easy slippers at Christmas addressed to: Charlie, Gus, Walter and Margaret. Rush says Mr. Fleeber sent him a pipe with no stem and it was addressed to: Hazel, Eddie, Herman and Fat.

+ Sade mentions that Y.Y. Flirch wears his shoes on the wrong feet (presumably from a non-surviving episode.)

+ There is another Gloria Golden-Four-fisted Frank Fuddleman feature at the Bijou:
Gazing Into Your Eyes Like This is Heaven, Assistant Umpire Drake.
[Recall that the last Gloria Golden and Four-fisted Frank Fuddleman feature we came across also involved an assistant umpire; the ever-popular, I Am Distracted With Love For You, Assistant Umpire Williamson.  That episode aired 26 days prior to this one.]

+ Every current member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way Marching Team was mentioned in this episode.

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

41-01-21 Death of Bernice

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Rush is very sad because Bernice has died. Who is Bernice? Bernice is the sister of Howard, the horse Mr. Gumpox uses to pull his trash wagon.

Sade thinks it's silly to care so much for a horse. But Uncle Fletcher, who talks to Rush on the telephone, is also sad.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:
The death of a horse sends a shock wave through a little community. 
Sade starts out pretty insensitive toward Rush, who is an adolescent and hasn’t learned not to feel everything yet. But do you notice how she lets up on him after the telephone conversation with Uncle Fletcher? It’s apparent that Fletcher is just as sad about this situation as Rush is. Sade still feels the whole thing is ridiculous, but has more respect for Uncle Fletcher’s feelings than Rush’s and decides to clam up after she sees that he’s feeling the same way as Rush.

A classic script that shows Rush’s sensitivity (or, maybe, if you’re feeling more cynical like Sade, Rush’s craving for the dramatic). Bill Idelson is very funny with the lugubrious tone he maintains throughout the episode. Not much more I can say except it’s one of my favorites.
SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
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Uncle Fletcher is especially fond of Howard - the brother of the deceased. Recall that it was probably Fletcher that bought Howard a brand new harness not too long ago.

Trivia:

+ The sad news about the demise of Bernice was distributed by Raymond Belcher Beirman, who was the milk wagon driver.

+ Bernice had been working for the Anderson-Carter Transit Company as a milk wagon horse.

+ Bernice died at 11:02 in the morning. According to Rush, Mr. Gumpox said that Howard stopped dead in his tracks at that moment, on the intersection of Evans Street (first time mentioned) and Kelsey Street.

+ Mr. Gumpox believes Howard will die soon.

+ Some interesting facts: Bernice was 16 years old. She was considered "good looking for a milk wagon horse" and had a "sunny disposition." She passed away quietly... Howard is currently 14 years old. Howard has a younger brother, Kenneth, who is grey like Howard. He is currently 9 years old and has a bad cough.

+ Uncle Fletcher's landlady is Mis' Keller. Her phone number is #5697-J.

+ At the Bijou, there's a Gloria Golden, Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman feature: "I Am Distracted With Love For You, Assistant Umpire Williamson."

The sad phone call that Rush had with Uncle Fletcher: {{{HEAR}}}

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

Raymond Belcher Beirman aka Raymond Beirman

1. Raymond Belcher Beirman is the name of the milk wagon driver that delivers the bad news about the demise of Bernice to Mr. Gumpox.

2. "raymond beirman" shows up as part of the Latin in the Homer U. McDancey book, "A Manual For Wives of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way."

3. Raymond Belcher Beirman's name is in a letter from Consolidated Kitchenware Plant Number 14, which lists the order in which employees will appear on the Kitchenware Quarterly cover. Belcher is number 13 on the list.

4. Vic sees Rush coming up to the porch and calls him, "Raymond Belcher Beirman."

5. Was stated he lives at the Bright Kentucky Hotel and was a part of the original revel party headed to the Gook house.

6. One of the washrags in Mis' Keller's washrag collection has writing on it that says, "Knitted to the memory of Raymond Belcher Beirman, who expired when an 18 ton railroad bridge fell on him, December 19, 1887." Neither Mis' Keller nor Uncle Fletcher knew who he was as the washrag was found in a streetcar in Rockford, Illinois years ago.

The mystery and enigma of Raymond "Belcher" Beirman has been solved.

Beirman was a radio engineer (active in 1939, at the least) who worked on the show. The cast and also Paul Rhymer seemed have a mutual admiration society going.  Eventually, as so many others, his name, if not his personal character, became part of the show.