44-04-20 A Letter from Bess - No Card Game

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Vic, Russ and Uncle Fletcher come home and decide to play cards.  However, they get wind that Sade is home and has a letter from Bess. They quickly hatch a plan so that they won't hurt Sade's feelings and can still get in a few hands of cards.

When the plan begins to go into action, Sade smells a rat and begins looking at the men for signs of guilt. Surely, you know who wins.

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

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All Vic and Sade fans know you can't fool Sade.  Vic and Russell surely know better, but that didn't stop them from trying.

This is yet another episode that talks about Euncie practicing the "The Great Colorado Train Robbery Scottish", which would eventually put her in bandages.  Just another of the long-running Paul Rhymer gags that he turned into a ridiculous situation.  I'm almost certain that somewhere in 1944, either Walter's kneecap completely healed up or it exploded.  I assume we will never know.

TRIVIA:

* Uncle Fletcher seems completely out of touch here.  Sometimes, he appears socially aloof, but in this episode, it really seems as though there is a bit of an unknown problem with his brain.

* It would be very interesting to know how many episodes we know of where cards were mentioned.  Also, letters/cards from Bess: this is about the 25th letter/postal card or so that we know that Sade has gotten from Bess.  My crazy math tells me that Sade got a letter from Bess about every two weeks.  That could mean that during the run of the first Series, she may have received/talked about 300 letters or so.  Is that possible?

* Uncle Fletcher tells of Quentin L. Spondle, who changed his wife's name from Leota to Dorothy, against her objections.

37-12-03 Rush Needs Money for Christmas Shopping

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Christmas 1937

Rush has made a Christmas list.  He's whittled it down to the bone.  He's got very little cash to work with.

He's going to Plan B; all he has to do is get the dough from good ole' Gov -- well, make that, get past Sade in order to get it from Gov.  It's not an easy task.

SEE SOME DIALOGUE AND SYNOPSIS

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Rush knows Gov has a soft heart.  The trouble remains; Sade also knows Vic has a soft heart.
 
This episode compares in some ways with this one, a rather odd episode where Rush went to Vic's office to ask for Christmas funds.

That particular episode took place in 1941.  Let's look at the difference in lists between the two episodes:

 We can compare Rush's Christmas lists from 2 years

The price of Vic's gift remained the same.  Poor Vic, always getting the shaft.

Trivia:

* In the story about the imaginary 'Rollo K. Wintersquat' at the institution, Vic suggests he be sent some fudge.  That's not the only time someone locked away and fudge being sent to them are mentioned; Dottie Brainfeeble sent fudge to Martin Jordle, the man whose wife signed a paper and then the next thing he knew, he was in prison for 40 years.

* You wonder how good you can "get in" with a man by buying him a stinky, nickel cigar?

* "Bernardine" is once again mentioned in the script as an homage (you'd think) to  Bernardine Flynn. I'm almost certain that "Bernardine" was mentioned another time as well, but I'll be doggone if I can find the reference.

* Sade recalls Steve Kodunk in Dixon, whose father used to drown him with money.  He'd have a nickel or dime to spend every single recess and the kids would buzz around him like flies.

Hmmm.  You wonder how many kids would be swarming young Mr. Kodunk in 2015?  In the age of iPads and XBox, I'm guessing not a whole lot.

click to enlarge

* It's likely that this story line (or something like it) took place nearly every Christmas on the show.  I believe Rhymer eventually took Sade out of the equation because she's generally a major league frump when it comes to spondulix, plus the shows with just Vic and Rush (that we know about) all turned out to be genuine peachy episodes.  Certainly Rhymer knew
this or you'd think someone told him.

* This episode took place on the road, as did apparently, several other episodes during the latter end of 1937.  This episode was live from Kenosha, Wisconsin.  We are most fortunate (thanks to Barbara Schwartz and the Friends of Vic and Sade) to have an article from the local paper there from December 4, 1937.  The interview probably took place the same day this episode was broadcast.  [Dunno about you, but I love neat stuff like that.]

39-05-10 Sade Visits Bess in Carberry

Sade takes a train trip to Carberry to visit her sister and  family, leaving Vic and Rush to fend for themselves.

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We can be sure of this episode because it is stated by Sade in 39-04-26 Sade's New Luggage that she is leaving on a trip to Carberry in less than two weeks.  In episode 39-05-11 The Davis' are Asleep Upstairs, Sade is away.

It is not known when she returned.

The title is one I gave the episode purely for identification purposes.

38-09-08 Rush Goes to Carberry

Rush goes to Carberry by train to visit his Aunt Bess, Uncle Walter and cousin, Euncie.

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We know this to be a fact due to a newspaper article about this very subect (Bill Idelson was actually on a fishing trip in Northern Wisconsin.) There's no data about how long he was away from the show.

The date is probably correct (although it could be a day off) and the title is one I have given the program for identification purposes only.

39-02-17 Bess's Letter - the Gumpox Petition

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Mr. Gumpox is thinking of resigning from his position as garbage man in town because he feels he's not being paid enough money. 

But not really. What's he's actually doing is circulating a petition that says the citizens do not want him to quit and don't want the city to accept his resignation.  And if he doesn't get 600 names on the petition, he won't even threaten to resign.

READ THE SCRIPT

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Meanwhile, Sade has another letter from her sister Bess to read to her family; they suggest to her that whenever she has a letter from Bess to read that she gets a chip on her shoulder.

Francis Kleek was mentioned.  He was a very absent-minded fellow from Dixon that used shoe-horns to get his shoes on with and then forgot to take them out.

Gumpox was once dubbed the Grand Old Man of Garbage by the citizens of Dwight and Streator.

Jim Sizemore (Doodlemeister.com) has graciously allowed me to re-post his article about this episode here:


THE GENIUS OF PAUL RHYMER

Paul Rhymer's knack for writing dialogue is nowhere more evident than when a character delivers a telephone monologue. Sometimes it's Vic on the phone curtly dealing with a salesperson or a wrong number, or Rush gabbing with Bluetooth Johnson, Nicer Scott, or another of his buddies from the neighborhood. Most often, though, the telephone monologue falls to Sade when she's home alone taking a break from her domestic duties. The monologue I've chosen as representative is from an undated script, most likely from the early 1940s, since Sade's amiable Uncle Fletcher is featured. Uncle Fletcher joined the show as an on-mike character around that time, and here makes one of his slapstick entrances. When he enters, in the company of Rush, Sade's telephone monologue, or "solo," is transformed into a trio. Actually it's a quartet if you count "Ruthie," on the other end of the telephone line.

ANNOUNCER: Well, sir, it's early afternoon as we enter the small house half-way up in the next block now, and here in the living room we find Mr. Victor Gook all by herself. Mrs. Gook is at the telephone conversing with her close friend and confidante Mrs. Frederick Stembottom. Listen:

SADE (to phone): I didn't take you away from anything, did I, lady? Well, ish, I haven't really got anything to say now that I've called you. (giggles) Yes . . . well, what happened I went like a house a-fire all morning long and done nine million jobs around the house and then got dinner and pitched in on my upstairs the minute the boys left for the office an' school, and finally did quit and wash and put on a clean apron and then discovered I'd been on the go so much I couldn't settle down. (laughs) You know how that is lady. Person gets theirself all keyed up and they hafta slow down gradual or the boiler explodes. (laughs) Yes . . . so I telephoned you. Hey, maybe that's not very complimentary. (loud lady laugh) No, but you appreciate how I mean, Ruthie. Sure. Yes, isn't it a quiet afternoon. One of them hushedy-hushedy afternoons where a person sits and listens to pins dropping. Little bit ago I was out on the back porch shaking my mop and ‘way off in the distance somewhere I heard some fella say giddap to his horse and I bet twenty-five cents he was clear away over on Chestnut Street and that's eight hundred miles from here if it's an inch. Yeah . . . you run inta real still afternoons every so often. Like Sunday kinda. I was sayin' to . . . say, lady, hang on a second, I think I heard my kitchen door. (calls) Hello? Groceries? You, Irving?

RUSH (off): Hi, Mom.

FLETCHER (off): Afternoon, Sadie honey.

SADE (calls, in some surprise): Well—hello. (to phone) Uncle Fletcher and Rush just walked in, Ruthie. I can't imagine what Rush's doing home from school. (crash in the kitchen) Oh, my goodness. (calls) What happened?

FLETCHER (cheerfully, off) Fell down.

SADE (calls sharply) Who fell down?

RUSH (off, cheerfully): We both fell down.

SADE (not loud): Oh, for mercy's sake. (to phone) What, Ruthie? No, we don't need to hang up. There's no reason why we hafta cut our conversation short just because . . . huh?

RUSH (approaching): Uncle Fletcher tripped on his shoelace, Mom.

FLETCHER (approaching, cheerfully): No broken bones, Sadie, Honey, no broken bones.

SADE (to phone): Well whatever you say, lady. Seems like a shame though. I take you away from whatever you're doing and just because my family busts in we hafta cut short our . . . (giggles) . . . well, ish.

RUSH (coming up): Principal called a special teachers' meeting, Mom.

FLETCHER (coming up): Using the telephone, are you, Sadie?

SADE (to phone) No, you needn't bother to call back, Ruthie.

FLETCHER (gently): Mama's using the telephone, Rush. I'd stop my titters, whimpers, and guffaws.

RUSH (amused): O. K.

FLETCHER (sententiously) When the older folks is using the telephone it's always best to let up on the titters, whimpers and guffaws.

RUSH (chuckling): I'm letting up on ‘em.

FLETCHER: You're a good boy.

SADE (to phone): Well, all righty, Ruthie, whatever you say. Dandy. Fine.

FLETCHER (to Rush, sententiously) There was a little boy in Detroit Michigan neglected to let up on his titters, whimpers and guffaws while Momma was using the telephone and he disappeared and all they ever found was one of his tiny patent leather booties, the tassel singed at the bottom.

RUSH (chuckles): I'll remember that.

FLETCHER (gently): Yes—it teaches us a lesson.

SADE (to phone): All righty then, Ruthie lady, we'll leave it like that. You bet. All righty, Ruthie. You betty, lady. Goodbye. (hangs up)

The Last Word

Even before Uncle Fletcher and Rush enter in this example, Sade's monologue—through Rhymer's word choices and emphasis, including pauses, giggles and laughs—becomes a dialogue. It really is a solo, of course, but written so skillfully that we can almost hear her duet with Ruthie on the other end of the line. clip2Rhymer, by his example—assuming we're interested enough to pay attention—is teaching us how to write humorous dialogue even when what he presents appears, at first, to be a monologue. As with the example above, all his lessons are subtle. If we want what he has to teach us, we have to dig it out. After all, Rhymer's purpose in "Vic and Sade" is not to conduct a writing craft class, he simply want's to entertain us. But sometimes it does seem that he also intends to instruct us directly, as in the following excerpt from a 1939 script. As we join the Gook family this time, Sade is explaining to Vic that she has been asked by Mr. Gumpox, the garbage man, to circulate a petition in the neighborhood. Seems he's unhappy with his rate of pay and will consider staying on the job only if Sade can get six hundred signatures, which he assumes will influence the city to give him a raise.

SADE: Let's see. I think I can remember most of that petition. "We, the undersigned, being in sane mind an' sound body, do hereby command, request, an' implore that Francis Gumpox be retained by the city. As homeowners with a passionate love for a beautiful town in which to live we feel that this community could never stand to lose the services of Francis Gumpox, who knows and loves garbage like no other man on earth."

VIC (laughs): Oh, for gosh sakes, does that guy . . .
SADE: Wait a second, I left out a word. "Who knows and loves garbage disposal like no other man on earth."

VIC (chuckles): Thunder.

SADE (giggles): The other word sounds funny . . . "knows an' loves garbage like no other man on earth."

VIC (chuckles): It all sounds funny.

--  Jim Sizemore Doodlemesiter.com  © 2013 Jim Sizemore

38-12-16 Rooster Davis' New Spectacles

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

While the Gooks wait for the noontime meat to get done,  Rush says that Rooster Davis came to school this day, wearing glasses.  That's not a big deal.

What is a big deal is how the glasses were attached to him.  Not by hooks around his ears, but by a very long black ribbon (more than 6 feet long) that was attached to a brooch with fake diamonds!

SEE THE SCRIPT

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The script begins with an unusual letter from Bess; this one goes into a bit of detail about Walter's kneecap and Bess even makes a joke, saying his kneecap has "gone off the reservation" - that is, his kneecap is on the "warpath."

For Bess, who doesn't make jokes (despite her literary "ha ha's")  that was a fairly special joke.

Horse!

RUSH: I could eat a fried horse, harness an' all.

and then later...

RUSH: I'll be delighted to make it plain as a horse. 

and then later... 

RUSH: I'll be delighted to make it plain as a horse why Rooster's glasses threw a bomb-shell that hit civilization. 

40-08-13 Little Carberry Gossips

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Now that Sade has settled in back home, she tells all the gossip she got while she was in Carberry, much to the boys' dismay.

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The transcription disc for this episode survived but was either sold to Radio Spirits in the 1970's or was donated to the Library of Congress. (That might mean that we may never hear this episode.)

44-01-06 Letter To Walter (another version)

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND  DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Sade gets to thinking about her sister Bess in Carberry, (yes, another letter), which leads her to prod Vic to write Walter.  Vic has nothing to say to Walter, so he writes him about stuff he had found in the newspaper.

Sade gets upset and goes to bed early, which is the kiss of death in the Gook household.

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

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Though this script idea is very similar to this one, it is quite different.  Rush was in the previous version, and got Vic in trouble with Sade.  This episode sports Russell, who is more interested in talking about Oyster Krecker's cousin Lombard than anything else.  Both versions have pretty much the same ending.

Sade thinks Vic can write Walter just like he writes his pals in the lodge, but she fails to realize that he dislikes his brother-in-law, for all kinds of reasons that are never expressed on the program, only implied.  Vic would never come right out and tell Sade that Walter is a fat-head.  Doing so would only anger and hurt her.  Instead, he just ignores Walter - and ignores thinking about him too, it seems, or at least as little as possible. 

When he is prodded to write him, he remembers (perhaps) that in the first version of this episode, Sade told him:

SADE: Put down a little chatty talky-talk.

VIC: Such as what? 

SADE: Oh... "Business is fine... I suppose you read in the newspaper about this, that, and the other thing. Looks like big doin's in Washington, D.C. with Congress making different laws..." You know...

Though she didn't tell him to copy from the newspaper (he did this in both letters), Vic has such a poor relationship with Walter that basically, this is all he can find to say to him.  It's like talking about the weather with a stranger, something I know that I am prone to do in that situation where I am almost forced into talking to someone I don't know.  Vic doesn't know Walter - and doesn't want to, either!

Sade mentions he should rattle off lodge trash to Walter, but Vic seems to think that lodge business should stay in the lodge.  Lodge secrets, no matter how small and insignificant, are still lodge secrets.  And he is the Exalted Big Dipper, after all.  Will Sade never learn?

Trivia:

+ Writer Paul Rhymer does a very interesting thing here; he has Russell use the word proffering, a 12th century word that pretty much means to offer.  He seemed to enjoy using archaic words in his scripts.

+ Cousin Lombard is a fellow I'd like to know a whole lot more about.

+ The letter to Walter:

"Dear Walter, How is every little thing with you?  We're all first-rate. Harry Murchison and family of 818 West Chestnut Street is moving to Fiendish, Indiana the first of next month.  His brother Clifford is the proprietor of a large shoe store in that city, and a partnership is to be set up.  Mr. & Mrs. Murchison and their two beautiful little girls, Elizabeth and Dorothy, have many friends in this community who will be sad to see them leave.  Mr. Murchison will be remembered as solo-trombonist with the Sewage Disposal Workers' Semi-Classical Silver Cornet Band.  The best wishes of hundreds of local people will accompany the Murchisons to their new home.  Well, Walter, I guess that's all for this time.  Yours truly, Vic."

39-12-28 A Vic and Sade Christmas Show

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

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

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

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

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

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

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

36-xx-xx Vic Reviews a Vacation Week with Bess and Walter in Carberry

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Vic has a two week vacation coming his way and wants to spend it with Bess, relaxing and enjoying himself.  Proving himself to be unselfish, he talks to Sade about the vacation and before she can even ask, has resigned himself to spending a week of his vacation in Carberry with her sister,

Vic is very honest and upfront with her and explains that - though he is resigned to go to Carberry - he knows exactly what will happen - he will go and be bored to death.  He explains to her what his days are like there.  The picture he paints is a sad one.

Sade finally understands what Vic goes through in Carberry and apologizes for wanting to drag him there.

SEE THE SCRIPT

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This is quite an unusual Vic and Sade episode, I might go as far as to say, this is the most unusual episode of the whole lot that we are privy to see or hear.  This is kind of a sad episode where Vic talks about how hard he works all year and then the vacation comes and half of that vacation he sacrifices for Sade.  He is willing to do so and do it without complaint.  Still, when he tells truthfully what he does while he is in Carberry and how boring his days are, Sade can't help but realize just how miserable she makes it for him.

Jean Shepard, who wrote the forward to Vic and Sade: The Best Plays of Paul Rhymer,  wrote that this episode was the best "short story touching on smothering boredom, yet natural concern we feel in the presence of close relatives."

The really bad part of this episode is that Bess and Walter Helfer are somehow named "Hemstreet" in this episode, which may not bother anyone but me - but to me, it's an absolute travesty. Enough of a travesty that I will note it but will also ignore it.

35-05-08 Graduation Gift Hustler

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

Rush (the 8th grader) is about to graduate from Edwards school.  Packages for Rush have arrived from Uncle Hadley Norton and Walter Helfer's cousin, Hartman Whine.  This comes as no surprise to Rush.  He had written to long-unheard-from relatives and acquaintance – not asking for gifts, but mentioning his impending graduation from Edwards School.

Rush is disgusted by Hartman Whine's gift, a book called "Little Dinky Doodles Blowing Bubbles By the Brook". Rush speculates when he graduates from high school Hartman will likely send him a bib.

SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

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You may remember a similar plot - 39-11-21 Smelly Clark Solicits Gifts.

We may have our very first "head injury" in the series to note   The story has overtones of the kind of stories Uncle Fletcher would tell in future shows:

Vic: "Hartman Whine once put his head in a vise to see if he couldn't change the shape of his head so he could wear a street-car conductor's cap he found…"

Rush has also written to Sade's cousin Carroll Skinner in Freeport and to Vic's Uncle Clybert Teefie and to Mr. Hudson in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who's "a relative of the lady who used to be married to Uncle Will before he married Aunt Margaret", and to Mr. Harper in Dixon, who is a neighbor of Uncle Fletcher.

More packages arrive.  Uncle Clybert has sent a top.  Cousin Carroll has sent a box of cigars.

41-06-01 Uncle Fletcher Telephones Aunt Bess

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

Uncle Fletcher, having been careless in not writing his niece Bess Helfer, is prodded by his landlady Mis' Keller to call her long distance. He goes to the Gook house where they can all say hello to the Helfers.

But Uncle Fletcher hasn't called long distance much and doesn't really know or remember the procedure and so has to ask for help. The Gooks all have their own way of calling long distance and all talk at the same time.

Poor Uncle Fletcher!

MIS' CROWE SAYS:

Uncle Fletcher comes over to make a long distance telephone call and receives some very unhelpful technical support from the family.

As dated as this might seem on the surface – long-distance phone calls are not the complicated process they once were – I think it’s extremely easy to see my own family in this episode. There have been times when my grandmother has been “helped” with a computer problem by me, my parents, my aunt, and a younger cousin all at once, and everybody involved thinks they’re the only one who knows how a computer works, and by the end you’re wondering if it’s even worth it to have one! At the end of the episode, Fletcher is so overwhelmed and defeated, he hangs up and goes home without ever having talked to Bess. If only they’d just left it to the telephone operators – they would have been happy to walk him through the process, I’m sure.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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A very typical episode - but that's not a bad thing!

Trivia:

+ The Helfer's phone number is Carberry 18.

🎙Hear the Vic and Sadecast 077 – Uncle Fletcher to Telephone Bess Long Distance (11/16/17)

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

46-07-04 Women's Auxiliary

 

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

Sade spoke for Vic and told Vernon Korkell she would fix it so that he could join the Sewage Worker's Silver Cornet Band, even though his instrument is the piano, not the cornet  (it is revealed that he also plays the banjo.)  Vic argues with Sade and tells her the banjo doesn't belong in an all-cornet band.

Meanwhile, Vic has news of a Women's Auxiliary for his lodge. Sade - not-so-suprisingly - refuses to join, despite the promise that she can ride either a horse or a motorcycle.  Eventually she changes her mind when she makes a deal with Vic - that if he will fix it so that Vernon can play his banjo in the Sewage Worker's band, she'll ride in the parade.

Intertwined is Rush and Orville Wheeney practicing "evil chuckles."

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This is the first episode of "Series 3" that was presented "in full" - that is, no prior editing was done to it.  "Series 3" begins with a vignette or gist of the episode that gives you a hint of what the episode is about.

The 30 minute Vic and Sade episodes were really a bad idea.  There's more of the new characters, there's the annoying incidental music and almost three times the story length of those in the first and second series.

While this episode seems to be about the lodge, it's not really about the lodge at all.  It's much more about these suddenly-real characters.

The idea that Sade would agree (at any cost) to ride in a lodge parade at all -- seems silly. 

Trivia:

+ In this episode we learn that Vic's in-laws Bess and Walter Helfer once gave him long underwear for Christmas. Recall they once gave him a pair of easy slippers as a Christmas gift as well. They were decorated with Indian heads and tassels.

+ Vic says this is the first time the Women's Auxiliary has been official at his lodge. True, but once there was mention of a Women's Auxiliary Marching Team.

+ Rush says Mildred Tisdale publicly said he "wasn't good-looking."  Rush then goes on to say that, "He's plenty good-looking!"  This is not the first time he's gone down that avenue of thought.

+ Orville Wheenie is again a gas meter reader.  Recall he was fired from this same job in "Series 2."

+ Rush reads aloud from a volume of Third Lieutenant Stanley.  In it, he faces counterfeiting clothes manufacturers.  He has a solid gold revolver in a mink holster.  He also has twin rows of teeth(!) - of course, the color of old ivory.

+ When Uncle Fletcher and Roy Dejectedly (a real character now in "Series 3") arrive, they say they are seriously talking about buying part of the Little Tiny Petite Pheasent Feather Tea Shoppy.  However, they only plan on investing $9.00.

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

44-09-13 A Letter from Aunt Bess - Ham Ham

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

As the family sits out on the back porch, Sade informs the boys that she's gotten a letter from her sister Bess Helfer and has Russell read it out loud. He mistakes "ha ha" in the letter with "ham ham." This upsets Sade and then has Vic read the letter out loud. He finds another "ham ham."

Needless to say, Sade is furious and storms into the house. The boys, not wanting to feel the wrath or coldness of Sade, decide to take a walk downtown.

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Sade is mighty touchy when it comes to her precious letters from her sister, who has broken her back to write trash that they already know.

Vic actually knows better than to make fun of the letters - or not listen when the letters are read out loud. You can hear him stepping on tip toes the whole way through the episode. Russell, on the other hand, seems much more reckless than Vic (or even Rush) and plows ahead and says whatever he feels like saying, many times without thinking of the consequences.

I assume Russell knew the letter actually meant "ha ha" but the "ham ham" was just too obvious for him not to point out. His "mistake" though hurts Sade... and I'll never understand why it does - but it DOES.

Vic, on the other hand, just mistook the "ha ha" for "ham ham" and I'm sure while he was walking downtown with Russell, regretted it the whole way there and back. I can imagine him telling Russell to "play along" and appease Sade when it comes to the stupid letters from her sister, no matter how hard it is for him.

While you'll get no argument from me that the episodes with Russell are not as good as the episodes with Rush, there is generally something to enjoy in almost every one. We all can assume this episode would have been even better with Bill Idelson playing the son instead of David Whitehouse but Whitehouse still does an adequate job here. This is a well-written episode that has all the hallmarks of other episodes of this ilk, including the ones where Idelson plays Rush. There's little to complain about in this episode.

Trivia:

+ Sade had a cold. I wonder if her friends brought her "hot soup?"

+ Euncie had been sick with a cold as well.

+ Blue Tooth Johnson's father's had a bad cold as well. This is the first time he's been mentioned in the surviving series.

1939 "Mercury Head" dime

+ Blue Tooth found a 1939 dime. Considering it was found on the street, it probably wasn't in pristine condition. It's value today (depending on the mint mark and condition) would probably range from about $2.00 to about $35.00.

When Russell informs Vic and Sade about the find, Sade asks, "Did he find the owner?"

+ Russell complains that he scratched (up) his knee. Recall he injured himself another time playing baseball.

+ Gus Fuss sent Vic a letter about a month prior where he also wrote "ham ham" instead of "ha ha."

+ Euncie has been learning a new piano solo, Facin' the Barkin' Revolvers of Frank and Jesse James. This piece allows her to scrape her thumb down the white keys and stomp the loud pedal with both feet.

+ For the first time in the surviving episodes, the sound of a slammed back door is heard when Sade storms inside.

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

44-06-15 A Letter From Bess - Listen Please

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN, DAVID WHITEHOUSE AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

Sade gets another predictable letter from her sister Bess. She tries to force the family and Uncle Fletcher to listen to it but they have other ideas.

SEE THE SCRIPT (PART 1) (PART 2) 

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While this is your typical "letter from Bess" fare, this one is different because this is the first time we get to hear Russell try to sit through an Aunt Bess letter and Uncle Fletcher hasn't been around in the previous letter readings either (at least not in the surviving epsiodes).

Vic, on the other hand, is a trained veteran and can listen to the boring fare and knows where to fake a chuckle, otherwise, he'd get yelled at by Sade.

Trivia:

+ Uncle Fletcher speaks of Ray Feltcher, who invented the electric toothpick, which was a complete failure. He says people were apprehensive to use it because when you turned it on, it went "jab-jab-jab-jab." Feltcher passed away on February 14, 1902 before he could patent the device. Feltcher used to cut ice with Uncle Fletcher.

+ Bess says in the letter that Euncie is going around barefooted despite the fact that she's almost an adult.

+ In Carberry news, Bess says Fern Doonbelter got married (at last.) She married an older man who's been married previously.

+ Walter has promised Euncie that if she practices the piano for an hour everyday during the summer that he will give her five silver dollars when school starts back. She is trying to memorize the piano piece, The Great Colorado Train Robbery Scottish so that she can play it without the sheet music. Bess says the song is, "Full of sharps and flats and big notes and trash." [She began learning this piece in March of 1944].

+ Surprise! Euncie has a new piano teacher, Mis' Bahcol.

+ This episode does something only one of the surviving previous episodes do - it fades out.

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44-02-03 Sixty Pairs of Pants

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Heinie Call brags that his grandmother in LaCrosse, Wisconsin had sixty pairs of pants she keeps for him. Heinie then makes Russell mad by telling Russell he's sure he's never had sixty pairs of pants in his life.

Rusell comes home and amid a very slow Rummy game between Vic and Sade, asks them to sign a piece of paper stating him owning sixty pairs of pants in his lifetime.

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Slow episode - not one of them better ones. The "sixty pairs of pants" is an intriguing premise but there's kind of letdown when you hear the episode is not really "moving" anywhere.

Trivia:

+ Mis' Appelrot inferred that Ruthie Stembottom is short. We already know Ruthie has tiny feet, so she probably is short!

+ Russell doesn't get along with Heinie Call and it appears as though they have had trouble in the recent past.

+ Heinie Call has airplane pictures.

+ Sade spends the entire episode trying to make one move in the Rummy game with Vic.

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43-10-01 A Letter from Bess - Sewing Buttons

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Russell runs home to get his football helmet but makes the mistake of checking the mail and bringing in a letter Sade received from her sister, Bess Helfer.

Sade's in a hurry (she is going shopping downtown and "there's a monster of a washrag sale going on at Yamilton's") and has buttons to sew on her jacket, so she has Russell read the letter to her. But he makes it plain that he'd rather be outside playing football and squawks about it the whole way through.

To make matters worse, this is the longest letter from Bess we have heard!

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For the first time, we get to hear Russell at his very best and he's enjoyable to listen to.

The episode ends oddly because it fades out with Russell and Sade talking at the same time about two entirely different subjects.

Trivia:

+ Mis' Hollway was mentioned for the first time. She was born and raised in Carberry.

+ Sade plans to meet Ruthie Stembottom and Mis' Holloway at Dr. Keevy's office. He's the dentist who took the photo of Vic for the magazine article.

+ Sade says that button cost almost a nickel.

+ Mis' Sutton was mentioned for the first time. She is Russell's English teacher. He was let of school early this day because she had to give a speech about the poet Tennyson for the Senior Mother's Club.

+ Sade calls Russell, "Mr. Man" and "Mr. Hoosh."

+ It appears that somewhere in the missing episodes, Beulah Feeple and Sade have become friends - or at least gossiping buddies.  However, in this episode, Sade calls her, "Beulah Erickson" - did she get a divorce from Noah Feeple?

+ Euncie Helfer has another new piano teacher; previously there was Agnes Peterson (she only had one leg) and then there was Mis' Snell. Now she's under the tutelage of Mis' Hendrix.

Euncie is also wanting fancy didos on her nightgown.

+ Mr. Crowell in Carberry passed away. He is survived by a daughter named Agnes who is close to 70 years old. Mr. Crowell lived near Edith Brauns.

In other Carberry news, Grace McCutley will marry Mr. Hunkers who manages the new Ten Cent store.

Sade acts silly on the telephone with Ruthie: {{{HEAR}}}

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43-03-18 Mis' Appelrot Picks on Dottie

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND RUTH PERROT

Sade and Dottie Brainfeeble are shopping and run into Mis' Appelrot in the underwear department of Yamilton's. Mis' Appelrot is mean to Dottie, making fun of her weight, her husband's job and calling her "Mis' Beanfrabble" (as if the name, 'Brainfeeble' isn't bad enough.)

This upsets Sade who actually cries at the end of the episode.

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A somewhat difficult episode to audibly understand even after the clean up.

There's really not much to this episode.

Trivia:

+ Sade gets a letter from Bess but she's so upset that she never finishes it.

+ Chuck Brainfeeble works for a manufacturing company.

+ Dottie weighs almost 200 pounds.

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42-06-08 A Letter from Bess (Sleepy)

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Sade pressures Vic into reading another boring letter from her sister Bess. He doesn't want to do it.  To make things worse, he fall asleep.

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Seems as though every other week there is a letter or postal card from Bess. It wouldn't be so bad if there was some exciting news in there but the best that Bess can do is tell stories of Euncie's piano practicing and tidbits about her neighbors.

Trivia:

+ Euncie is learning to play a new song - Little Redskin Comanche Sweetheart of Mine. During the song she gets to hammer on top of the piano with her fists and also lets out an Indian war hoot. When she does this, it scares Walter.

+ Euncie's piano teacher is now Mis' Snell; in the letter from 1937 that Vic has stashed away in his checkred suit, Euncie's teacher was Agnes Peterson.

+ Mrs. Guffer is mentioned in the letter from Bess. She lives across the street from the Helfer family. She wore/broke in Bess' shoes over a weekend in Freeport.

+ Mis' Frostscum is mentioned. She's another neighbor of the Helfer's who thought Vic was distinguished-looking when she saw him on the Gook's last visit through Carberry.

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42-03-09 Uncle Fletcher's Unopened Letter

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

Sade gets a postal card from her sister Bess which she tries to read but Uncle Fletcher keeps butting in to the extent that Sade finally gives up. Uncle Fletcher mentions he has a letter from Bess in his pocket that's remained unopened since he got it, exactly one month prior!

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While not being rude, Uncle Fletcher is socially impossible with his bad hearing and wondering mind.

The unopened letter from Bess will remind the avid Vic and Sade fan of the episode 40-12-23 Bess' Letter from 1937, where Vic had accidentally put away a letter from Bess in his checkered suit and Sade found it more than 3 years later (and also recall that in that particular episode, Walter had done the same thing with a letter from Sade.) This episode makes the whole "forgotten letter" thing something of a phenomenon.

Another of the very hard-to-understand episodes because of bad sound.

Trivia:

+ When Sade asks Uncle Fletcher if he wants to hear the postal card from Bess, Uncle Fletcher tells her, "No."

+ According to the postal card from Bess, her daughter Euncie has learned to cross over with her hands and to use the loud pedal in her piano practicing.

+ We find out that Walter and Bess have the last name of Helfer.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Arnie Hunkerman from Belvidere, who made all of his wife's clothes. He left Belvidere in 1913 and moved to Farmington, Minnesota and went into the ? ? business and later died.

+ Uncle Fletcher tells the story of Luke Backer from Belvidere. He married a woman 15 years old, moved to Texas and went into the chocolate-flavored Band-aid(?) business.

+ Uncle Fletcher again tells a story, this one of Oaf Beverly, who married a woman 34 years old, paid the expenses of having all of her teeth extracted, moved to Wash River, Kentucky. Then went into the corduroy looking glass business and later died.

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