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.

43-12-01 B. B. Baugh and the 10-Cent Store Weigh-Machine

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

• Sade and Mis' Harris had been talking about the effects of furnace heat.  Mis' Harris' roomer Mr. Sludge had been sitting on the floor by the hot-air register night before last or sometime, putting sticks of peppermint candy in rows and making houses out ‘em, and all of a sudden he just sprawled out fast asleep.
• Russell returns from having gone to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball but was disappointed – it was all skinny fellas.  "they don't fall down and they don't get out of breath and they don't waddle around and bump into junk and they …"
• Sade: "You stay and watch the skinny fellas?  Russell: "For maybe half an hour.  Kept hoping some good old trusty, dependable fat men'd show up.  But none did.
• He eventually went to the Illinois Traction System Depot (i.e., the Interurban Station) to get warm and encountered a group of other guys in there getting warm:  Hank Gutstop, B. B. Baugh, Rishigan Fishigan from Sishigan, Michigan,  Y.I.I.Y. Skeeber, Stacy Yopp, Ernie Fadler, and Uncle Fletcher.
• Sade objects to Russell hanging out with that crowd even if Uncle Fletcher is with them.  Vic sees no harm in it.  She's shocked to learn the topic of discussion was "women."  Russell clarifies they were discussing the psychology of how women react when they step on a penny weighing-machine.  B. B. Baugh, who owns the peanut machine at the Interurban Station is considering the purchase of the 10-cent store weighing-machine.  Women prefer a machine that registers lower, rather than actual, weight.
• Sade is shocked to learn that her name was mentioned - by Uncle Fletcher - who mentioned Sade, Ruthie, and Mis' Keller complain about the 10-cent store machine because it gives correct weight.  He said they prefer the machine at Kleeberger's because it registers three to five pounds lower than reality.  B. B. plans to buy the 10-cent store machine and gear it down so it'll register ten pounds below reality, and then hire agents to spread the news among the ladies. - compiled by Barbara Schwarz, edited by Jimbo Mason

SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)

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It's been said by both Vic and Uncle Fletcher that B.B. Baugh is the most-enterprising businessman in town.  Though the cost of getting weighed is only a penny in 1943, you'd think that after 2-3 years, it'd be clear profit for Baugh, who seems to take low-risk money gambles.

Sade worries about Russell hanging out with Fletcher's gang of cronies, while Vic sees no harm; Vic shouldn't see any harm as they are all his friends as well!  I can imagine Sade saying: "There's nothing more frightening than a gang of seedy barbers and peanut machine misfits filling my little son's head with oceans of talky-talk and trashy-trash!"

Trivia:

+ Paul Rhymer used the word, soporific.

36-07-22 Rush's Dog-Walkin' Job

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rush comes home and announces he's got a job walking a dog.  He then uses his brains to get another fellow to  do the job for him and still get a dime free and clear everyday.

SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2) 

_________________

Trivia:
 
+  There is a strong suspicion that Freda Call and Mr. Chinbunny are are about to wed.

44-09-19 Vic to be Best Man

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

Uncle Fletcher has dire news for the Gooks and calls Vic to come home from the office early. Upon arrival, Uncle Fletcher tries to give the job of 'best man' of the upcoming wedding of his land lady/Mr. Feedburn to Vic, who wants no part in the wedding ceremony and does not understand why he was dragged home from the office.

Then, Uncle Fletcher really pulls the rabbit out of the hat when he suggests that Mr. Feedburn - who is arriving two weeks prior to the wedding - stay at the Gook house in the interim.

Sade, while not refusing, questions his request in such a way that we know she will eventually refuse.

________________________

Vic and Sade, while trying not to be negative to Uncle Fletcher during his busy time of helping prepare for the wedding, have to be on their guard; for Uncle Fletcher is full of surprises and is trying to brush off some of the responsibilities off on the couple.

Has he bitten off more than he can chew? Why does he care if his land lady gets married? Why did he take oceans of responsibility if he wasn't able to tackle it? Questions better left until another episode because the answers aren't in this one.

Trivia:

+ Russell asks permission to go to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball; this is the first time I recall either he or Rush asking permission to do that. As a matter of fact, the only things I ever recall the boys needing permission to do anything was for sleeping over at a friend's house and going to the Bijou on a school night (many times.)

+ When Russell arrives at the house, Uncle Fletcher wants Vic, Sade and himself to go to Vic's office at the Consolidated Kitchenware plant so they can be alone. When Vic questions Uncle Fletcher about this asinine suggestion, Sade tells Russell to "Go down cellar." It may not seem that funny to the casual Vic and Sade fan but it struck me as being one of the top 50 or so moments in the show's history; this is because of the way Bernadine Flynn delivers the line (almost a whisper to Russell) and the fact that in a previous episode, Uncle Fletcher tried to shoo Sade and Russell into the cellar to talk business with Vic.

I'm guessing that writer Paul Rhymer was shooed into the cellar in his youth or just has a warped sense of humor. Cellars are no place to congregate and spend time. Imagine the spiders and whatnot down there... Either way, the notion (to me anyway) is hilarious.

Russell, understanding he's "not wanted" during the "big news" suggests, "Why don't I go to the Miller Park lake and jump in? I'd be just about as welcome there..."

+ There are a number of lines in this episode that are funny but only if you have been following the whole "Mis' Keller is getting married" thing. Uncle Fletcher deems it necessary to talk superfluously while speaking about his responsibilities and has been repeating the phrase, "the unbearable alternative" throughout the weeks of this particular storyline. When he says it in this episode, Vic suggests he gets the meme "tattooed to his chest."

+ When talking about the two hotels in town - the Butler House and the Bright Kentucky - Uncle Fletcher says, "One is expensive and one is shabby." While this is true and it's well-known to even the casual Vic and Sade fan that reads Vic and Sade material strewn over the internet (Wikipedia for example.) This is the first time the two hotels have been compared in this exact stereotyping.

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44-06-28 A Letter from Mr. Buller

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

Vic gets a letter from Mr. Buller that appears to be full of wonderful, exciting news. Vic wants Russell to read the letter. As he reads, signs that he might have a cold show up during the reading. Sade keeps interrupting Russell and we never find out what's going on with Mr. Buller.

SCRIPT (page 1) (page 2) (page 3)

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The material here is neither strong nor funny but it's still quality stuff. The joke Paul Rhymer presents us with is the entire episode is about the letter which we get repeated bits of, over and over (a long-time Rhymer trick) yet we never hear the whole thing.

Sade, who puts the kabosh on the letter to begin with, is miffed when Vic leaves the room with the letter; she may never know what it says!

Trivia:

+ There is a rocking chair and a telephone in the Gook kitchen.

+Sade says Grandpa Goggler (from Dixon) tipped his hat to a lady and fell over, [and became] a rigid corpse. The very same thing happened to Ollie Sorgut, another acquaintance of Sade's from Dixon.

+ Eisenminger was mentioned for the first time. Sade says he was seriously injured from sitting on a pencil.

+ It appears that Pelter Unbleet is now is the Hyena Grease business with Uncle Fletcher.

Russell tries to read the letter (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

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44-04-07 The Solo March

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Homer U. McDancey once again suggests to Vic that he be the special Christmas Day guest speaker at the Missouri Home for the Tall in Sick River Junction, Missouri.

Vic is so flattered that he intends on going and giving not only a speech about marching but also a solo march.

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Average episode enhanced greatly by further usage of the Missouri Home for the Tall. The funniest line in the episode is when Russell comments that Uncle Fletcher has a croney that's an armed guard at the Missouri institution!

Trivia:

+ Mis' Neagle, who was not only Rush's freakishly strong Sunday School teacher but also Russell's, can chin herself 23 times.  She was complimented on her muscles, according to Russell.

+ The Missouri Home for the Tall has 700 inmates!  Uncle Fletcher has a cronie that works as an armed guard there.

+ Arthur K. Van Beebunk (not named in this episode but was in an earlier one) was a boyhood chum of Homer U. McDancey.

+ Homer U. McDancey has "lovely" penmanship, according to Sade.

+ Ed Fife was mentioned for the first time. He's a friend of Russell's; he plans on going with the gang down to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball.

+ Sade refers to events that happened in 44-03-24 The Seven Minute March.  McDancey and Vic had an opportunity to briefly meet and march together.

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43-11-19 Caribbean Dream Flute

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Sade reads in the paper again about Pom Pom Cordova; this time she's playing the tropical guitar at the luxurious Purple Room of the Butler House Hotel.

After bringing up the subject with Vic, she then learns that he's been meeting up with Pom Pom and Lolita di Rienzi at Dr. Keevy's office on several occasions and even on consecutive days.

While Sade doesn't seem to suspect Vic is up to no-good, she still wields the situation over his head hoping he will say the wrong thing to dig himself deeper in a hole.
But Vic is innocent and his only crime is found to be wanting to learn how to play the Caribbean Dream flute, which Mis' Cordova tells him would sound well in duets with her tropical guitar.

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Like all men, even when Vic is innocent, he sounds guilty.

Vic hit the nail on the head when he says that Sade is making a big deal out of the situation because she wants drama in her life. That's not to say that Sade is a bad person but she enjoys picking on Vic, especially when there really is something there to mess with him about.

Is he carrying on some naughty tryst with Pom Pom and Lolita? Most assuredly not. Still, he did act secretly and that makes for an episode where we get to hear him try and wiggle out of something he didn't do.

Trivia:

+ Russell's absence in this episode is explained by him being at the YMCA, watching the fat men play handball. This is the first time we've heard him enjoying this activity.

+ We find out that Lolita lives in the Monte Carlo Apartments. That's the first time they've been mentioned.

+ Dr. Keevy is a candidate to become a member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way.

+ There seems to be a missing episode that has Dr. Keevy wanting to take Vic, Pom Pom and Lolita arund the country to various dentist offices so he can show them "wonderful teeth."

+ Pom Pom said she could tell by looking at Vic that he was musical.

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43-01-04 Honorary Titles for Sale

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY AND BERNARDINE FLYNN

Vic gets a big, yellow envelope in the mail from the lodge; seems they are selling honorary titles. He wants to buy a few - but what's really important to him is caramel ice cream.

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The honorary titles are an excuse for writer Paul Rhymer to have fun with words. After having studied these episodes over and over, it's not so much the words he uses but how he uses them in juxtaposition with other words combined with silly names (although in the case of the honorary title, there are no silly names involved.)

A fun episode but this sits somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Trivia:

+ Fred Stembottom has been sneezing lately.

+ Rush and Blue Tooth Johnson are at the YMCA.

+ The fellow who owns 12 different honorary titles is actually a newspaper deliverer.

Vic lists off the honorary titles (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

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42-xx-xx Lodge Speech Rehearsal

(((HEAR)))

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic pays Rush a dime to listen to his lodge speech - a superfluous address that drums Hank Gutstop out of the lodge (again.) Rush is to also endure having the buttons ripped off his pajamas.

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Neither Rush nor Sade can help themselves to not make noises during the speech.

Trivia:

+ Gutstop is being expelled from the lodge for not paying his dues. Sade says he was kicked out the previous month as well. If you will recall, he was also kicked out at least one other time in the past for the same reason.

+ Smelly Clark and Rush make plans over the phone to go to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball later.

+ A comparison of Vic and then Rush imitating him (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

+ Vic is about to rip the buttons off of Rush's pajamas...but Sade intervenes: {{{HEAR}}}

+ In an interview in the 1970's, Bill Idelson (Rush) recalls Vic drumming Gutstop out of the lodge and removing his buttons: {{{HEAR}}}

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42-10-01 Cherry Phosphates

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rotten Davis, the 19 year-old neighborhood showoff, has found a friend in Rush and Vernon Peggles when he buys a 50 gallon barrel of cherry syrup that is to be kept hooked-up at The Greek's confectionery counter.

Rotten is giving away cherry phosphates to one and all as many as you can drink. Rush and Vic figure that the 50 gallon barrel of syrup will make a stomach-turning 12,000 drinks!

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A fun episode that finds Vic (in particular) in a very cheery (no pun intended) mood. His mood and Rush sounding like the 1938-9 variety, makes for some great entertainment.

Trivia:

+ Vic is reading from Volume 7 of his lodge library when the episode begins.

+ Rush and Vernon were at the YMCA earlier in the evening watching the fat men play handball -- but they left when the thin fellows started playing.

+ The 50 gallon barrel of cherry syrup was acquired from The Greek (who had gotten it by mistake) for an undisclosed amount of money.

+ Both Rush and Vernon drink 5 cherry phosphates each.

+ The Greek's confectionery has a screen door.

Vic's not joking... {{{HEAR}}}

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42-03-04 Room Warming

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY,  BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Uncle Fletcher's room is finally finished being fixed up and to celebrate, he's having a men-only room-warming party (similar to a house-warming party.)

Vic and Rush are invited.

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Another episode with sound so bad you're not likely to sit through it.  Though Uncle Fletcher is talked about a lot, he's not in this episode.

Trivia:

+ Sade says that for refreshments, Uncle Fletcher is going to serve cold brickmush, dyed in exotic colors. The colors mentioned are midnight blue, off-apricot, burnt silver, graveyard grey, green dawn, bruised maroon and daffodil black!

+ Although the brickmush will be colored, Sade claims the taste will remain the same.

+ We find out that the Gooks are generally finished with their evening meal at 5:45 pm or so.

+ There appears to be a conflict with Uncle Fletcher's party and a lodge meeting. Lodge meetings begin at 6:30 pm.

+ Rush also encounters a conflict as he had made plans to go to the YMCA and watch the fat men play handball.

+ Uncle Fletcher calls and asks the men to bring their easy slippers because of the mud situation outside; Mis' Keller doesn't want her house tracked up with mud.

+ It appears as though Alf Musherton, Y.I.I.Y. Skeeber, Stacey Yopp and Mr. Gumpox have also been invited to the party.

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41-10-31 Broken Alarm Clocks

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BILL IDELSON AND CLARENCE HARTZELL

 

Sade is away at a Yamilton's washrag sale, so Vic is fiddling with clocks again, this time, the 2 upstairs alarm clocks.

We find out the way Vic "fixes" the clocks is by opening them up with a little hammer!

He tries to bribe Rush into taking the blame and even though Rush knows that his mom will certainly catch on as to what happened, he agrees to go ahead with the plan.   I'm sure his mom did catch on although we never know since she never makes it into the episode.

Meanwhile, to make sure the episode flows along smoothly, Uncle Fletcher is there, pretty much ignored by Vic and Rush. He tells a classic story, watches and then kills a fly and does other "Uncle Fletcher stuff."

MIS CROWE SAYS:
An excellent Halloween episode of Vic and Sade in the spirit of a crime thriller. Vic plays the role of the crime boss, convincing the patsy to take the fall – he’s young, he doesn’t have a prior record, he’ll get out of jail soon enough whereas Vic would be put away for life. Fletcher plays the innocent witness. How much of the conversation is he picking up on?  It’s hard to say, but if you pretend they’re trying to cover up a murder rather than a broken clock, their efforts to convince Uncle Fletcher to stick around at the end of the episode become a good deal more sinister. You know what happens to witnesses, after all. At the very end of the episode, Vic reveals himself to be an uncontrollable monster who can’t stop himself from killing again.

We don’t know what happens after the ending of this episode, but it’s hard to see how this cockamamie story would hold up under Sade’s scrutiny. She’d rip it to shreds just as she does with Vic’s various hat-buying schemes. Apart from anything else, why were both the alarm clocks on Rush’s dresser in the first place? Rush says himself that one of the alarm clocks is in his room and one of them is somewhere else. What were they doing in the same place? A person doesn’t need two alarm clocks in his room.

Truly a classic – essential listening for any new Vic & Sade listener.

SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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A very fun and memorable episode. Vic's lack of prowess with clocks is well documented and one wonders why he would use a hammer to open them when he could use a screw driver.

George Williams, YMCA Founder

Trivia:

+ This episode aired on Halloween.

+ Rush mentions he was at the YMCA, not to watch the fat men play handball, but instead to help celebrate what would have been the 120th birthday of YMCA founder George Williams, who was born October 11, 1821. (A little late in celebrating, but...)

+ Uncle Flecther tells the story of Art Gummer and his "fish stretcher." After catching a fish, you could go by Art's place and he'd stretch your fish so that the fish would be longer, therefore giving you more bragging rights. The fish stretcher was such a unique idea that Gummer thought he would eventually make $40,000 with it. As a matter of fact, he was so confident that he would make that kind of money, he bought a horse and buggy, got married and sent a brother to barber college. But in the end, the invention did not produce a dime.

Art had a brother named Rollie and a sister named Florence.

+ This episode contains one of my all-time favorite sequence of lines when Vic tells Rush: "You have an alarm clock record that is absolutely spotless. You never broke an alarm clock in your life. I, on the other hand, have been most unfortunate."  Here's the audio: {{{HEAR}}}

+ When Uncle Fletcher finally does kill the fly, it sounds like the crack of the bat at a baseball game: {{{HEAR}}}

+ Rush knows whatever scheme Vic comes up with isn't going to fool his mother: {{{HEAR}}}

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41-06-04 Grand Old Lodge Lady

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNRADINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Vic never answered a lodge letter - which results in Sade being listed in the newspaper as the "Grand Old Lady of the Drowsy Venus Chapter" of Vic's lodge.

Despite Vic's attempts at hiding this fact, he can't hide it from Sade.

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A funny episode. All the lodge episodes are funny as something is always bound to happen.

Trivia:

+ Vic mounts suspicion on himself when he suggests the whole family go to the Bijou, something he rarely does.

+ Rush said that Vic made "about 40 mistakes" in their card game.

+ After Sade gets suspicious about her name possibly being in the paper, she asks: "Did the Lazy Hours Pool Parlor write another piece about me?" Later she asks if they wrote another piece about her eating nine saucers of cole slaw.

Interesting; can we assume one of the missing episodes includes an episode where Sade is written about, possibly in a Lazy Hours Pool Hall advertisement?

+ Rush and Smelly Clark make a date to go down to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball.

+ The article in the paper:

The headquarters of the National Brotherhood of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, have named Mrs. V.R. Gook of Virginia Avenue as their Grand Old Lady of their local uniter, the Drowsy Venus Chapter.

Ceremonies will be held in the near future, during which tribute will he paid to Mrs. Gook's snow white hair and sweet wrinkled face. [Unitelligible] wisdom of old age will be glorified and Mrs. Gook's feeble, tottered footsteps...

🎙 Hear the Vic and Sadecast 079 – Grand Old Lodge Lady (11/18/17)

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39-12-xx Rush Is Getting On In Years

STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

14 year-old Rush has come to the conclusion that he is "getting on in years." After telling his mother about how he's getting older and more tired - at the end of the show the phone rings and without hesitation, accepts an invitation to go and play on a trapeze and then play Fox and Geese, a winter chase game.

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Rush reflects upon entering his golden years with Sade.

RUSH: But, ya know, Mom, I never laughed at that.
SADE: Didn’t ya?
RUSH: No. And that’s another reason why I think I’m gettin’ on in years. I’m more serious, grasp the angle I’m attemptin’ to put across?
SADE: Uh-huh.
RUSH: A year or so ago I woulda let out a great big haw-haw at Smelly and Leroy makin’ fun of Mildred Tisdel. But not anymore. Nowadays I monkey around with deep topics.
SADE: Mm.
RUSH: I leave foolishness to the children.

Oh, Rush. He appears to be entering that most wonderful period of adolescence, where he feels everything much more deeply than everyone else, and no one understands the brevity and futility of life but him. He is about to start wearing all black and writing sad poems and reading lots of Dostoyevsky. Between trips to the YMCA to goof off, of course.

Sade quietly humors Rush throughout this episode. Once again, it’s just her and her son — no Vic, no important adult stuff to attend to — so she listens to him ramble on and on and feels no need to correct him. I love it when we get to hear Rush go on for so long uninterrupted.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

Obviously, Rush is confusing the fact that he's getting older with the fact that he is maturing. But he hasn't quite matured enough to turn down a go at a trapeze or play Fox and Geese!

There's really not a not a lot going on in this episode. For one thing, there is no Vic around to chortle in calling him, "Grandpa" or some such names.

Trivia:

+ Some of the reasons why Rush he's is getting older: felt like taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon, didn't laugh or make fun of Mildred Tisdel's unusual analogies, wasn't dazzled nor didn't laugh at the comical colors or clowns in Yamilton's window, resigned to go to the store and no longer complains,

+ The courthouse is mentioned for the first time.

+ Sade's Uncle Steemer from Dixon is mentioned for the first time. His hair was turning white at the same time he was going bald.

+ Mis' Tarman is mentioned for the first time. She had borrowed Sade's fancy .98 cent apple peeler 3 months prior and just returned it.

+ Mildred told Rush she felt like a violin and a rainbow.

+ Ed Miller is mentioned for the first time. He is 17. Acts like a kid.

+ Rush and Rooster Davis make plans to use the trapeze at the YMCA.

+ Chuck Myers is mentioned for the first time. He is a boy at Rush's school; he makes plans on the telephone with Rush to play Fox and Geese with Rush and Rooster.

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39-11-14 Rush, House Destroyer

STARRING:BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON

Rush has made a deal with J.J. Gifford, the contractor, to knock down a building by himself.

Though he won't get paid, he doesn't seem to mind as there are stories to be told and bragging to be done for a 14 year old boy destroying a whole building by himself.

As Rush says, "(There's) Not much glory in helping tear down a building."

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Rush strikes an intriguing deal with a local contractor and prematurely basks in the resulting fame and glory.

Kids — even big monstrous teenage boys like Rush — have a lot of gaps to fill in regarding their perceptions of the world and their abilities. I remember when I was about 6 one summer day I attempted to dig myself a swimming pool in the garden. I managed about a 2 foot by 2 foot by 1 foot mud hole before I gave up and called it quits. Later, when I was about 11 and home alone, I somehow got it in my head that I was going to build myself a playhouse outside. My father was a machinist and had a lot of junk lying around so this seemed within the realm of possibility. One of my parents came home from work to find me dragging lumber around the yard. So, thinking back on my own childhood, I can very strongly relate to Rush’s ambitions here.

I’m wondering what kind of a wiseacre J.J. Gifford is to have struck this deal with Rush. The only thing this guy would have gotten out of this would have been to make Rush look like a dummy. Poor Rush is in for some bitter disappointment when he first goes down to the site and attempts to tear down this brick building. I’m glad we didn’t have to hear the fallout from that…I have such affection for Rush; such things go straight to my heart.

I’m noticing a trend: doesn’t it seem like Vic and Sade are both easier on Rush when it’s just one of them interacting with him at a time? It’s as if, when both parents are present, one of them has to take on the authoritative role, in order to demonstrate their parental effectiveness to the other. When it’s just Sade and Rush or Vic and Rush, the atmosphere is much more relaxed. Normally one of the two would attempt to enlighten Rush as to the craziness of this scheme…but today, Sade just goes with the flow. Obviously, Sade realizes, Rush will understand the impracticality of his ambitions the second he goes down to the warehouse and starts working…so what’s the point of working herself up?

 SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

________________________

Vic is missing in this episode and though Sade doesn't throw water on Rush's idea, one can imagine what Vic would say if he were around to hear Rush. But I'm not quite sure if he would encourage him or poo-poo the idea...

Trivia:

+ First mention of J.J. Gifford. He lives on the 700 block of University Street.

+ The house that Rush was to destroy is on West Mulberry Street

+ Rush imagines Sade will be able to brag about him tearing down the house at Thimble Club meetings.

+ West Monroe Street is mentioned for the first time. It's the street the house to be destroyed is on.

+ Mis' Trogle is mentioned. We find that she also lives on West Monroe Street and has baked four apple pies.

Sade imitates Mr. Buller: {{{HEAR}}}

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39-07-05 Two Tons of Coal #1

STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON 

The Donahues have moved and have left two tons of coal in the basement of their old house next door.

Sade thinks Mr. Erickson is coming by everyday and putting a few lumps in his satchel and that the pile is getting smaller everyday.

A McClean County coal mine

In order to get the free coal and to get it before it disappears or Erickson rents the house, Sade suggests the male members of the household go and put on their overalls, get a basket and start removing the coal to the Gook basement.

This does not sit well with Vic or Rush (edited): {{{HEAR}}}

Rush even comes up with the excuse that his "overalls are wrinkled!"

Even though she asked the boys if they had anything planned beforehand (and they replied that they didn't) when the coal moving is brought up, each comes up with an excuse. Rush protests ad nauseum that he is going to the YMCA and watch the fat men play handball (or handmen playing fatball): (edited) {{{HEAR}}}

MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Vic and Sade have been given a gift of two tons of coal. Sade thinks that now is the time to go and collect the gift. Vic and Rush disagree.

Sade’s being very shrewd here! As best I can find, the retail price of a ton of coal in 1939 was between 8 and 9 dollars (and rising), and one 1939 dollar is equivalent to $16.64 in 2014. So Sade was looking to get around $18 — or, adjusting for inflation, $283 — worth of free coal, which is nothing to sneeze at! It always strikes me funny how much more frugal and pennywise Sade seems to be than Vic. Since Vic is the one who actually goes out and earns the money — and he’s a professional accountant, to boot — it seems like he’d be the penny-pincher of the duo, but since Sade runs the household and does all the purchasing, she is more aware of how much things cost and how much the family can afford. (And, of course, we all know how conservative Sade is with number estimates — she did once allow three and a half hours for a forty mile drive.)

Vic and Rush try every possible childish excuse to escape from this situation, but Sade’s tricked them into admitting that they don’t have anything planned for the evening, and they’re cornered. Vic also fights back by criticizing every aspect of the task, from Sade’s reasoning (sound) to her methods (market baskets — which also seems reasonable), without offering any better solution himself.

I always chuckle at this part:

SADE: The other reason is I’m pretty sure Mr. Erickson is helpin’ himself to that coal himself. 
VIC: Yeah?
SADE: Yes. I’m pretty sure there’s not a day goes by but what he don’t stop by and get a few chunks and carry ‘em off home in that big satchel of his.
VIC: Rather far-fetched, don’t ya think?

Far-fetched, Vic? Have you met Mr. Erickson?

My only (mild) criticism of Sade here is her repeated needling of Rush for his slip of the tongue — “handmen playing fatball.” The only thing that accomplishes is to annoy him! Sade, you’re already calling the shots here…don’t kick a man while he’s down.

*Why is this episode called “Two Tons of Coal #1”? It is actually part of a five-part saga, the other four recordings having been lost. What happens in the rest of the series will make you send your undershirt to Elkader, Iowa parcel post.

SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)

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An episode that floats to the top of my memory when I think of the show, probably because Sade is so set on saving a few dollars on the coal (not that I have any idea how much two tons of coal cost in 1939.)

The whiny, childish protests of Vic and Rush are amusing as are the revelation that Rush likes to watch the fat men play handball at the 'Y.'

Trivia:

+ This is the first audio episode where Rush mentions the pastime of going to the YMCA and watching the fat men play handball.

+ On the phone, Sade jokingly calls Ruthie Stembottom, "Third Lieutenant Stanley."

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