Retro Radio Podcast

In trying to get the number of guests to match the number of seats in his buffet supper, Lum has had to cancel invitations. He left it up to Abner to randomly pick someone, and make the phone call to inform the unfortunate person. Today, Lum discusses his menu of cold, fried rabbit with Abner. Trying to abide by standards of etiquette, Lum wants to garnish his place settings. Will the affair be worthy of being written up in Lewella Parson’s column? Lum tries to imagine the good impression the party will make on Miss Plat. Speaking of her, Abner has a hard time breaking the news to Lum that it was her, who was randomly picked to cancel the invitation. Lum blows up on Abner, over his brainless way of cancelling the guest of honor. Is there any way to repair the infraction? How is Cedric coming along with his garnish job? He arrives once Lum storms out to report to Abner that the varnish won’t be dry in time.

In the early days of automobiles, Rudolph Diesel came up with a new kind of engine to power the machines that would be more efficient than steam. We learn that the Diesel family started in France, but during war torn days, ended up in England. Young Rudolph studied mechanical engineering, and developed his idea based on the operation of a steam engine, but would be more light weight and efficient. A mentor from college put him to work, but in his off hours he continued to draw up plans for his engine. Diesel married, grew a family, and over 20 years he finally came up with the final plan for an engine that burned oil, rather than getting its power from steam. Can he convince machinists and mechanics that his idea is more than an invention on paper? Initial failures only serve to prove that he was on the right track. By 1913 Diesel’s engine was powering vehicles around the world, and in the first world war was widely put to use in military vehicles and submarines. Though Diesel mysteriously became missing in action during the war, his invention kept alive and grew in its importance. What was the mysterious circumstance of his death? The world may never know.

In a checker game, Molly watches as Fibber argues with Gildersleeve. The insults about cheating are dished out, but aren’t taken so well. It takes Molly to break up the game, and she wants to send the checkers off to the troops. She tells about a drive to gather games, books, and other materials to the service members who are away from home. Fibber has a run in with his messy closet, then Billy Mills plays some jazzy transitioning music. With the drive for magazines and other material going well, Fibber wants to keep his checkers. The McGee’s talk to Nick Depopolos about his contributions. What will Abigail Uppington be willing to donate? She shares her recent adventure with the Kentucky Derby. How will Harlowe Wilcox spin the situation into a sponsor message? Wallace Wimple is next to donate to the cause. His big old wife, Sweetie Face has something to give, and Wallace wishes she would. Fibber brags about being Son of a Sea Cook McGee. The Kingsmen sing, Molly Put the Kettle On. as Gildersleeve returns to help- load the truck. The Old Timer visits. The new round of insults leads to the old guy telling it the way he hear’d it. At the army camp, Gale Gordon is the officer who accepts the entertainment goods. Just where did Fibber and Gildersleeve disappear to?

Today in the Jot Em Down store, Abner tries to console Lum. When Mr. Chancelor left previously, he mentioned having an engagement with Miss Plat . Now that he has been calm down, the gents talk over Plans for honoring miss Platt There seems to be too many guests you are invited. So the gents – hash over their list. Who can they uninvite? Will grandpap be willing to be taken off the list? Here he comes now! Beating around the bush, Abner is confused over grandpap, and insurance. Does he have enough, or not? As the phone ring, Lum comes up with a good idea for the final selection. He’ll just have Abner randomly pick the final name. All options are off once the name has been picked. It’ll be up to Abner to make the phone call, and stick two their guns. Lum doesn’t want to know anything about who would is, as long as the call is made.

Burglary detail. A rash of shoplifting jobs has the attention of Joe Friday, and his partner, Ben Romero. Interviewing the detail chief, the detectives go over the mode of operation of the bandits. What might connect the string of shoplift jobs together? A teenage clerk in a department store seems to be at the center of the thefts of make up and cos metics. Joe and Ben go to interview the young lady. Will she be able to offer a suitable explanation of the missing products from the departments where she has worked? Ben complains about his foot problems as the cops continue their mundane search. Another store clerk report strange packages, and an unknown tall, blonde woman in the department. What does Joe make of it? More questions reveal the unknown woman is also at the center of the robberies. The woman is identified to be the wife of a doctor. Will she hold up under the routine questioning of the detectives?

In a rush to make the last day in the studio for the season, Jack and Don take a cab, they are joined by Mary, and Phil at the drugstore soda fountain. Will these early mishaps set the tone for the show? Jack complains about Don’s corny introduction. As Phil describes his Touring schedule with his band this summer, Mary gets in a few jokes. Dennis makes an entry with his mother for the final show of the season. Dennis sings, Blue Love Birds. Jack let’s the listening audience know who his summer replacement will be, and a visit from Henry Aldrich is planned. Everyone is looking forward to the guest, except Jack. Is the handwriting on the wall? Will the sponsor be looking to replace Jack with someone younger? Jack is rude, but the young Henry tries his best to butter up the old comedian. Will the radio teenager fall for Jack’s coaching?

Opens with a glimpse at the historical moment of Paul Revere starting off on his ride. Peggy Taylor sings, I Like the Looks of You. Stan and the announcer debate the correct definition of “Hi-Fi” and related grammar and spelling. Stan plays various animal and other sounds in hi-fi. He then plays a recording in high frequency that only dogs can hear. The show wraps up with a spoof of Lux Radio Theater. A production called Rock Around my Nose. A melodrama about a father who can’t get close to his son. The son hangs out in the candy shop, the dad at the golf course. The dad apparently has a huge nose. He realizes that it is his nose that keeps his son away. The man has surgery and they live happily afterafter. Happiness ends with the candid comments after the spoof production. Stan discusses the correct way to do a rebel yell, and breaks into ‘Yellow Rose of Texas,’ more or less. A beatnik who help intro the show is back to close the show.

As dinnertime approaches, Gildersleeve gets onto his nephew, Leroy for being so messy. Why can’t he the more like his sister? As if on cue, Marjorie enters to show off her new ballerina dress. Gildy departs, so Leroy takes time to demonstrate his latest baseball move. Of course. The result is a broken vase. Taking Leroy for a haircut, the Conversation in Floyd’s barber shop turns to the latest teams and games. Later. At home, has the hard feelings soften ed any? Maybe the mood has. But Leroy is still on the hook when it comes to working off his debt over the broken vase. Gildy dozes, dreams, and waits for his date with Eve Goodwin. His dreams are interrupted to go look for Leroy.. He finds a knickerbocker clad Judge Hooker, but no Leroy. In Peavy’s drugstore, Gildy gripes over the window display, but no Leroy. Eve arrives for dinner. But still no Leroy. Has he run away? He manages to show up alright, and has even learned the importance of hard work to replace broken vases;.

On an earlier episode we learned how a sponsor cells a show to a client. Today we’ll learn how a producer uses an advertising firm to sell a show to a sponsor. An itemized list of the talent, and costs is compiled into a book, and delivered buy direct messenger boy. When everything looks good, the firm requests an audition recording be made. Months go by as the audition circulates, before it’s finally purchased. Sound effect of the week, perfecting the sound of opening a bottle of beer. A representative of a sponsor agency is on hand to tell how commercials are made. Is a traumatized ad better than a straight commercial? How long should a good commercial be? Is it better to advertise at the beginning, middle, or end of a show? Get a behind-the-scenes look at how a news story is dramatized. A salute to a radio program gone by, Lazy Dan, is reproduced. Though the act maybe top notch, the minstrel show style and dialects are definitely not politically correct. The one man show is currently active in other productions and commercials. Letters from listeners. Facsimile newscasts are explained, Summer replacements, And other summer replacements such as quiz shows are topics. Freedom radio stations are ones that broadcast at the border of countries where Broadcast our sensor. A man known only as Rudolf explains the dangers of operating close to communist countries where liberties are restricted. It could mean death, if radio DJs and operators are caught.

Featuring: Ken Carpenter, John Scot Trotter, Skitch Henderson, Lena Romei, and The Charioteers Playlist: * Sun in the Morning and the Moon At Night (Bing Crosby). * Introduced as, “The melodrama, the Perils of Skitch Henderson,” he plays piano instrumentals. * South America Take It Away (Bing and Lena Romei). * Bing discusses family Halloween plans with Lena. Though absent, Bob Hope gets teased about dating a witch. * How High the Moon (Les Paul Trio). * You are Too Beautiful (Bing Crosby). * By and By When the Morning Comes (The Charioteers). * Route 66 (Bing Crosby). * Blue Skies (Bing Crosby). Note: Transfixed by Bing’s beautiful talk, Skitch claims to be the cobra to Bing’s flute.

Note: some episodes appeared to be missing from the previous story that lead into the resulting book deal, and Lum’s continued couerttship of Miss Evilina Platt. After getting advice from Mr. Chancelor, the gents prepare a party to honor Miss Plat. The chance marvel over Mr. Chancellor and his desire to spend time in the caved in mine shaft. That’s one place they’re sure glad to be out of. After spending all that money for a buffet dinner, how can Miss Platt turned Lum down? What does RSMFT stand for? You know, it’s that thing you do when you tell people you’ll attend the party. After the gents make their swanky party plans, Mr. Chancellor arrives. He wants to meet with Cedric, and interview him about his part in the rescue at the mine. Warned about Cedric possibly being slow, the lad makes an impression on the author.

Audio skips a tiny bit. A toy French poodle enters the lives of the Anderson family. Kathy has brought it home and along with big sister, Betty, they’re very thrilled. Mother, on the other hand nose who will be taking care of the pet. Bud’s idea of a manly pet is a carrier pigeon. Will Kathy get to handle them? What will father think about the pet shop in his house? Pierre the pet poodle gets plenty of pampering from Betty. Meanwhile, how is Bud’s pigeon? Betty thinks that if she mishandled Pierre, her College career could be on the line. Jim Anderson is fed up, and almost wishes something would happen to the poodle. Nothing serious, harmful, or permanent, just something to rock Betty’s boat. When Pierre comes up missing, Jim could have some explaining to do with Betty. Can Margaret and Jim keep Betty pacified as they frantically look for the missing dog? Although Betty seems trusting of her worried parents, Bud reveals a secret. Now it’s Betty’s turn to teach her parents a lesson, until the dog is missing from her hiding place. But wait, the lessons aren’t over, and neither are the hiding places. Don’t worry, Pierre turns up safe and sound.

A cryptic telegram has Lum and Abner on edge. They are still under doctors orders to relax after the ordeal and a silver mineshaft. Lum tells how he finally was in contact with Mr. Sutton, and he is no longer interested in the property. Instead of silver, there could be magnesium on the land. The lost sale means that Lum doesn’t have the money he planned on having to get married to Miss Emaline. Abner figures all he needs is $2, and being justice of the peace Lum could marry himself. That would save even more money. But Lum explains why it wouldn’t work. Look! Outside! A big car is pulling up! Mr. Chancellor arrives and begins to confidentially share his plans in a nutshell.But for the listening audience, we’ll have to wait for the next episode.

Baseball jokes get the show started. Playlist * Love is So Terrific. (Bing) * Haunted Heart. (Bing) * Fibber and Molly show up to discuss a recent article in photoplay Magazine, featuring Bing. Featured in Whiteman’s band, Bings real name (Harry), and golf. Is Bing’s career in radio, music, and movies really all Fibber’s idea. What else will he claim ownership on? * As Bing relaxes, Molly visits to get caught up on old times. Is Fibber getting the brushoff? Molly springs their real request, to appear for the Elks club event. * I Had a Dream. (Fibber, Molly, and Bing harmonize their old tune * Blue Shadows. (Bing) As Bing says good bye to his guests, he tells their real names.

Enjoy the story of Big Ben, and how the famous clock came to be, and got its name. Though it seems to have been there for centuries, it was finished and christened in 1859. After the old House of Commons burned down, a new one was commissioned, and was to have a clock with a high degree of accuracy, and other elaborate parameters were to be met. In 1851 clock makers began proposing plans to meet the specifications, but resignations, deaths, and other delays caused setbacks. Then there was the problem of casting the 14 ton bell. In 1858 the bell was finally installed as the crowning achievement, but now the clock mechanism refused to work. Can things get any worse? The bugs were finally worked out, but the politicians couldn’t agree on a name for the clock. Arguements over what to name the clock raged. Serious attempts at nameing it were tossed aside, and almost as a joke, it was named Big Ben after a particularly blustery politician, Sir Benjamin Hull. Problems weren’t quite over, but things managed to work out. Listen and learn how the clock is wound, and how technology has made some improvements.