Retro Radio Podcast

Hosted by Ginger Rogers. She introduces Frank Sinatra who sings, Embraceable You. After he made a successful appearance on an earlier Command Performance program, Mel Blanc returns. This time with his friend Arthur Q Brian. More commonly known as Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. They do a brief bit from one of their popular Warner Brothers cartoons of the time. Alice Faye reads from the mailbag then sings, They Always Pick on Me. Ginger is back to talk with Ed "Duffy's Tavern" Gardner. She puts him in contact with Frank Sinatra to see if he can be convinced to sing in Duffy's Tavern. After some remarks about Ginger behind her back... if you know what I mean. This is a show directed at the military man, but it is radio after all, so it's still family friendly. Frank reads from the mailbag before he sings, Night and Day. At a mailbag request, Ginger presents sounds from home. This time the sound of baby chicks. Alice Fay returns to sing, Alexanders Ragtime Band. The show wraps up with a few motivational words from Ginger to all the troops all over the world.

A boxing contest is announced as grandpap visits the Jot 'Em Down store today. After Mousey's recent bout of knocking people out, Lum gets the idea to be a promoter, and put Mousey in the ring for the prize money. The match is coming fast, so Lum needs to call Mousey to arrange for some intense training. Will he go for it?

Searching for the mummy of the goddess Ashtah, Clark and the expeditionary force are in danger of half crazed crocodiles that guard the temple. Making an opportunity for himself, Clark breaks away, and as Superman he flies away to check on the wrecked plane he saw in the earlier episode. Before he can act on his suspicions he has to rescue his friends from the crocodiles, and dangers that await them. Is he too late? Will the hazards never cease? Inside the temple, cave ins have Clark and his friends trapped. There's a bit of a pay off when the group finds a room full of treasures, and they get a first look at the mummy. Clark smells a rat though, and whatever it is will be revealed in the next exciting installment.

Horlicks: the original malted milk. In Pine Ridge, there has been engine trouble that developed in the rolling store, just one of many snags in getting the new business started. Abner has solved it with a team of horses until the engine can be overhauled. Cedric is driving as Abner talks with Lum about a mess in the store. Merchandise keeps falling off the shelves. The store is at a stand still as the guys try to decide what to do. They toss around a few ideas: nailing on a board, tying string, gluing down the cans, and other possibilities. Abner gets confused at one of Lums sayings about looking back. He gets busy putting more effort into trying to figure it out, and missing the concept of hind sight that the issue with falling merchandise is set aside. After being brushed off several times for butting in to the conversation, the solution eventually comes from Cedric.

Part 1: Dan Garret talks with Doc Brown, discussing a secret message that was sent to the Blue Beetle. His next adventure is to investigate reports of a haunted manor. What is all the secrecy surrounding the house? Blue Beetle gets what details he can from the young woman who sent him the message. The listener is clued in that gangster activity is involved. What's the deal with the wierd music, and ghosts? Blue Beetle is captured as he pokes around the house. Part 2: The Blue Beetle lays at the bottom of a pit, and suspected to have a broken neck. The gangsters seem free to continue their counterfeiting, and keep trying to scare the young woman away from her estate, and default on the strange conditions of the Will of her uncle. Will the gangsters succeed in their efforts? The Blue Beetle has managed to get word out, and cops intercept the bag of fake money. The mob boss is then lured into a trap when the Blue Beetle shuts down his ghosts.

Chester and Matt make observations of the activity on the street before heading into the Long Branch Salloon. After an indian uprising, death has folks in Dodge upset, and ready for revenge. Amos Cartright is an indian scout who is taking the blame for not spotting the Commanche's in time. Matt tries to cool the situation by suggesting that the army will handle things. The soft spoken Amos is no coward, and confronts his main accuser, Bailey, but will they be able to let things just drop? Matt goes to the Army fort to talk with the Colonel. The army doesn't want to get involved in settling civic matters, and they have their plate full of their own operations and worries. Returning to Dodge, Chester reports to Matt that there has been a murder. All signs point to Amos who has now disappeared, but there's still more trouble brewing. Can Matt prevent more violence? Will Amos be any more safe with returning to the indians, or do they hate him as much as the white men? When Matt catches up to him, Amos tells his dilemma over being married to an indian woman and having friends on both sides of the skirmishes. Things are looking desperate when indians have the small party surrounded on the prairie. Are they friends of Amos? Will Amos have any influence over being able to escape? Justice is done in the Commanche way. Note: First, as a reminder commercials are left in for entertainment purposes only. Don't smoke, it's bad for you. Second, afterward Matt Dillon announces that in responce to popular request, Gunsmoke is coming to television.

Bandits are on the loose and set on robbing the train. Their plan seems to be perfect, and even though they cross paths with Cisco, he doesn't recognize the danger right away. By the time Cisco and Pancho realize the danger the train is in, they have to play catch up as they work with the sheriff. A deadly trap is set for Cisco that involves a telegraph key. Can Cisco figure it out, and live to go after the train robbers? Get ready for fist fighting action as the bad guys are confronted and put in their place by Cisco.

A deep, romantic secret is out, and Mousey has declared his love for Gussie. In the Jot 'Em Down store, Lum enters in disguise, but Abner doesn't take long to recognize him. Though Lum's trying to hide from Snake Hogan, Abner confuses the reason for the disguise. Lum's also in denial that Mousey could pack a big enough punch to knock him out. While Lum and Abner try to come up with excuses about Mousey's powerful punch, Cedric enters to say the knock out punch is the talk of the mill. Mousey is going around bragging about defending his honor in trying to win the hand of Gussie. Suddenly Lum scrambles to protect Mousey from the anger of Snake once he learns that Mousey is on the way to the Hogan household. Will he have anything to worry about? I think Mousey can handle his own.

Horlicks: the original malted milk. Now let's see what's happening down in Pine Ridge. Recently the new rolling store has been stocvked, but isn't without snags. Grandpap and Dick talk about how big the store is, and the incident with overpacking it with goods. Lum and Abner have taken the car back to Caleb to make some adjustments. Dick and grandpap talk about the appearance of the rolling store, and some of it's problems in making it roadworthy. The store is complete with a porch, and even an office for Lum, among other features. They talk about the problems with buying back the store from Snake Hogan. It looks like he is having trouble operating the store, and is losing business. Dick reminds listeners about using space in his own store for Lum and Abner to have storage for the rolling store so they can keep it stocked up. Lum is on hand to tell more of the troubles with the rolling store. It seems that somebody stole the spark plugs, and the engine won't start. The store has been modified with an extra axle to make it more stable. the fix uses old steel tractor wheels, and isn't the prettiest sight. Grandpap tells about Squire being out of town. He went to Arizona to sell off the silver mine. Dick has some suspicions about that, but is still playing his cards close to the vest. Abner seems to have the trouble with the engine solved when he and Cedric drive up with a team of horses hitched to the rolling store.

Featuring Willard Waterman as the Great Gildersleeves. A reproduction of a script that was performed at an earlier date with Harold Peary in the starring role. This recording is very clear, while the other was more scratchy, but both are top notch in performance by the actors. Leroy begs Gildy to go to a dude ranch, but it takes some nagging, and guilt trips before he caves in. After being double teamed by Leroy and Birdie, it's off to Peavey's for some supplies. Peavey acts as though he doesn't know about the trip, and makes Gildy tell him all about why he needs the items that he came in for. Later, Gildy and Leroy make their appearance at the dude ranch, and Gildie's enthusiasm perks up when Leila Ransom is there. When she seems a little to close to the cowhand on the ranch for Gildy's preference, jealousy creeps in. Listen in to see how Gildy handles the barnyard animals. Pigs, cows, and horses. Our hero even shows his hand at milking a cow, but is it just a trick to get him out of the way so the cowboy and Leila can sneak off together? After torturing Gildy for a while, the gang all enjoy a campfire, and the cowboy strums a guitar and sings, You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven. Will Gildy win Leila back? Will Leroy ever get to ride a horse? We'll all have to find out when we listen to the next episode. But it'll have to wait for a few more weeks.

The story of the second expedition to a far away planet. Only 2 are left of the original 180 men, and only minutes are left to live. In flashback, the story is told. An epidemic has broken out, and the serum is years out of date. The last resupply ship has left, and the next is still two years out. What about the local natives? They never seem to fall prey to the plague that is now running rampant. The expedition party sees the natives as little more than cave rats, and a small party is sent to try to bully their way to a cure. Though heroic in their own eyes, clear prejudice is on display as the earthmen are determined to preserve their own dignity at all costs, even in murdering the natives. A psychologist in the crew has discovered a rudimentary language to communicate. Questions are asked, and the native people hold the answer, but will the earth men lower their dignity, humble themselves, and actually go among the natives to learn what the cure is? All it will take is a little mutual courtesy. The prideful erth men believe it's all just a trap. The plague ravages the expeditionary force, then one man shows signs of recovering. What secret has the psychologist learned that the rest of the crew hasn't? why does it make a difference? Note: Though the captain dies believing the plague represents greed, and such traits, it's more clear to me at least about respect, mutual courtesy, racism, and oppression. An interesting concept to come out in days before the Civil Rights movement of a decade later. I guess society was on the right track, just not moving very fast down it yet.

There has been a rash of 16 burglaries in 16 days as a robber terrorizes the city. Joe Friday reports in to handle the case with partner, Ben Romero. As they talk with the emotional chief, more details and reports of more thefts come in. A big break comes in when the thief finally tries to pawn a few of his trinkets. One clue leads to another, and in dramatic fashon, Joe and Ben chase the robber down in a foot race. The suspect plays it cool, and is as deadpan in his responces as the cops are in giving the questions. It's enough to begin to rile the normally unflappable Joe Friday. With the temperature rising, and footwork to do, the cops take their suspect along with them as they try to locate his apartment. The tightlipped crook's defenses crumble when his landlady recognizes him, then his girlfriend shows herself to be less conditioned in keeping quiet as the stoic bad guy. Note: the theif is voiced by Harry Morgan. In the last episode he was one of the witnesses, and of course would later be Joe Friday's TV partner, Bill Gannon.

The Riders of the Purple sage kick off with a song, Riding Down to Santa Fe. Singer, and Western star, Jimmy Wakely is featured in a drama written just for him, The Rose of San Antone. Jim is a hunted man, but he was framed. In voiceover, Jim recounts his past 10 years running from the law. Especially how he came to be on the run. It all started in San Antonio. When the law is hot on heels, Jim Brennan is forced to move along, and leave his job punching cows. Where will it all end? Will Jimmy ever find a place to just relax and enjoy nature? Will he ever find a true love to accept him for what he is? The story takes time to feature Jimmy Wakely singing a few bars of Rose of San Antone, with a reprisal later. Also a few tunes with the Riders of the Purple Sage, Down on the Texas Plains. Also, When It's Roundup Time in Texas. As if there hasn't been enough music, Jimmy and the Riders perform, The Gate of the Old Corral.

Lum is forced to keep obligations to attend a family event with Snake Hogan, and he talks to Abner about it. Abner gets a little confused over Lum's description of family pictures. Or was that a picture of a bear...? On another point of frustration, Mousey still hasn't told Lum why he's so mad at him. When Mousey enters, and Abner is bannished to the feed room for privacy, the secret is out. He is sweet on Gussie, and is upset that Lum is stealing her away from him. The mild mannerd Mousey is so worked up into a rage that he's not listening to Lum's excuses. Is Lum underestimating the soft spoken Mousey?

Assigned to robbery detail, Joe Friday gets his next mission. A large amount of narcotics has been stolen from a retail chain of drugstores. His job... find it. An addict is picked up, but questioning leads no where. When the suspect has an ax to grind with the drug gang, he gives the cops all the help they want. The job is going to be tougher than first thought. The gang is more wiley than the cops planned on. A stake out eventually turns up enough evidence to start building a case. Is there enough drug activity to bring these guys down? What about the big robbery case, can they prove who did it? Meticulous and monotonous police work finally pays off.