Retro Radio Podcast

As Lum and Abner argue over their splitting the hotel after their latest rift, Cedric tries to mediate but is only becoming confused. Dick Huddleston enters to get an earful from the two former friends who aren’t talking to each other. Will the bickering run off all the guests? Not only are the rooms divided up, but the dining room is operating under two chefs and management. Abner is caught spying on Lum as he tells Dick about the division, and a little about his gangster guests. It’s time for Lum to eavesdrop on Abner as he tries to steal away some of Lum’s guests with lower rates. Will Lum stand for the price war? If he lets Abner get away with it, their profitable hotel business could be in danger of collapsing.

It’s Friday night, and Fred takes us for a visit behind the scenes at his Tip Toe Detective Agency. Fred tries to get rough with a suspect, but it doesn’t work out well. Next a parade of strange characters comes through his office with a stream of jokes and teasing. After a song, Come Home Bill Bailey, and more characters, Portland enters to talk about her family. Comedian, Roy Atwell plays a victim of theft as he stumbles over words. The kid who stole from him is an early appearance of Walter Tetley, (aka. Julius/Leroy) who is actually about 12 or 14 years old for real. Finally, the call about the big spinach heist comes in, and it’s up to Detective Allen to get to the bottom of it. After a commercial, Fred answers a letter concerning alphabet soup as he closes the show.

Fibber and Molly’s season opener. Fibber seems discontented. Will the visitor at the door bring excitement to this boring old town? The Old Timer does his best. To really cut loose in his quest for excitement, Fibber decides to go downtown to have his pants pressed. Right after Teeny visits to tell about going back to school, and talks about shooting craps. Billy Mills plays, Fellow with an Umbrella. Downtown, Fibber and Molly run into Wallace Wimple. He’s out doing some birdwatching. In the haberdasher shop, McGee gives up his pants when a parade goes by. Too bad Fibber has to miss the excitement. After Harlow’s commercial, Doc Gamble pops into the shop to swap insults with Fibber. The Kingsmen sing, The Arranger. Still with no pants, Fibber misses more excitement when an auto accident takes place. Mayor Latrivia happens into the shop to get abuse from both Fibber and Molly. Something over a matter of a cooked goose. The shop owner finally comes back after Fibber has managed to miss all the day’s excitement. Well, almost all the excitement.

The documented drama of an actual crime. The story of your police force in action. Joe Friday is on robbery detail with partner, Frank Smith. They interview witnesses of the crime and shooting. The bar tender gives the low down on the events surrounding the robbery and shootout in the bar, and the guys doing the deed. As good as the testimony of the bar tender is, it still requires some added police work, stake outs, and leg work to close in. One of the gang turns up wounded. His interview leads to a name, and when records are checked, it leads to the ringleader. He’s going to be a hard nut to crack, but Friday lays on the pressure. Friday is relentless until he has brought in all the gang members.

In the hotel, Lum phones his gratitude to the gang members who made his bail, and got him out of jail. Dick Huddleston enters to listen to Lum complain about not knowing who his real friends are. Lum seems to know about the jewel thieves, but resents people trying to tell him how to run his life. Dick has an uphill battle to talk sense to him. Cedric joins in with word on how well the hotel business is doing. It’s a shame that Lum wants to get out the rope, and divide the hotel between him and Abner, As Lum goes to meet with the cheif of the gang, Abner arrives in a catcher’s mask and padding. He’s afraid to face Lum, and risk being beat up. Lum and Abner argue, and break partnership. Dick tries to talk them into sharing the duties and profits of the hotel, but the old gents won’t hear it. Is therre any hope to make up, or will they divide up the rooms to run two hotels in one?

Phil Putnam and Henry Drake had built their factory, and with war demands production has tripled. Henry has been absent minded, forgetting where important papers are, and where he has been in his evenings. Has Drake done something that his mind is suppressing? After a visit to his doctor, Henry follows the suggestion to take time off, and relax his mind from the stresses of the job. Even after time goes by, how will Drake’s memory be? What if his wife, Rita goes away for a few days instead? Soon after, he rushes to his doctor before the scheduled follow up appointment. Has he remembered something? A complete battery of psychological tests are administered. Then it happens. Is it a case of revenge? Has this all been a set up to get away with murder, by leading into a plea of insanity? Regardless, the Whistler knows a secret that is sure to return balance to the universe, and deliver fitting justice.

Box Thirteen. October 3, 1948. Program #7. Mutual net origination, Mayfair syndication. “Short Assignment”. Commercials added locally. A meek little detective named George Flit hires Dan Holiday to help prevent a suicide. Alan Ladd, Sylvia Picker, Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 27:09. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. J. David Golden

First show of the 1954 season. Flashback to a behind the scenes moment in Jack’s dressing room. He remembers his start in vaudeville at the age of 19, which is true. He remembers his reasoning for breaking into radio, then on into movies. Which both are sort of true accounts. He talks about his flop of a film, the Horn Blows at Midnight. Rochester stops in to give a shave. Don steps in to tell about an emergency dentist visit. As Don and Jack go to talk with the Sportsmen, he pauses to talk about the band. The band and the Sportsmen do a special number for Jack to the tune of Blue Skies, but called Blue Eyes. Next, Jack goes to see if Dennis made it to the studio yet. He makes a phone call, but he has to get past the operators first, as they talk about their Summer vacation skin diving. Dennis arrives, and tells about the latest with his mom and dad. The rehearsal of the skit begins, Jack’s version of the hit film, Garden of Evil. A tale of two men bound for the gold fields of California, but ending up on the coast of Mexico. At a restaurant, Jack talks to Mel Blanc who has the classic one word replies, “Si”. Suddenly, a sultry woman enters, who needs Jacks help. He goes to help Dennis, who is trapped in a mine.

Ernest Chapel relates a story from a cemeteary. He’s handcuffed, held at gun point, and visiting the grave of the person he’s convicted of killing. The odd situation is explained as the story unfolds. Why did he kill the woman he loves? It’s not just a simple matter of jealousy over a lovers triangle. Through flashback the drama relates a scene of the man in love with the widow of the recently departed husband. The question remains of why he murdered this woman he loved. Anger over her rejection of him? Frustration over her continuous grief, and refusal to move on with life? It’s looking like there was some sort of suicide pact going on, but can it be? The dead husband was an author of supernatural stories, so is the answer to the woman’s problems, and the murder in the pages of one of his books? In a creepy way, it seems to be something along that line.

The show opens with a few creepy puns about a beheaded delegate. It’s Yuletide in Chicago. A cop finds a notebook that appears to be a confession. As he reads it, the story unfolds. A gangster named sam faces death, and in a last moment plee, asks for a chance to do one good thing in his life. He’s amazed at surviving his being gunned down. Even more so, he’s amazed at meeting a guy who claims to be a ghost, Mr Wiskers. Together they are going to do at least one good deed. Sam is given vague instructions, but soon he meets up with some shady characters, but what is he supposed to do? How does the ghost fit into all this? When Sam gets his new mission, he is supposed to marry the heiress of the ghost. Is she who she claims to be? It turns out she has also been rescued by Mr Wiskers, and they are to do a good deed, but what is it? She is in poor health, and is a littel less honorable in keeping her word. She wants to keep the money they are to pass on to charities. Once their mission is done, who is to stop them from just taking the money and running? Where has Mr Wiskers gotten to? In a final scene of confrontation that ends up in a shoot out, the story appears to be over. The cops at the start of the show manage to find the fresh scene, and Sam is still barely alive, but not for long. The loose ends are tied up, and listeners also find out what ever became of the ghost.

Acting as deputy, Abner arrests Lum to keep him out of trouble. Lum is stubborn enough to go on a hunger strike, rather than promise to abandon his affections for Trixie Van Deusen,. Will the two friends have a falling out? Will Abner’s try at tough love make Lum understand about the gang? Lum demands to know the charges that he’s being held on, and Abner tells him he thinks Lum’s crazy and a harm to himself. Can Lum pass a test of questions from Abner to prove his sanity? Is there any creature comforts Abner can bring to make Lum’s stay any easier? Temptation of Lizabeth’s home cooking might be the thing to crack Lum’s resolve on his hunger strike. Will the two friends be making up soon? Cedric enters with word that the gang is breaking out their newest member on bail.

The small town of Killman Texas became the focus of racketeers, when an oil boom changed everything. Protection rackets have the honest operators under their control, but a murder has the Texas Rangers on the case in the tight lipped town. An outright investigation will get no where, so Jase Pearson needs to go undercover. Petty criminals come and go, when cops lock them up, but Jase is willing to look the other way to get to the top dog in the crime scene. As a couple of wandering cow pokes, Jase Pearsonm, and his partner get in under the radar of the gangsters. Can Jase link the murder of Powell to what the gangsters are really trying to do in town? Can all the gambling dives be shut down in one fell swoop? From their vantage point in the underworld, Jase talks his partner through the gang control, and where the layers of crime point. Clues begin to paint a picture of who the kingpin of crime is. Now it’s time to put the pressure on, and make the bad guys squeal. The rangers have the chance of a lifetime to bring down the house of cards, but can they move before the gangsters recognize they’ve been infiltrated?

Life in the suburbs can be predictable and regimented. People strive to live up to expectations. Certain annoyances are routinely overlooked. Why bother getting emotional, or rock the boat? It just serves to make waves. Suddenly all normalcy flies out the window when both husband and wife are diagnosed with the same mysterious condition. A wheel in the liver? But wait! There’s more! More wheels that is. Bizarre. Is this a condition to worry about? What is the health risk? As their lives are turned upside down, Mr and Mrs Typical Suburbanites try to come to grips in their secret that makes them different from all the other cookie cutter people in their neighborhood, and in their circle of friends. As the wheels multiply, evidence of cogs and gears begin to show up. Wow, I may be mistaken, but it looks like being such stiff and regimented folk as they are, have caused them to slowly become automatons. Although my retrobots may not see anything wrong in the situation, is there any hope for our married couple? As stress kicks in, emotions begin to run high. What do you think? Will the release of pent up emotions be the cure they are seeking? The doctor gets a final surprise of his own during a checkup of the couple.

The day begins at the Water Commissioner’s office. Gildy is visited by a man who has an insurance policy for the baby. A policy provided courtesy of the Jolly Boys Club. Suddenly, Gildersleeve realizes that the baby has no name. With such an important task at hand, he wants the involvement of the rest of the family. Ideas are brainstormed from family albums, the phone directory, movie stars, even zodiac signs. Nothing seems forthcoming. Gildersleeve stops in at Peavey’s in hopes of some inspiration. Peavey is a little preoccupied, so he heads off to Floyd’s barber shop for more inspiration of names for the baby. The Jolly Boys can’t come up with a name, but they manage a few bars of singing. The sponsor announces the Name the Baby Contest, with prizes including cash, and automobiles. Drawings in the contests are to take place every week. Note: Wow, another contest with prizes to give away. Sorry, I can’t come through with any of those 1949 automobiles, but if I get enough exercise on my PayPal Tip Jar, I might be tempted to offer something. So, here’s my Tip Jar button, donate early, and donate often. No amount will be considered too large. Contribute $10 with this button, powered by PayPal. Contribute $20 with this button, powered by PayPal. Contribute $50 with this button, powered by PayPal. Thanks for listening, and thanks for your support.

In the hotel, Mr Wilson and Abner worry that Lum is now part of the gang of jewel thieves. Lum seems blinded by love, and not listening to reason. What’s the mysterious meeting that Lum is to go to while he abandons his job? Dick Huddleston enters to get the latest news on Lum’s descent into crime. It’s just a shame he had to get mixed up in an outfit like that. Doesn’t Lum know how serious this matter is? Cedric arrives to report on the snooping around, and the big meeting up in room 206. Can Cedric be trusted with the secret that has been burning up Abner and Dick’s worries? Abner strikes on an idea that might rescue Lum from the gang involvement. Note: Guest voice actor is Frank Graham.