The Small House Halfway up in the Next Block

When I was a kid I once got a cassette tape of excerpts from old time radio shows in my Christmas stocking. This was an entirely appropriate gift to put in my stocking as I'd always found myself drawn to older forms of comedy, to nostalgia, and yes, even to sentimentality. I always enjoyed hearing George Burns and Gracie Allen, but I remember there being a short - maybe 10 minute - comedy broadcast that I would listen to over and over because it was so funny in such an everyday, mundane way. Unfortunately the tape did not say what the show was and I have long since lost it. A couple weeks ago I decided to do some Google searching on old radio comedies and see if I could find it. I didn't know the names of the characters but I knew the one I'd heard was a conversation between a mother and her son on the front porch of their house. After looking around a bit, I discovered it must be a show called Vic and Sade. This show which at one time had 7 million listeners (including Ray Bradbury, Ogden Nash and James Thurber), was broadcast daily in the 30s and 40s in 15 minute segments. It chronicled the everyday life of Victor and Sade Gook and their adopted son, Rush.

I got a hold of about 300 existing recordings of this show (there were over 2000 but the studio ran out of room and many episodes landed in the dumpster.

I've been listening to these shows on my commute to and from work. I'm totally hooked now. The actors are hysterical, adopting midwestern accents and attitudes without being over the top. They have such a chemistry and natural delivery, it's easy to believe they are the characters they portray. Vic (who Rush and Sade call Gov) is a bit of a curmudgeon at times but primarily a fun-loving, elderly father type. He constantly calls Rush by names he just makes up: Hog Wash, Coal Scuttle, Walnut Stain, Ink Stain, Half-wit, Margaret, etc. Sade (who Vic calls Kiddo) calls her son Willie and sometimes Mary Sunshine if he's moping about. Rush is this geeky, happy-go-lucky, All-American boy. The family also had an Uncle Fletcher who makes appearances now and then.

Through the course of each 15 minute episode you get a taste for the people who make up this small town - Mrs. Applerot, Smelly Clark, Y.Y. Flirch and Bluetooth Nelson to name a few. While the subjects are sometimes dated and quaint, the characters themselves are timeless. If you are at all interested, try these two episodes on for size:

The Vegetable Garden

Bacon Sandwiches