Poppy

From Hollywood, California, the Lux Radio Theater presents W.C. Fields and Ann Shirley in Poppy. Lux presents Hollywood. To the thousands of loyal listeners who wouldn't listen Monday night with us, to the thousands of loyal women who insist on Lux Blake, our grateful thanks.

Your purchases of Lux Blake make these programs possible. Our bill tonight is headed by W.C. Fields and Shirley, John Payne, and and speech Gallagher in Poppy. We'll also hear from this Margaret Grimm of the Algae Bond Self-Flotal Circus who tells us of customs, costumes, and superstitions of the circus.

Lewis Servers conduct our orchestra. And now, here's our producer. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Cecil B. Jamil. Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. Between the ages of 11 and 15, Mr. W.C. Fields, Born Claude William Dukeenfield never slept on a real bed.

He spent his nights under stairways in box crates and doorways. Having no home, he'd become the idol of Philadelphia's other small boys. The toughest brats for miles around would seek him out for a fight.

Feels never could refuse a challenge, and his bulbous nose is really a red badge of courage. It stands today as a radiant monument to the valor of its possessor, and to the amazing accuracy of his opponent's fists.

His fame at a jugular began with a $10 a week job at Atlantic City. Fields was part of a free entertainment, which the management stage to stimulate the sale of refreshments. When business was dull, he would wade into the surf, scream for help, and pretend to drown.

Huge crowds would collect, and while the victim was being resuscitated, the refreshment business would flourish. It was not unusual for Mr. Fields to drown three or four times a day. To this day his character remains unchanged. He is still fields against the world, a strange combination of cynicism and sentiment, of stern truth and honeyed prevarication.