Income Tax Mix-Up: Father Knows Best (March 18, 1954)

Father Knows Best, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“Income Tax Mix-Up” is an episode of Father Knows Best, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 18, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Jim Anderson, the father in the Anderson household on Maple Street, faces a tax problem after his son Bud files an income tax return on his own. Bud, encouraged by his friend Claude Misner, claims a refund and lists his sister Kathy as a dependent, which leads to confusion and alarm around the house. Jim tries to sort out the mix-up while the family reacts to each new development. The episode is part of the Father Knows Best radio series, starring Robert Young, and was broadcast on March 18, 1954.

The White Frame House on Maple Street in Springfield

Characters: Jim Anderson, Margaret Anderson, Bud Anderson, Betty Anderson, Kathy Anderson, Claude Misner, Mr. Haggerty

Listen for: Bud's mistaken income tax return and the family's reactions as Jim tries to straighten it out

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.