What happens
On the Fifth of July, the Anderson family of Springfield is unsettled after the Fourth of July celebrations. Young Betty and Kathy argue with their parents over fireworks, firecrackers and privileges, while Jim Anderson lectures them on the meaning of Independence Day and the freedoms their ancestors fought for. The broadcast then shifts into a dramatized tale set in the American Revolution, in which a family friend, Hector Smith, is charged for refusing to pay unjust taxes and attorney Jim Anderson defends him in court. The episode is from the series Father Knows Best, first broadcast on July 5, 1951, and stars Robert Young.
The Anderson home on Maple Street in Springfield, and later an 18th-century American colonial court
Characters: Jim Anderson, Margaret Anderson, Betty Anderson, Kathy Anderson, Jim Jr., Hector Smith, Elizabeth Smith
Listen for: Jim Anderson's Fourth of July speech about the freedoms the nation's ordinary families fought for
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.