What happens
Semaphore Biddle, a man who cannot stop giving things away, takes a job as a porter at Mr. Wangle's department store in Bay City, Michigan, in December 1842. His generosity soon costs him his post, and the department store boss, Mr. Wangle, is left facing a huge loss. This sketch comes from the Fred Allen comedy program, which aired on CBS and NBC, with Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa, Kenny Delmar and Minerva Pious among the performers. The episode was first broadcast on December 23, 1936.
Bay City, Michigan, at Christmas time in 1842, with an orphan's childhood in O'Wasso, Michigan, a Bowery mission, and Wangle's department store
Characters: Semaphore Biddle, Mr. Wangle, Petunia, Prudence, Sam, Harry
Listen for: The sketch's account of Semaphore Biddle's endless generosity and how the department store job unravels
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.