What happens
Fred Allen opens his program with a running exchange with Harry Von Zell and Minerva Pious over Washington's birthday and the value of telling the truth on radio. The show then moves through a series of comic segments built around a city snowstorm: a street cleaning official describes the city's tiny snow budget, a mounted policeman recounts riding through the drifts, and a housewife tells of stepping into the wrong apartment. A poet recites a verse about snow, and the program continues with a sponsored contest tip, a visit with a young xylophone player, and an interview with a music copyist. The broadcast of February 21, 1940 features Portland Hoffa and Kenny Delmar in supporting roles alongside Allen.
A radio studio during a comedy variety broadcast in New York, with segments set in the city during a heavy winter snowstorm.
Characters: Fred Allen, Harry Von Zell, Minerva Pious, Portland Hoffa, Kenny Delmar, Mr. Tinker Dawdle, Officer Cornwall Straddle, Mrs. Maxine Mespau
Listen for: Fred Allen's exchanges with Harry Von Zell and Portland Hoffa, and the mounted policeman's account of riding through the snow.
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.