The Honkeytonkers: Frontier Gentleman (February 16, 1958)

“The Honkeytonkers” is an episode of Frontier Gentleman, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 16, 1958. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

J.B. Kendall, a London Times reporter, arrives at the Jug of Blood saloon in a booming frontier town just as a brawl erupts over a cheating incident at poker. When he politely refuses to leave without seeing the entertainment, he's drawn into the saloon where he meets the amiable cowpuncher Walleye Smith and the hostess Annie. His innocent acceptance of a dance with Crystal incites the jealous Wild Bill Baskin to threaten violence.

The Jug of Blood saloon in a frontier town swollen with miners and fortune-seekers, somewhere west of the Missouri on the way to Virginia City.

Characters: J.B. Kendall, Walleye Smith, Annie, Crystal, Wild Bill Baskin, Jake (saloonkeeper)

Listen for: The clash between Kendall's British civility and frontier rough behavior; the escalating tension between Kendall and the drunken Baskin; the tragic resolution when Baskin's attempt at violence turns against himself.

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.