What happens
Harold Peary plays the Great Gildersleeve, a small-town man who has taken in his niece Marjorie and nephew Leroy. When Bertie the cook observes that Marjorie feels left out of girl talk and needs a mother, Gildersleeve resolves to give her the motherly attention she lacks. He consults his friend Catherine, who suggests a tea party, and he sets about planning one for Marjorie's birthday. Gildersleeve hopes a gift and a gathering will cheer her, and he is determined to get the arrangements right. The guests begin arriving, and the afternoon does not unfold quite as he had planned.
The Gildersleeve house and the Gildersleeve office in a small town, with a hat shop and a bowling alley nearby, during the autumn.
Characters: Great Gildersleeve, Marjorie, Leroy, Bertie, Catherine, Rock Morgan, Judge Hooker, Peavy
Listen for: Gildersleeve's attempts to think like a mother, and the moment the tea party guest list begins to surprise him.
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.