What happens
Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve prepares for a quiet Christmas Eve with his niece Marjorie, his nephew Leroy and their young ward, the baby, who was left in his car some months earlier. He buys a tree with help from Judge Hooker, who has arranged the purchase and wants the household to welcome Bob Clark, a young veteran new to town. Gildersleeve intends to keep the evening to the family and Miss Fairchild, but he keeps inviting friends, including Floyd the barber, Peavey and Chief Gates. The guests gather around the tree and the evening turns toward a surprise for the household. The episode is part of the NBC series The Great Gildersleeve, first broadcast on December 22, 1948, with Harold Peary in the title role, alongside Lurene Tuttle, Lillian Randolph and Willard Waterman.
Summerfield, the Gildersleeve house on Christmas Eve, and the town's shops and streets during the days before the holiday
Characters: Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Leroy, Marjorie, Bertie, Judge Hooker, Bob Clark, Floyd, Peavey
Listen for: Gildersleeve's growing list of Christmas Eve guests, and the moment Judge Hooker explains Bob Clark's connection to the baby
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.