What happens
Gildersleeve prepares an elaborate dinner after learning that his old college friend Cyrus Brinkerhoff, now a wealthy man travelling with his countess wife, will visit Summerfield. Hurrying to make a good impression, he rounds up ration stamps, hires cooks, and tries to settle a dispute with Leila Ransom over his painter, who has been working on both their homes. Birdie and Bertie scramble to get the house ready while Leroy is given strict instructions on manners. Judge Hooker and Horace Gildersleeve gather for the evening, with the arrival of the guests anticipated at seven. The episode is part of The Great Gildersleeve radio series, first broadcast on NBC on October 10, 1943, starring Harold Peary, Willard Waterman, Lillian Randolph and Lurene Tuttle.
Summerfield, a small town; Gildersleeve's home and the Summerfield drugstore
Characters: Gildersleeve, Leroy, Birdie, Bertie, Judge Hooker, Leila Ransom, Cyrus Brinkerhoff, Mr. Peavey
Listen for: Gildersleeve's fussy preparations for the visit, and the mounting confusion over the painter and the dinner arrangements
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.