What happens
Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, the water commissioner of Summerfield, prepares to give his first public address to the Summerfield Women's Club that evening, but he has not written a word of it. His household is in disarray: his coffee is late, his cutaway coat is at the cleaner's, and the car is nearly out of gas. Gildersleeve's niece Marjorie and his housekeeper Birdie add to the confusion, while Leroy teases him. Gildersleeve seeks advice from Judge Hooker and Floyd the barber. Written from the transcript's first part only; the story continues beyond it. The Great Gildersleeve aired on NBC, with Harold Peary in the title role, and this episode is dated January 17, 1943.
Summerfield, a small town, on the day of Gildersleeve's speech to the Women's Club
Characters: Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Marjorie, Leroy, Birdie, Judge Hooker, Floyd, Peavy, Bertie
Listen for: Gildersleeve's preparations for his speech and the running joke about the parrot story
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.