A day at the beach: Jack Benny (May 9, 1954)

“A day at the beach” is an episode of Jack Benny, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 9, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Jack Benny and his household prepare for their yearly spring outing to the beach. Rochester packs the picnic supplies while Jack phones Bob Crosby to set the departure time. Jack's friends and the young Beverly Hills Beavers are set to join the group. Their neighbor Mr. Kitzel stops by on his way to a ball game and recalls his own baseball career. Rochester raises a pay matter and Jack agrees to settle it before they leave. The gang heads out with their gear piled on the curb, and the day at the sand takes shape.

Jack Benny's home in California, and then a Southern California beach on a spring day

Characters: Jack Benny, Rochester, Bob Crosby, Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson, Dennis Day, Mr. Kitzel

Listen for: Jack's exchange with Rochester about the picnic supplies, and the arrival of neighbor Mr. Kitzel

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.