The Story of the Big Red Schoolhouse: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (April 4, 1950)

“The Story of the Big Red Schoolhouse” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 4, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Johnny Dollar arrives in Manhattan, Nebraska to investigate a fire that destroyed a newly constructed schoolhouse, killing Joe Stankovich who lived in the basement. The building collapsed despite being brand new, and architect Bill Garrett suggests the structure was poorly built. Dollar begins to uncover suspicious details about the construction, the building contractor Jim Madden, and local building inspector Mike Figuero.

Manhattan, Nebraska, a small town where a new high school building has caught fire and collapsed; the Cheyenne Hotel and surrounding locations in town.

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Paco Gonzalez, Joe Stankovich, Bill Garrett, Jim Madden, Mike Figuero, Vivian DeGaron

Listen for: The mystery of why a brand new building burned down and collapsed so quickly, and whether there was negligence or fraud in its construction.

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.