What happens
Luigi Vasco, a new immigrant running an antique shop in Chicago, is short of money and must pay $200 on delivery for an antique mirror his cousin Salvador has shipped from Boston. He tries to resell the mirror to Mrs. Dittson at a profit, but the expected sale depends on the delivery arriving on time. Luigi approaches his neighbor Pasquale for a loan while his young assistant Jimmy O'Connor keeps the shop running. This is the premiere of the comedy series Life with Luigi, broadcast from Chicago in December 1948, starring Jay Carroll Naish as Luigi with Alan Reed as Pasquale.
Chicago, 1948, Luigi's antique shop and Pasquale's spaghetti restaurant
Characters: Luigi Vasco, Jimmy O'Connor, Pasquale, Mrs. Dittson, Salvador, Rosie
Listen for: Luigi's letters to his mother in Italy and his struggle to pay for the mirror before five o'clock
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.