What happens
Luigi Basko, a newcomer to America who runs an antique shop, takes a twenty-dollar California check from a customer and then deposits his savings in a bank, despite his friend Pasquale's warnings to keep money in a mattress. Luigi writes home to his mother in Italy about his business adventures and is puzzled by how banking works. When he cannot withdraw his money right away, he goes to the bank manager, Mr. Hawkins, to ask questions. The Life with Luigi comedy series aired on January 16, 1951, with J. Carrol Naish in the lead role. Luigi's own letters to his mother frame the story.
Mid-century America: Luigi's antique shop, a bank, and a railroad company's offices in New York City
Characters: Luigi Basko, Pasquale, Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Scholz, Miss Spalding, Miss Burton, Mr. Bankitella
Listen for: Luigi's attempts to get his twenty dollars back from the bank and railroad company
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.