What happens
Luigi Vasco, newly arrived in America, sends a Christmas coffee maker in a parcel to his mother in Italy, but the package arrives broken. Luigi visits the post office to claim his money back, and the clerks send him through a maze of forms and offices. His friend Pasquale Gallo, a sharp-tongued neighbour, tries to help him sort out the paperwork, while Luigi worries that his mother will not receive a present in time for Christmas. The story is a comedy about bureaucracy and the immigrant's struggle with it. Life with Luigi is a comedy series, and this episode first aired on December 6, 1949. The lead actors are J. Carrol Naish as Luigi and Alan Reed as Pasquale.
Chicago, in the United States, at the post office and in the neighbourhood where Luigi and Pasquale live
Characters: Luigi Vasco, Pasquale Gallo, Mr. Olsen, Mr. Schultz, Mr. Horowitz, Rosa, Miss Dowling, Mr. Williams
Listen for: Luigi's letter to his mother and his repeated attempts to get his money back from the post office
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.