What happens
Gene Autry, a former cowboy, is in a small Oklahoma town working as a railroad depot telegraph operator and ticket seller, looking for something more out of life. His old friend Tex, who used to ride the range with him, finds him at the depot and asks him to return to the ranch. Gene explains that he wants to test himself in the wider world before going back. A customer at the window hears Gene play his guitar and sing, and urges him to try show business in New York. Melody Ranch is a Columbia Broadcasting System program, presented in this promotional episode for Doublemint gum dealers, and this recording dates from January 1940.
A small railroad depot in Oklahoma, with the wider world of New York and the open plains of the West in the background.
Characters: Gene Autry, Tex, Ken, Will Rogers
Listen for: Gene's guitar and his song 'Back in the Saddle Again' at the depot window, and the stranger's advice to go to New York.
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.