Natures Vacuum Cleaner: Ranger Bill (May 16, 1956)

Ranger Bill, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“Natures Vacuum Cleaner” is an episode of Ranger Bill, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 16, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Ranger Bill and his rangers in Naughty Pine watch a tornado forming in the knotty pine country as the weather bureau's Mel and Mike track it on radar. Bill pushes for a tornado observer system, but many townspeople, including the outspoken Bart, dismiss the warnings because the town has never been hit before. When a severe storm warning is issued and a funnel approaches the shady river valley, the town must act quickly to protect itself from the approaching storm.

Naughty Pine, a small town in the knotty pine country near the shady river valley, with nearby Big Mesa, Cougar Canyon and the mountains

Characters: Ranger Bill, Mel, Mike, Bart, Sam, Stumpy, Doc Sims, Chief

Listen for: The weather bureau's radar reports and the rangers' radio calls as the funnel approaches Naughty Pine

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.