What happens
Chris Kringle, a jolly old man hired to play Santa Claus at Macy's department store on 34th Street in New York, wins over shoppers by recommending rival stores when Macy's lacks a toy. Doris Walker, the store's employee, doubts his sanity, and her skeptical daughter Susan asks him to prove he is really Santa Claus. Her worries lead to a mental examination that goes badly. This Screen Directors Playhouse radio adaptation, first broadcast on December 23, 1949, stars Edmund Gwenn, who recreates his Academy Award-winning role, and is directed by George Seaton.
Macy's department store and the courtrooms of New York City in the weeks before Christmas
Characters: Chris Kringle, Doris Walker, Susan Walker, Fred Gailey, Mr. Sawyer, Mr. Macy
Listen for: Chris Kringle's warm, confident manner with shoppers and Susan's skeptical questions about whether he is really Santa Claus
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.