November 25, 2025 • 31 mins
Father explains Benjamin Franklin’s 1728 Thanksgiving Prayer to the family just before their turkey dinner.
Happy Thanksgiving this coming Thursday to our listeners in the United States and to all who celebrate it wherever they live. A well-developed sense of gratitude is something we all should share, regardless of a holiday or not. To celebrate this, we are skipping ahead about 30 episodes so we can hear the Thanksgiving episode now, instead of in July.
Originally aired on November 22,1951. This is episode 98 of Father Knows Best.
Please email questions and comments to host@classiccomedyotr.com.
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/classiccomedyotr. Please share this podcast with your friends and family.
You can also subscribe to our podcast on Spreaker.com, Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Google podcasts.
This show is supported by Spreaker Prime.
Happy Thanksgiving this coming Thursday to our listeners in the United States and to all who celebrate it wherever they live. A well-developed sense of gratitude is something we all should share, regardless of a holiday or not. To celebrate this, we are skipping ahead about 30 episodes so we can hear the Thanksgiving episode now, instead of in July.
Originally aired on November 22,1951. This is episode 98 of Father Knows Best.
Please email questions and comments to host@classiccomedyotr.com.
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/classiccomedyotr. Please share this podcast with your friends and family.
You can also subscribe to our podcast on Spreaker.com, Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Google podcasts.
This show is supported by Spreaker Prime.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Welcome to classic comedy of old time radio. I'm your
host Ron Ecklbarger. Happy Thanksgiving this coming Thursday to all
of our listeners in the United States and to all
who celebrate the holiday wherever they live, and regardless of
our nationality or when a holiday is A well developed
(00:36):
sense of gratitude is something we all should share, no
matter when we celebrate it. In fact, it's something we
should celebrate every day. So to celebrate this, we are
skipping ahead about thirty episodes in Father Knows Best so
that we can hear the Thanksgiving episode now near the
(00:58):
holiday instead of in July. In this show, Father explains
Benjamin Franklin's seventeen twenty eight Thanksgiving prayer to the family
just before their Turkey dinner. This is episode number ninety
eight a Father Knows Best, entitled Thanksgiving Prayer and originally
aired on November twenty second, nineteen fifty one.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Mother, is Nashville House really the only coffee in the world? Well,
your father says so, and your father knows Best.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, it's Father Knows Best transcribed in Hollywood starring Robert
Young's father A half hour visit with your neighbors, The
Andersons brought to you by America's favorite coffee, Maxwell House,
the coffee that's always good to the last drop. So
(02:09):
once in every year we throng upon a day apart
to praise the Lord with feast and song in thankfulness
of heart. In November of the year sixteen twenty one,
our pilgrim fathers sat down to a table piled high
with the fruits of a bountiful harvest. They offered their
thanks in humble reverence, and thereby established a precedent that we,
(02:31):
the most fortunate people on earth, have followed with joy
and gratitude for some three hundred and thirty years. Thanksgiving
Day is an American holiday, typically and exclusively hours. So
let's spend the next half hour in the dining room
of an average American home, the Andersons, and see how they,
an average American family, are celebrating the most American day
(02:52):
of the year, Thanksgiving like this.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Everybody close their eyes. Well, here comes it's the bird,
the turkey.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Boy, am I have hungry?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
There you are, mother, It's gorgeous.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Put it right down here, honey.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
It sure smells good. Mom.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thank you, dear. I get a drumstick, mother, Bud, keep
your fingers out of there.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I just wanted a piece of salary.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Father hasn't said grace?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Oh, excuse me, don't forget.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I get a drumstick, all right, Kathy, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Dear, you know I found something very interesting the other day.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Holy call good Father, can't you tell us? After Betty?
Speaker 5 (03:35):
This pertains to the grace I'm about to say?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And then I get a drumstick.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
I was looking through some old books at the library
and I ran across a prayer of thanks written by
Benjamin Franklin in the year seventeen twenty eight. It was
very unusual.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Dear, it is getting awfully late.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
This will only take a few seconds, honey, and I
think it'll do us all a lot of good. Benjamin
Franklin divided everything in life into four categories, and it's
a amazing how thorough a job he did. He must
have been a remarkable man. Jim, for example, in the
first section of his Thanksgiving prayer, he gave thanks for
the material things of life, such as food and drink
(04:12):
and Raymond, what's raymond clothing?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Dear?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
Oh, and giving thanks for clothing is a very appropriate
part of a Thanksgiving prayer. When I think if some
of the things that have gone on with clothes in
this house.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Jim, I hope you know what you're doing.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm getting just a
little fed up with dressing in Bud's room.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It isn't that bad.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
No, he had all of my neckties, all of my socks,
all of my sweaters, and half of my pants. Are
you sure, yes, dear, I'm sure. In this house the
first one up isn't the best dressed. He's the only
one who can get dressed.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
But Bud certainly has enough clothes of his own.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Of course he has. He just likes mine better, that's.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
All, dear. Don't you think if we.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
To I'm tired of telling them. Wait till they go
up there and see a bunch of empty closets. That'll
teach them, naturally.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I think we're right and taking our own things back,
But to take.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
All of their they'll do them good. Maybe they'll learn
to respect other people's properties. Mother, we're all Kathy, I'm here, Yaddy, good,
all three of you go upstairs, get ready for lunch.
Speaker 6 (05:19):
And Betty, yeah, mother, see that Kathy washes in back
of her ears.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Okay, where do they see those closets.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Jim, I think you're being very mean.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
I'm just trying to teach them a lesson.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
How would you like to open your closet and find
all your clothes missing?
Speaker 5 (05:36):
Honey? I do it every day, but every young boy,
Betty is any better. She had three of your pocketbooks,
two unmentionables, five pairs of stockings for bet here comes hey, Dad,
Remember Margaret, you're to let me handle.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
It, all right, But I still think there's an easier way, Jenny.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
It's awful, it's terrible.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
What is it, son? What's the matter?
Speaker 4 (06:00):
My clothes they're gone?
Speaker 5 (06:01):
Well, so don let's see if we can't figure out
what happened.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
My best gray slags. They even took those?
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Which best gray slacks? Would those be?
Speaker 4 (06:09):
You know? The ones that came with your gray suit.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
I see your best gray slacks and all.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Of my ties, my whole collection.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Which you collected from my closet.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
And my sweaters and everything.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Mother, Jim, I don't think I can go through with it.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
I'm practically naked.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Brother, I just can't.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
Honey, what is it, Betty?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
We've been robbed. Somebody got in and we've been robbed.
Everything's gone, Jim, if you don't tell them, I will, all.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
Right, Margaret, I'll tell them, Betty. But your mother and
I arrange this whole thing to teach you a lesson.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You what angel, Let's not give me too much credit.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Well, you were in on it.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
You mean you got somebody to swipe our clothes.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Nothing's been stolen, dear.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
You'll find all of your things in our room.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Father.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
We just wanted to show you how we feel every
morning of our lives. Dad. It's gotten so that well,
nothing in our wardrobe is sacred. Dad, my best neck ties,
your mother's cashmere sweaters. You're wor them more than we do.
Oh Father, This was the only way I could figure
to impress upon you that from now on, you're to
leave our things alone. The next time you feel like
(07:29):
borrowing a pair of socks, or a belt, or a
pair of your mother's gloves, you'll think twice about it,
won't you. I'll get it, Dad, just a minute. But
I want to find out who's at the door.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
I know who's at the door.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
What we told Kathy to call the cops.
Speaker 7 (07:48):
Oh no, Father, Oh, oh, the grace.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And then I get a dumpstick.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Well, in the second part of his Thanksgiving prayer, Benjamin
Franklin concentrated on the natural phenomenon of life, things like
air and light and fire and water.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Fire is pretty important, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Mom, Yes, dear, it's very important.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
For stuff like heating up turkeys when they get cold. Dad.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
I'll get to the turkey in a minute. I just
want to make sure that you all.
Speaker 8 (08:27):
Understand, Father, after what happened at Blue Paradise last winter,
you don't have to worry about us.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
We remember about fire and.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Water all life. That was quite a day, wasn't it.
Speaker 8 (08:37):
I don't think i'll ever get the drums there.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
Well, there it is Blue Paradise.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You mean that?
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Holy cow?
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Dad?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
You said it was a great big hunting lodge.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Well it looked larger the last time I was here.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Jim, Are you sure we ought to buy a hunting lodge?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Honey? A bargain like this doesn't come along every day.
I know it doesn't look like much from here, but well,
let's go inside.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Will it fall down?
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Of course not. Just don't touch any of those braces,
that's all boy, What a dumb It's not supposed to
be the Ritz Carlton. We just wanted for weekends and things.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Why do they call it blue paradise? Look at those
cracks in the wall. You probably turn blue in the
middle of the night.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Betty, you can't expect too much for fifteen hundred dollars.
Fifteen hundred, honey, the view of the lake alone is
worth that.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
What view?
Speaker 5 (09:44):
What the lake? It's a very beautiful lake. All you
have to do is walk about half a mile down
the road and well, it's very easy to see it
from there on a clear day. But if I hear
one more word, honey, look out? What that? The porch
is a little weak in spots, But go ahead, but
(10:05):
open the door.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
There isn't any doorknob.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
You don't need a doorknob just to push.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
Okay, Jim, do you really think, Oh, dear Bud, you didn't.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Have to push that hard, did you.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I just gave it a little push.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Well, a couple of new hinges is all it needs.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I've got an idea.
Speaker 8 (10:30):
Why don't we knock all the doors down and use
them for a porch.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Very funny, are you going in, Margaret? Hi?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, you only live once.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I suppose everything may seem a little rough at first,
but you'll get used to it. Well, how do you
like it?
Speaker 8 (10:47):
It's got a nice foyer. Where's the living room?
Speaker 5 (10:52):
This is the living room. Nice and compact, isn't it, honey?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Oh yes, yes, if it's anything, it's compact. It's dirty too.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Hey, look at this. The closet's got a window in it.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
That's the bedroom.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Bother it isn't of course it is?
Speaker 5 (11:16):
How large do you want a bedroom to be.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Large enough for a bed?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
I've got an idea.
Speaker 9 (11:23):
Why don't we buy it and rend it out to
some midgets?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
But that isn't funny, dear.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
It is a little small.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
You're not supposed to give dances up here. It's a
place to relax, get back to nature.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
What's it here, daddy?
Speaker 5 (11:38):
That's the kitchen. But I thought we could do all
our cooking in the fireplace. That way, we can turn
the kitchen into another bedroom.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Cook in the fireplace.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Why not? The pioneers did it all the time. I
see this will do us all a lot of good.
It might even teach us to appreciate the comforts we
take so much for granted at home.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yes, I can believe that.
Speaker 6 (11:59):
If it'll do anything, it'll teach us to appreciate comfort.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Isn't there any bathroom.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
Of course, you just can't see it from here, that's.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
All Daniel, Who mister boone?
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Oh yes, if there's any cooking to be done in
a fireplace, guess who's going to do it me.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I just wanted to get that straightened out.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Honey. You don't seem to understand living the simple life
this way can be a great adventure for all of us.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Jim.
Speaker 6 (12:36):
There is nothing in the world that's more complicated than
the simple life.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
I've got an idea, of course, everybody's got ideas.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
We can eat on paper plates, and then we won't
have to wash any dishes.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
That's the spirit, kitten.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Speaking of washing, I don't see any water.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
There's a whole tub of it in the kitchen.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
You mean we have to carry it in from a well?
Speaker 5 (12:59):
No, you have to bring it up from the lake.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
Oh oh, Jim, it isn't far.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Why, But I'll get used to doing it no time
at all.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Me.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
But you said it's a half a mile, dear.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
This is another thing we've got to straighten out. I'm
not going to let a young boy like Bud carry
heavy pails of water up here from any lake.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
But the pioneers, Honey, it won't hurt him to carry
a few buckets of water. And besides, if I'm going
to cook, I won't have the time.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
I've got an idea you too. You can do it
every morning, right after you chop the wood.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
What wood for cooking?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Remember, dear, like the pioneers.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Margaret, If you're trying to discourage me, right.
Speaker 6 (13:49):
Jim, I think living the simple life will do you
a lot of good.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
You do.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Of course, you'll get up early every morning and get
your lungs full of good, clean.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
Air while we're breathing that old, stale stuff in the bedroom.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Please, Then you'll run briskly down to.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
The lake for water, after you chop some wood.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And build a fire like the Pioneers. Then you'll clean
and fill the kerosene.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
LAMB, Wait a minute, why do I have to do
it all?
Speaker 6 (14:17):
You're the one who wants a hunting lodge. I know,
but I think you're going to enjoy it, cooking our
breakfast and lunch and dinner.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
And chopping some more wood and carrying some more.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Water like the pioneers.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Say, I've got a great idea. Let's go home.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
Well, it didn't take much to convince Father that there's
no place like home, and that's especially true today as
families the country over get together to celebrate Thanksgiving Day
and the many things we have to be thankful for.
We Maxwell House people, for instance, we're happy that our
coffee is America's favorite brand, happy that in so many homes,
(15:14):
Thanksgiving dinner means a pot of Maxwell House coffee brewing
on the stove, as well as the turkey in the
oven and the pumpkin pies cooling on the shelf. We
take a lot of pride in our coffee, and we
want you to know you can count on Maxwell House
every cup you pour.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
We'll keep it always good to the last.
Speaker 10 (15:36):
Drop on Thanksgiving Day and every day of the year.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
Let's see, now, where was I?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You were going to say grace?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Not yet, but I haven't finished telling you about Benjamin
Franklin's prayer. There are two more sections?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Isn't that nice? Only two more? Dear? Maybe I'd better
put the turkey back.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
In the oven, but it won't take more than another minute.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
And then do I get the drumstick?
Speaker 5 (16:06):
You can have both drumsticks?
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Oh by hey, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Your father's only joking, dear, aren't you?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Jim you know, if it weren't for all this talk,
I could have been through telling you about it two
minutes ago. Yes, dear, the trouble with this family is
everybody wants to talk and nobody wants to listen.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
You're so right, dear, anytime I.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
What did you mean by that?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I was agreeing with you?
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Oh well, anyway. In the third section of his Thanksgiving prayer,
Franklin went into the intangible things of life, such as
the literature and the arts. You know, there aren't many
people today who realize how grateful we should be for
the pleasures we get from books and things like that.
Speaker 8 (16:49):
You mean, Benjamin Franklin had comic books.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Kathy, This will probably amaze you. But there are other kinds.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh that's dry.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
What a notthead?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
There'll be enough of that, Bud.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
What about the fourth section, father.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
I haven't finished with a third.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
That's what I was afraid of.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
When Franklin referred to the arts, he was expressing gratitude
for the pleasures we receive and also for the help.
Wait a minute, haven't we gone through all this before?
Speaker 11 (17:23):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yes, father, you bet, Dad.
Speaker 8 (17:25):
I don't remember anything like the Oh I.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Don't something about Ivanhole. Your mother was getting ready to
do her canning, and yeah, it was about ivan Hole.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Schools A lot of good schools.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Are you set up?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
I wouldn't care if they taught you something important. You
set up, but all that junk they make your study?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
You set up?
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Why don't you keep still?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I'm on your side.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Well, get over on her side?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Okay, But just.
Speaker 8 (18:08):
Because you gotta see in English doesn't mean that it
isn't important.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
You set up.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I thought I told you to keep still.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
You told me to get on her side.
Speaker 8 (18:18):
Bud, you set up, Kathy, Wait until I say something. Okay,
It doesn't make any difference what you intend to be.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
A knowledge of.
Speaker 8 (18:29):
Literature is one of the finest things a person can have.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Now, all right? You set up.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Just because you think you're an actress.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
That has nothing to do with it.
Speaker 8 (18:42):
Literature is the principal difference between animal and man and
girls too, Kathy, Why don't you keep out of this?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Can I be on anybody's side? Oh?
Speaker 5 (18:56):
What's going on in here? Hi?
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You dan?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Father? Will you do something about Bud?
Speaker 6 (19:01):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (19:01):
I don't know. He seems like a nice enough fellow.
Maybe we'll let him hang around a little while longer.
What do you think hidden?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You said it?
Speaker 8 (19:10):
But he thinks they ought to change the whole school
system just because he got to see in English.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I do not.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yes, he does, Daddy, that's what he says.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
I didn't either.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
Oh you did too, just a minute, both of you.
Betty wants this all about.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Bud thinks English is a waste of time.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
No, I don't.
Speaker 9 (19:27):
But why should I get a CE just because I
don't like Ivanhall?
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Whi's part of your course, isn't it? Well?
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Sure, but what good is Ivanhoe? If you want to
be an engineer or something.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
You'll find some that a knowledge of the classics will
always come in handy.
Speaker 8 (19:42):
That's exactly what I told him. An Ivanhoe is wonderful.
Speaker 9 (19:46):
He's a jerk, Bud. He is Dad the gems the
guy gets into for no reason at all.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
You know. But it's been a long time since I
studied Ivanhoe, but I still remember it on his bold visage.
Middle Age had slightly pressed its signet sage. It had
not quenched the open truth and fiery vehemence of youth, Right, Betty, father.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
That's from the lady of the lake.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Oh I uh, they're both Sir Waller Scott, aren't they.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yes, but but you'll find.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
As you grow older that there's no substitute for a
sound literary background. For example, mister Gribble came up with
a quotation at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon the other
day I stood in Venice on the bridge of Size.
He was very pleased that I recognized the line from Shakespeare. Father, Betty,
I'm trying to explain to Bud.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
But that isn't Shakespeare. It's Lord Byron.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
That is Shakespeare. It's from the Merchant of Venice.
Speaker 8 (20:51):
I'm sorry, father, but it's from child Harold's pilgrimage. Don't
you remember I stood in Venice on the bridge of Size,
a palace and a prison army chair.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Uh, that's right now that you mentioned it in dead
If I don't like this stuff, why do I have
to learn it? Because it's very important. And if you
don't believe me, here's a quotation that proves it. The
arts are known as the stepping stones to success, right, Betty, right, Bett, Now,
if you'll excuse me, I'm sorry, Bud, I promised to
help your mother with her canning.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
You mean I have to keep on reading ivan Hole.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
You'll read it and like it. Holy how how am
I supposed to remember things like that? Haven't looked at
a copy of Ivanhoe in twenty five years? Twenty five years?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Jim, You won't ever learn, will you?
Speaker 5 (21:39):
About what? Honey?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
You can't get mixed up in those school things with
the children.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
I got out of it, didn't I.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Just because you were lucky enough to remember a quotation?
Speaker 5 (21:48):
Well?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Whose quotation was it? But dear who said it originally?
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Oh? I did?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
What was that? Father?
Speaker 5 (22:05):
We'd better not go into it right now.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
If it's the same thing I'm thinking of, you better
stick to the turkey.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
You're so right well. In the last section of the
Thanksgiving prayer.
Speaker 9 (22:15):
Hey, we're in the stretch, but I'm sorry, Dad, Why
don't mind?
Speaker 5 (22:21):
I can sit here all night?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Father? Please, we won't say a word, will we, Kathy? Oh,
I can think I was the drumstick all right.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
In the fourth and final section of his prayer, Benjamin
Franklin covers the balance of our earthly benefits, not the
least of which is health. And while we've all been
blessed with remarkably good health through most of our lives,
there have been times when well we got our anxious moments, haven't.
Speaker 11 (22:57):
Jim.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I don't know what to do.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
We've done everything we can, Honey, But.
Speaker 11 (23:04):
She looks so small and pitiful.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
She isn't gonna die.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
Is she dead?
Speaker 9 (23:09):
Of course not, cause if anything happens to her, Bud,
I'll get it dead.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
It's probably the doctor. Honey. Now put yourself together like
a good girl. My poor little Kathy, Margaret. That isn't
going to help her at all. We've got to be strong,
both of us.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Oh, Dad, it's doctor Simmons.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
There you are, Honey. The doctor's here and he'll take
care of.
Speaker 11 (23:32):
Everything, Doctor Simmons.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
He Margaret, do you want to go right upstairs? Doc?
It's Kathy in a minute, Jim. It seems to be
the trouble. We don't know.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Why don't you go upstairs? Doctor? She's awful sick.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
We'll take care of her, bud, Margaret. When did it start?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
She was okay this morning.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
God please.
Speaker 11 (23:50):
She came home before I think, and she looked very white.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
And.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
As she complained any pains in her back or her legs.
We haven't been able to get her to say anything.
She just lies there any temperature.
Speaker 11 (24:07):
She's hot and cold.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
My baby along, Jim, No, Betty's up there with her. Well,
I'll go up and take a look. You better come
to Margaret doctor.
Speaker 11 (24:19):
If anything happens to my baby.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
You've got to stop thinking that way. Nothing's going to happen.
Speaker 9 (24:26):
Gosh, it makes you feel kind of weak inside, doesn't it?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Death?
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Yes, inside and outside and all over makes you feel
weak and small. So many things you want to do
and you can't do any of them.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
He never think of anybody like Kathy getting sick.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
She's always been so healthy and strong.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
I know, hag.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
She can lick any kid on the block.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
She licked this tu button. She's got too. Dad.
Speaker 9 (24:57):
If she gets I mean, when she gets well, I'll
never pick on her again as long as I live.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
That's fine, son.
Speaker 9 (25:06):
I'll never call her a not head or squirt or
noodle noser.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Have you got a handkerchief?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
I think so? Here you are, Thanks, here you are, Dan,
and you may keep it.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (25:25):
Father.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
We're right here, Betty.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Do they want us No, they made me go out.
Speaker 8 (25:30):
Oh I didn't want to, but oh, father, she's so sick.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
I know.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
I want to borrow my handkerchief.
Speaker 11 (25:38):
I have one.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
She just lies there and I've been so mean to her.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
No, dear, you've been a wonderful sister.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I haven't.
Speaker 8 (25:47):
Last week I smacked her because she spilled my perfume.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Well, I don't care about the old perfume. I just
want Kathy to get well.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
She will, sweetheart. We've all said our little prayers. We've
all got are very close to our hearts. She'll be
all right.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
She's such a sweet child.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
She's a good ballplayer too.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
Your mother and I have gone through this a great
many times, with both of you as well as Kathy.
When you're married and have children of your own, you'll
do the same thing.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Boy, what a thing to look forward to.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Head balances, bud, A few short moments of worry and anxiety,
and then long happy hours for all of us. That's
the way it goes, doesn't it. Betty?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
I wish I hadn't smacked her.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
You'll smack her again, Father, How can you say that
if she smacks Kathy, I'll smack her.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I wouldn't dream of touching her.
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Well, we'll see, Jim, doctor. Is she all right?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Is she going to live?
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Or she's going to live? She'll be up and around
no time at all.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Oh, my poor little sister boy wasn't anything to get
excited about in the first place.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
It wasn't anything serious, of course, not.
Speaker 11 (27:04):
What was it?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Well, technically, I suppose you'd call it a.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Multi caldari canini.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
That's about as close as I can get to the
Latin canini, right, Translated roughly, that means too many hot dogs?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Hot dogs?
Speaker 2 (27:21):
You mean that's all that was wrong with her?
Speaker 5 (27:23):
Just eight hot dogs?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Why the little nodthead?
Speaker 5 (27:29):
You can go up if you like.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Well, I get my hands on her, scaring me like that.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
I asked her to lend me a quarter, and she wouldn't,
but she had enough for eight hot dogs.
Speaker 12 (27:41):
Wow, it's a great life, isn't it, Jim?
Speaker 5 (27:45):
You said it, Doc, It's a great life. Yes, we
worried and fretted, but we've always come through, all right,
haven't we, Daddy? Yes, I mean, I'm sorry, Kathy? What
is it?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I changed my mind? May I have a wing? Kathy?
Speaker 4 (28:06):
What a beetle brain?
Speaker 6 (28:08):
But but I looked at it so long A got
time of drum steps, Jim.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
Now, yes, dear, we'll have Benjamin Franklin's Thanksgiving prayer, right,
now for peace and liberty, for food and raimond, for
corn and wine, and every kind of healthful nourishment. Good God.
I thank THEE for the common benefits of air and light,
for useful fire and delicious water. Good God. I thank
(28:41):
THEE for knowledge and literature and every useful art, for
my friends and their prosperity, and for the fewness of
my enemies. Good God, I thank THEE for all thy
innumerable benefits for life and reason, the use of speech,
(29:02):
for health, every pleasant hour. My good God, I thank you.
(29:31):
Could this be you? After Thanksgiving dinner? Oh honey, I
don't want to.
Speaker 12 (29:35):
Eat again for a week, But tomorrow it'll be a
different story. This is the most delicious coconut cream pie
I ever rate.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
Can I have another piece?
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Huh?
Speaker 12 (29:44):
And delectable coconut cream pie is a breeze to make
with new jello coconut cream pudding and pie filling. There's
nothing to add but milk, and it's jello coconut cream
pudding and pie filling for red letter desserts. Thanksgiving comes
(30:07):
only once a year, but some good things we can
enjoy every day. For example, when it comes to truly
good coffee with a flavor you enjoy cup after cup.
You can count on Maxwell House every time. It's the
one coffee that's always good to the last drop. Join
us again next week when we'll be back with Father
Knows Best, starring Robert young Is, Jim Anderson, with Roy
(30:30):
Bargie and the Maxwell House Orchestra in our cast where
Norma Jean Nilson as Kathy Gene, Vanderpile, Rhoda Williams, Ted Donaldson,
and yours truly Bill Forman. So until next Thursday, good
night and good luck from the makers of Maxwell House.
Father Knows Best was transcribed in Hollywood and written by
Ed Jane.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Mister Keene and Tracer of Lost Persons brings you Mystery
tonight on NBC.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Well, I, for one, am looking forward to feasting on
turkey this Thursday, for which I am extremely thankful. As
mister Franklin reminds us, However, we have so much more
for which to give thanks. Please send your questions and
comments to host at classiccomedyotr dot com. Until next time.
(31:28):
In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the best thing
one can do when it is raining is to let
it rain.
Welcome to classic comedy of old time radio. I'm your
host Ron Ecklbarger. Happy Thanksgiving this coming Thursday to all
of our listeners in the United States and to all
who celebrate the holiday wherever they live, and regardless of
our nationality or when a holiday is A well developed
(00:36):
sense of gratitude is something we all should share, no
matter when we celebrate it. In fact, it's something we
should celebrate every day. So to celebrate this, we are
skipping ahead about thirty episodes in Father Knows Best so
that we can hear the Thanksgiving episode now near the
(00:58):
holiday instead of in July. In this show, Father explains
Benjamin Franklin's seventeen twenty eight Thanksgiving prayer to the family
just before their Turkey dinner. This is episode number ninety
eight a Father Knows Best, entitled Thanksgiving Prayer and originally
aired on November twenty second, nineteen fifty one.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Mother, is Nashville House really the only coffee in the world? Well,
your father says so, and your father knows Best.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, it's Father Knows Best transcribed in Hollywood starring Robert
Young's father A half hour visit with your neighbors, The
Andersons brought to you by America's favorite coffee, Maxwell House,
the coffee that's always good to the last drop. So
(02:09):
once in every year we throng upon a day apart
to praise the Lord with feast and song in thankfulness
of heart. In November of the year sixteen twenty one,
our pilgrim fathers sat down to a table piled high
with the fruits of a bountiful harvest. They offered their
thanks in humble reverence, and thereby established a precedent that we,
(02:31):
the most fortunate people on earth, have followed with joy
and gratitude for some three hundred and thirty years. Thanksgiving
Day is an American holiday, typically and exclusively hours. So
let's spend the next half hour in the dining room
of an average American home, the Andersons, and see how they,
an average American family, are celebrating the most American day
(02:52):
of the year, Thanksgiving like this.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Everybody close their eyes. Well, here comes it's the bird,
the turkey.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Boy, am I have hungry?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
There you are, mother, It's gorgeous.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Put it right down here, honey.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
It sure smells good. Mom.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thank you, dear. I get a drumstick, mother, Bud, keep
your fingers out of there.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I just wanted a piece of salary.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Father hasn't said grace?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Oh, excuse me, don't forget.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I get a drumstick, all right, Kathy, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (03:25):
Dear, you know I found something very interesting the other day.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Holy call good Father, can't you tell us? After Betty?
Speaker 5 (03:35):
This pertains to the grace I'm about to say?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
And then I get a drumstick.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
I was looking through some old books at the library
and I ran across a prayer of thanks written by
Benjamin Franklin in the year seventeen twenty eight. It was
very unusual.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Dear, it is getting awfully late.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
This will only take a few seconds, honey, and I
think it'll do us all a lot of good. Benjamin
Franklin divided everything in life into four categories, and it's
a amazing how thorough a job he did. He must
have been a remarkable man. Jim, for example, in the
first section of his Thanksgiving prayer, he gave thanks for
the material things of life, such as food and drink
(04:12):
and Raymond, what's raymond clothing?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Dear?
Speaker 5 (04:15):
Oh, and giving thanks for clothing is a very appropriate
part of a Thanksgiving prayer. When I think if some
of the things that have gone on with clothes in
this house.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Jim, I hope you know what you're doing.
Speaker 5 (04:33):
I know exactly what I'm doing. I'm getting just a
little fed up with dressing in Bud's room.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It isn't that bad.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
No, he had all of my neckties, all of my socks,
all of my sweaters, and half of my pants. Are
you sure, yes, dear, I'm sure. In this house the
first one up isn't the best dressed. He's the only
one who can get dressed.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
But Bud certainly has enough clothes of his own.
Speaker 5 (04:54):
Of course he has. He just likes mine better, that's.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
All, dear. Don't you think if we.
Speaker 5 (04:59):
To I'm tired of telling them. Wait till they go
up there and see a bunch of empty closets. That'll
teach them, naturally.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I think we're right and taking our own things back,
But to take.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
All of their they'll do them good. Maybe they'll learn
to respect other people's properties. Mother, we're all Kathy, I'm here, Yaddy, good,
all three of you go upstairs, get ready for lunch.
Speaker 6 (05:19):
And Betty, yeah, mother, see that Kathy washes in back
of her ears.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Okay, where do they see those closets.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Jim, I think you're being very mean.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
I'm just trying to teach them a lesson.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
How would you like to open your closet and find
all your clothes missing?
Speaker 5 (05:36):
Honey? I do it every day, but every young boy,
Betty is any better. She had three of your pocketbooks,
two unmentionables, five pairs of stockings for bet here comes hey, Dad,
Remember Margaret, you're to let me handle.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
It, all right, But I still think there's an easier way, Jenny.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
It's awful, it's terrible.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
What is it, son? What's the matter?
Speaker 4 (06:00):
My clothes they're gone?
Speaker 5 (06:01):
Well, so don let's see if we can't figure out
what happened.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
My best gray slags. They even took those?
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Which best gray slacks? Would those be?
Speaker 4 (06:09):
You know? The ones that came with your gray suit.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
I see your best gray slacks and all.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Of my ties, my whole collection.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Which you collected from my closet.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
And my sweaters and everything.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Mother, Jim, I don't think I can go through with it.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
I'm practically naked.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Brother, I just can't.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
Honey, what is it, Betty?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
We've been robbed. Somebody got in and we've been robbed.
Everything's gone, Jim, if you don't tell them, I will, all.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
Right, Margaret, I'll tell them, Betty. But your mother and
I arrange this whole thing to teach you a lesson.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You what angel, Let's not give me too much credit.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Well, you were in on it.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
You mean you got somebody to swipe our clothes.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Nothing's been stolen, dear.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
You'll find all of your things in our room.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Father.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
We just wanted to show you how we feel every
morning of our lives. Dad. It's gotten so that well,
nothing in our wardrobe is sacred. Dad, my best neck ties,
your mother's cashmere sweaters. You're wor them more than we do.
Oh Father, This was the only way I could figure
to impress upon you that from now on, you're to
leave our things alone. The next time you feel like
(07:29):
borrowing a pair of socks, or a belt, or a
pair of your mother's gloves, you'll think twice about it,
won't you. I'll get it, Dad, just a minute. But
I want to find out who's at the door.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
I know who's at the door.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
What we told Kathy to call the cops.
Speaker 7 (07:48):
Oh no, Father, Oh, oh, the grace.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And then I get a dumpstick.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Well, in the second part of his Thanksgiving prayer, Benjamin
Franklin concentrated on the natural phenomenon of life, things like
air and light and fire and water.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Fire is pretty important, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Mom, Yes, dear, it's very important.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
For stuff like heating up turkeys when they get cold. Dad.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
I'll get to the turkey in a minute. I just
want to make sure that you all.
Speaker 8 (08:27):
Understand, Father, after what happened at Blue Paradise last winter,
you don't have to worry about us.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
We remember about fire and.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
Water all life. That was quite a day, wasn't it.
Speaker 8 (08:37):
I don't think i'll ever get the drums there.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
Well, there it is Blue Paradise.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You mean that?
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Holy cow?
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Dad?
Speaker 4 (08:57):
You said it was a great big hunting lodge.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Well it looked larger the last time I was here.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Jim, Are you sure we ought to buy a hunting lodge?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Honey? A bargain like this doesn't come along every day.
I know it doesn't look like much from here, but well,
let's go inside.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Will it fall down?
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Of course not. Just don't touch any of those braces,
that's all boy, What a dumb It's not supposed to
be the Ritz Carlton. We just wanted for weekends and things.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Why do they call it blue paradise? Look at those
cracks in the wall. You probably turn blue in the
middle of the night.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Betty, you can't expect too much for fifteen hundred dollars.
Fifteen hundred, honey, the view of the lake alone is
worth that.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
What view?
Speaker 5 (09:44):
What the lake? It's a very beautiful lake. All you
have to do is walk about half a mile down
the road and well, it's very easy to see it
from there on a clear day. But if I hear
one more word, honey, look out? What that? The porch
is a little weak in spots, But go ahead, but
(10:05):
open the door.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
There isn't any doorknob.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
You don't need a doorknob just to push.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
Okay, Jim, do you really think, Oh, dear Bud, you didn't.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Have to push that hard, did you.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I just gave it a little push.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Well, a couple of new hinges is all it needs.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I've got an idea.
Speaker 8 (10:30):
Why don't we knock all the doors down and use
them for a porch.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Very funny, are you going in, Margaret? Hi?
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, you only live once.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I suppose everything may seem a little rough at first,
but you'll get used to it. Well, how do you
like it?
Speaker 8 (10:47):
It's got a nice foyer. Where's the living room?
Speaker 5 (10:52):
This is the living room. Nice and compact, isn't it, honey?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Oh yes, yes, if it's anything, it's compact. It's dirty too.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Hey, look at this. The closet's got a window in it.
Speaker 5 (11:07):
That's the bedroom.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Bother it isn't of course it is?
Speaker 5 (11:16):
How large do you want a bedroom to be.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Large enough for a bed?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
I've got an idea.
Speaker 9 (11:23):
Why don't we buy it and rend it out to
some midgets?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
But that isn't funny, dear.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
It is a little small.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
You're not supposed to give dances up here. It's a
place to relax, get back to nature.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
What's it here, daddy?
Speaker 5 (11:38):
That's the kitchen. But I thought we could do all
our cooking in the fireplace. That way, we can turn
the kitchen into another bedroom.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Cook in the fireplace.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Why not? The pioneers did it all the time. I
see this will do us all a lot of good.
It might even teach us to appreciate the comforts we
take so much for granted at home.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yes, I can believe that.
Speaker 6 (11:59):
If it'll do anything, it'll teach us to appreciate comfort.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Isn't there any bathroom.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
Of course, you just can't see it from here, that's.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
All Daniel, Who mister boone?
Speaker 6 (12:17):
Oh yes, if there's any cooking to be done in
a fireplace, guess who's going to do it me.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I just wanted to get that straightened out.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
Honey. You don't seem to understand living the simple life
this way can be a great adventure for all of us.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Jim.
Speaker 6 (12:36):
There is nothing in the world that's more complicated than
the simple life.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
I've got an idea, of course, everybody's got ideas.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
We can eat on paper plates, and then we won't
have to wash any dishes.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
That's the spirit, kitten.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Speaking of washing, I don't see any water.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
There's a whole tub of it in the kitchen.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
You mean we have to carry it in from a well?
Speaker 5 (12:59):
No, you have to bring it up from the lake.
Speaker 6 (13:03):
Oh oh, Jim, it isn't far.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Why, But I'll get used to doing it no time
at all.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Me.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
But you said it's a half a mile, dear.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
This is another thing we've got to straighten out. I'm
not going to let a young boy like Bud carry
heavy pails of water up here from any lake.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
But the pioneers, Honey, it won't hurt him to carry
a few buckets of water. And besides, if I'm going
to cook, I won't have the time.
Speaker 6 (13:32):
I've got an idea you too. You can do it
every morning, right after you chop the wood.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
What wood for cooking?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Remember, dear, like the pioneers.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Margaret, If you're trying to discourage me, right.
Speaker 6 (13:49):
Jim, I think living the simple life will do you
a lot of good.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
You do.
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Of course, you'll get up early every morning and get
your lungs full of good, clean.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
Air while we're breathing that old, stale stuff in the bedroom.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Please, Then you'll run briskly down to.
Speaker 4 (14:07):
The lake for water, after you chop some wood.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And build a fire like the Pioneers. Then you'll clean
and fill the kerosene.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
LAMB, Wait a minute, why do I have to do
it all?
Speaker 6 (14:17):
You're the one who wants a hunting lodge. I know,
but I think you're going to enjoy it, cooking our
breakfast and lunch and dinner.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
And chopping some more wood and carrying some more.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Water like the pioneers.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Say, I've got a great idea. Let's go home.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
Well, it didn't take much to convince Father that there's
no place like home, and that's especially true today as
families the country over get together to celebrate Thanksgiving Day
and the many things we have to be thankful for.
We Maxwell House people, for instance, we're happy that our
coffee is America's favorite brand, happy that in so many homes,
(15:14):
Thanksgiving dinner means a pot of Maxwell House coffee brewing
on the stove, as well as the turkey in the
oven and the pumpkin pies cooling on the shelf. We
take a lot of pride in our coffee, and we
want you to know you can count on Maxwell House
every cup you pour.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
We'll keep it always good to the last.
Speaker 10 (15:36):
Drop on Thanksgiving Day and every day of the year.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
Let's see, now, where was I?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You were going to say grace?
Speaker 5 (15:52):
Not yet, but I haven't finished telling you about Benjamin
Franklin's prayer. There are two more sections?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Isn't that nice? Only two more? Dear? Maybe I'd better
put the turkey back.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
In the oven, but it won't take more than another minute.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
And then do I get the drumstick?
Speaker 5 (16:06):
You can have both drumsticks?
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Oh by hey, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Your father's only joking, dear, aren't you?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Jim you know, if it weren't for all this talk,
I could have been through telling you about it two
minutes ago. Yes, dear, the trouble with this family is
everybody wants to talk and nobody wants to listen.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
You're so right, dear, anytime I.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
What did you mean by that?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I was agreeing with you?
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Oh well, anyway. In the third section of his Thanksgiving prayer,
Franklin went into the intangible things of life, such as
the literature and the arts. You know, there aren't many
people today who realize how grateful we should be for
the pleasures we get from books and things like that.
Speaker 8 (16:49):
You mean, Benjamin Franklin had comic books.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Kathy, This will probably amaze you. But there are other kinds.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh that's dry.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
What a notthead?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
There'll be enough of that, Bud.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
What about the fourth section, father.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
I haven't finished with a third.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
That's what I was afraid of.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
When Franklin referred to the arts, he was expressing gratitude
for the pleasures we receive and also for the help.
Wait a minute, haven't we gone through all this before?
Speaker 11 (17:23):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yes, father, you bet, Dad.
Speaker 8 (17:25):
I don't remember anything like the Oh I.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Don't something about Ivanhole. Your mother was getting ready to
do her canning, and yeah, it was about ivan Hole.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Schools A lot of good schools.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Are you set up?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
I wouldn't care if they taught you something important. You
set up, but all that junk they make your study?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
You set up?
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Why don't you keep still?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I'm on your side.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Well, get over on her side?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Okay, But just.
Speaker 8 (18:08):
Because you gotta see in English doesn't mean that it
isn't important.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
You set up.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I thought I told you to keep still.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
You told me to get on her side.
Speaker 8 (18:18):
Bud, you set up, Kathy, Wait until I say something. Okay,
It doesn't make any difference what you intend to be.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
A knowledge of.
Speaker 8 (18:29):
Literature is one of the finest things a person can have.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Now, all right? You set up.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Just because you think you're an actress.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
That has nothing to do with it.
Speaker 8 (18:42):
Literature is the principal difference between animal and man and
girls too, Kathy, Why don't you keep out of this?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Can I be on anybody's side? Oh?
Speaker 5 (18:56):
What's going on in here? Hi?
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You dan?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Father? Will you do something about Bud?
Speaker 6 (19:01):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (19:01):
I don't know. He seems like a nice enough fellow.
Maybe we'll let him hang around a little while longer.
What do you think hidden?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You said it?
Speaker 8 (19:10):
But he thinks they ought to change the whole school
system just because he got to see in English.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I do not.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yes, he does, Daddy, that's what he says.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
I didn't either.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
Oh you did too, just a minute, both of you.
Betty wants this all about.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Bud thinks English is a waste of time.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
No, I don't.
Speaker 9 (19:27):
But why should I get a CE just because I
don't like Ivanhall?
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Whi's part of your course, isn't it? Well?
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Sure, but what good is Ivanhoe? If you want to
be an engineer or something.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
You'll find some that a knowledge of the classics will
always come in handy.
Speaker 8 (19:42):
That's exactly what I told him. An Ivanhoe is wonderful.
Speaker 9 (19:46):
He's a jerk, Bud. He is Dad the gems the
guy gets into for no reason at all.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
You know. But it's been a long time since I
studied Ivanhoe, but I still remember it on his bold visage.
Middle Age had slightly pressed its signet sage. It had
not quenched the open truth and fiery vehemence of youth, Right, Betty, father.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
That's from the lady of the lake.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Oh I uh, they're both Sir Waller Scott, aren't they.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well?
Speaker 4 (20:22):
Yes, but but you'll find.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
As you grow older that there's no substitute for a
sound literary background. For example, mister Gribble came up with
a quotation at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon the other
day I stood in Venice on the bridge of Size.
He was very pleased that I recognized the line from Shakespeare. Father, Betty,
I'm trying to explain to Bud.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
But that isn't Shakespeare. It's Lord Byron.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
That is Shakespeare. It's from the Merchant of Venice.
Speaker 8 (20:51):
I'm sorry, father, but it's from child Harold's pilgrimage. Don't
you remember I stood in Venice on the bridge of Size,
a palace and a prison army chair.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Uh, that's right now that you mentioned it in dead
If I don't like this stuff, why do I have
to learn it? Because it's very important. And if you
don't believe me, here's a quotation that proves it. The
arts are known as the stepping stones to success, right, Betty, right, Bett, Now,
if you'll excuse me, I'm sorry, Bud, I promised to
help your mother with her canning.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
You mean I have to keep on reading ivan Hole.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
You'll read it and like it. Holy how how am
I supposed to remember things like that? Haven't looked at
a copy of Ivanhoe in twenty five years? Twenty five years?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Jim, You won't ever learn, will you?
Speaker 5 (21:39):
About what? Honey?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
You can't get mixed up in those school things with
the children.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
I got out of it, didn't I.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Just because you were lucky enough to remember a quotation?
Speaker 5 (21:48):
Well?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Whose quotation was it? But dear who said it originally?
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Oh? I did?
Speaker 2 (22:03):
What was that? Father?
Speaker 5 (22:05):
We'd better not go into it right now.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
If it's the same thing I'm thinking of, you better
stick to the turkey.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
You're so right well. In the last section of the
Thanksgiving prayer.
Speaker 9 (22:15):
Hey, we're in the stretch, but I'm sorry, Dad, Why
don't mind?
Speaker 5 (22:21):
I can sit here all night?
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Father? Please, we won't say a word, will we, Kathy? Oh,
I can think I was the drumstick all right.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
In the fourth and final section of his prayer, Benjamin
Franklin covers the balance of our earthly benefits, not the
least of which is health. And while we've all been
blessed with remarkably good health through most of our lives,
there have been times when well we got our anxious moments, haven't.
Speaker 11 (22:57):
Jim.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I don't know what to do.
Speaker 5 (23:01):
We've done everything we can, Honey, But.
Speaker 11 (23:04):
She looks so small and pitiful.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
She isn't gonna die.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
Is she dead?
Speaker 9 (23:09):
Of course not, cause if anything happens to her, Bud,
I'll get it dead.
Speaker 5 (23:15):
It's probably the doctor. Honey. Now put yourself together like
a good girl. My poor little Kathy, Margaret. That isn't
going to help her at all. We've got to be strong,
both of us.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Oh, Dad, it's doctor Simmons.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
There you are, Honey. The doctor's here and he'll take
care of.
Speaker 11 (23:32):
Everything, Doctor Simmons.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
He Margaret, do you want to go right upstairs? Doc?
It's Kathy in a minute, Jim. It seems to be
the trouble. We don't know.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Why don't you go upstairs? Doctor? She's awful sick.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
We'll take care of her, bud, Margaret. When did it start?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (23:48):
She was okay this morning.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
God please.
Speaker 11 (23:50):
She came home before I think, and she looked very white.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
And.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
As she complained any pains in her back or her legs.
We haven't been able to get her to say anything.
She just lies there any temperature.
Speaker 11 (24:07):
She's hot and cold.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
My baby along, Jim, No, Betty's up there with her. Well,
I'll go up and take a look. You better come
to Margaret doctor.
Speaker 11 (24:19):
If anything happens to my baby.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
You've got to stop thinking that way. Nothing's going to happen.
Speaker 9 (24:26):
Gosh, it makes you feel kind of weak inside, doesn't it?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Death?
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Yes, inside and outside and all over makes you feel
weak and small. So many things you want to do
and you can't do any of them.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
He never think of anybody like Kathy getting sick.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
She's always been so healthy and strong.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
I know, hag.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
She can lick any kid on the block.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
She licked this tu button. She's got too. Dad.
Speaker 9 (24:57):
If she gets I mean, when she gets well, I'll
never pick on her again as long as I live.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
That's fine, son.
Speaker 9 (25:06):
I'll never call her a not head or squirt or
noodle noser.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
Have you got a handkerchief?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
I think so? Here you are, Thanks, here you are, Dan,
and you may keep it.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (25:25):
Father.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
We're right here, Betty.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Do they want us No, they made me go out.
Speaker 8 (25:30):
Oh I didn't want to, but oh, father, she's so sick.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
I know.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
I want to borrow my handkerchief.
Speaker 11 (25:38):
I have one.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
She just lies there and I've been so mean to her.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
No, dear, you've been a wonderful sister.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I haven't.
Speaker 8 (25:47):
Last week I smacked her because she spilled my perfume.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Well, I don't care about the old perfume. I just
want Kathy to get well.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
She will, sweetheart. We've all said our little prayers. We've
all got are very close to our hearts. She'll be
all right.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
She's such a sweet child.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
She's a good ballplayer too.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
Your mother and I have gone through this a great
many times, with both of you as well as Kathy.
When you're married and have children of your own, you'll
do the same thing.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Boy, what a thing to look forward to.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Head balances, bud, A few short moments of worry and anxiety,
and then long happy hours for all of us. That's
the way it goes, doesn't it. Betty?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
I wish I hadn't smacked her.
Speaker 9 (26:36):
You'll smack her again, Father, How can you say that
if she smacks Kathy, I'll smack her.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I wouldn't dream of touching her.
Speaker 5 (26:46):
Well, we'll see, Jim, doctor. Is she all right?
Speaker 4 (26:50):
Is she going to live?
Speaker 5 (26:51):
Or she's going to live? She'll be up and around
no time at all.
Speaker 8 (26:54):
Oh, my poor little sister boy wasn't anything to get
excited about in the first place.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
It wasn't anything serious, of course, not.
Speaker 11 (27:04):
What was it?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Well, technically, I suppose you'd call it a.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
Multi caldari canini.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
That's about as close as I can get to the
Latin canini, right, Translated roughly, that means too many hot dogs?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Hot dogs?
Speaker 2 (27:21):
You mean that's all that was wrong with her?
Speaker 5 (27:23):
Just eight hot dogs?
Speaker 4 (27:25):
Why the little nodthead?
Speaker 5 (27:29):
You can go up if you like.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Well, I get my hands on her, scaring me like that.
Speaker 9 (27:34):
I asked her to lend me a quarter, and she wouldn't,
but she had enough for eight hot dogs.
Speaker 12 (27:41):
Wow, it's a great life, isn't it, Jim?
Speaker 5 (27:45):
You said it, Doc, It's a great life. Yes, we
worried and fretted, but we've always come through, all right,
haven't we, Daddy? Yes, I mean, I'm sorry, Kathy? What
is it?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
I changed my mind? May I have a wing? Kathy?
Speaker 4 (28:06):
What a beetle brain?
Speaker 6 (28:08):
But but I looked at it so long A got
time of drum steps, Jim.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
Now, yes, dear, we'll have Benjamin Franklin's Thanksgiving prayer, right,
now for peace and liberty, for food and raimond, for
corn and wine, and every kind of healthful nourishment. Good God.
I thank THEE for the common benefits of air and light,
for useful fire and delicious water. Good God. I thank
(28:41):
THEE for knowledge and literature and every useful art, for
my friends and their prosperity, and for the fewness of
my enemies. Good God, I thank THEE for all thy
innumerable benefits for life and reason, the use of speech,
(29:02):
for health, every pleasant hour. My good God, I thank you.
(29:31):
Could this be you? After Thanksgiving dinner? Oh honey, I
don't want to.
Speaker 12 (29:35):
Eat again for a week, But tomorrow it'll be a
different story. This is the most delicious coconut cream pie
I ever rate.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
Can I have another piece?
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Huh?
Speaker 12 (29:44):
And delectable coconut cream pie is a breeze to make
with new jello coconut cream pudding and pie filling. There's
nothing to add but milk, and it's jello coconut cream
pudding and pie filling for red letter desserts. Thanksgiving comes
(30:07):
only once a year, but some good things we can
enjoy every day. For example, when it comes to truly
good coffee with a flavor you enjoy cup after cup.
You can count on Maxwell House every time. It's the
one coffee that's always good to the last drop. Join
us again next week when we'll be back with Father
Knows Best, starring Robert young Is, Jim Anderson, with Roy
(30:30):
Bargie and the Maxwell House Orchestra in our cast where
Norma Jean Nilson as Kathy Gene, Vanderpile, Rhoda Williams, Ted Donaldson,
and yours truly Bill Forman. So until next Thursday, good
night and good luck from the makers of Maxwell House.
Father Knows Best was transcribed in Hollywood and written by
Ed Jane.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
Mister Keene and Tracer of Lost Persons brings you Mystery
tonight on NBC.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Well, I, for one, am looking forward to feasting on
turkey this Thursday, for which I am extremely thankful. As
mister Franklin reminds us, However, we have so much more
for which to give thanks. Please send your questions and
comments to host at classiccomedyotr dot com. Until next time.
(31:28):
In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the best thing
one can do when it is raining is to let
it rain.
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