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In this episode, we serve up four classic old-time radio snacks, featuring a special Family Theater presentation for Citizenship Day, an episode of Family Doctor, a New Year’s drama from Guest Star, and a classic performance by Orson Welles.

Family Theater: Treasury of Homes

In honor of Citizenship Day, this episode features an excerpt from Family Theater, a dramatic anthology series that promoted family prayer and presented stories centered around American family life.

This excerpt, Treasury of Homes, celebrates the pioneers who settled the American West and the immigrants who came to the United States seeking a better life. The story follows the Simmons family as they search for a place to build their new home and dream of the community that will eventually grow around them.

The program also features a performance by John Charles Thomas singing The Homeland.

Original Air Date: February 14, 1951

Family Doctor: Error in Diagnosis

In this episode of Family Doctor, Dr. Grant Adams treats Griff Miller, an elderly man struggling to make the interest payment on the mortgage for his family boathouse.

When the mortgage holder, lawyer Ralph Bates, prepares to foreclose, Doc Adams comes up with an unusual solution. By convincing Bates that he has chicken pox and later poison oak, the country doctor buys Griff enough time to save his property.

The story offers a humorous look at the traditional image of the country doctor as a trusted community figure who cared for more than just his patients’ physical health.

Original Air Date: 1937

Guest Star: Time is Sacred

Spend New Year’s Eve with Bill Cooper and Louise Marston, two office workers who become trapped in an elevator when the power goes out.

As they realize that the elevator cable may not hold until help arrives, the two strangers discover that they have fallen in love. With midnight approaching, they face what may be their final moments together.

Starring Joan Leslie, this dramatic story combines romance, suspense, and a New Year’s message about recognizing the importance of time.

Original Air Date: December 26, 1948

Mercury Theatre: I’m a Fool

Orson Welles stars in this adaptation of Sherwood Anderson’s story I’m a Fool.

A young man attending a horse race attempts to impress a girl by pretending to be wealthy and claiming that his father owns one of the horses. His lies bring him closer to the girl, but as the evening comes to an end, he realizes the painful consequences of trying to be someone he isn’t.

This experimental Mercury Theatre broadcast presented three short stories in a single episode, making it an ideal example of the snack-sized radio storytelling featured on the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon.

Original Air Date: August 8, 1938

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Join us again for another serving of old-time radio from the Golden Age of Radio.