Your Coca-Cola Bottler presents Claudia, based on the play and novels by Rose Franken, brought to you transcribed Monday through Friday by your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola. Relax and while you're listening refresh yourself. Have a Coke. And now, Claudia. David, what are you hammering in there in the bedroom? I'm not hammering. I'm trying to get this bureau drawer open. Is it stuck? No, it's just a little reluctant. Never stuck before. What have you done to it? Didn't do anything. Maybe it heard we're going to Aunt Louisa's for dinner. Oh. A nice drawer. Doesn't want me to get it there at all. What good does something do? You can't hit the drawer loose, can you? Well, but it makes me feel a lot better. David, what are we going to talk about when we get to Aunt Louisa's? We can talk about the presents she's going to give us. Oh, you're lucky you haven't seen it yet. It's a big umbrella stand, a sort of Chinese vase. You put the umbrellas in it? I've detested it ever since I was a baby and now I'm going to have it in my own house. Well, sounds nice. We'll have to buy some umbrellas. Umbrellas are bad enough, but this, David, it's awful. And it's so big we won't have room for it even if we could carry it, which we can't. It weighs a ton. Sounds fine. We can use it to keep the roof from blowing off or maybe for a spare chimney. The worst thing is we have to put it somewhere in the house or Aunt Louisa will be terribly disappointed. It'll be her housewarming present to us. We don't need a housewarming present. We just put in a new heating system. Aunt Louisa is the most generous relative I have. Well, I wish she weren't so generous. If she were just a little bit stingier, she might give us something so small that we could squeeze it through the farm door. Why don't we talk to her about the farm? Sort of a hint. That's great. I'll say, Aunt Louisa, we just bought a big farm with a tiny house. Then what'll she say? She'll say, how exciting! Claudia's great-great-aunt Mathias lived on a farm. And I'll say, I didn't know Claudia had a great-great-aunt Mathias. And she'll say, Claudia, didn't you know he was your grandmother's uncle and his son's grandchildren of the Boston Browns? I don't see why you children don't ever get together. That's the only aunt I ever knew of that was an uncle. I don't see why either. And no matter what what we start talking about, Aunt Louise will find a relative who got there first. I wonder if Aunt Louise is interested in farming? I'm afraid that's all she's interested in. I think the only thing she's interested in is giving us a big present. And then her asthma and then her relatives. Now please, please, David, think what else we're going to talk to her about. I mean that she'll be interested in. Well, we'll talk to her about how much we like her umbrella stat. That'll take some time. And then we'll talk about how much we enjoy having it. Yes. That'll take more time. Then, well, after all, we don't have to get there till dinner. Isn't it lucky she has dinner at 7 30 and not at 7? Are you, are you sure it's 7 30? Maybe at 7. But I don't think so. We can go home sooner afterward when it's later. That's consoling. Very, very. David, do you think any of her other relatives ever come for dinner? I wonder what they talk about. Oh, she probably tells them all about us. Just the way she tells us about them. Someday we ought to have a big reunion and swap notes on Aunt Louise's conversation. Oh, look at you. Uh-oh. What have I done now? You've been getting dressed the whole time we've been talking. That is not fair. Well, don't worry, darling. Because when I'm dressed, I'm going to sit down, smoke a pipe, read a book. I'm going to dawdle along like an Arkansas mule on an August afternoon. We won't get there a second too soon. It's only six o'clock. So please take a half an hour to pick out your time. And when you dawdle, please go slow. David, are we very late? Only about 10 minutes. And wouldn't you know that Aunt Louisa would have a knocker on her door instead of a simple little electric bell? Maybe she'll give us a knocker for the housewarming present instead of the umbrella stand. Not a chance. It's too practical. Claudia, my child, it's you and David. How nice. Hello, Aunt Louisa. We're very glad to be here. Hello, Aunt Louisa. You look excellent, Claudia. Expectant motherhood always makes a woman look excellent. Do come in. Do come in. Well, here we are. Put your coat down, child. Right there on the chair. As good we'll hang them up for you when he says she's getting dinner ready. There it is, the umbrella stand. Wow. That's all right, Aunt Louisa. I think we can manage them by ourselves. You can? Oh, that's fine. Well, child, aren't you grateful to have a strong young man around the house? Particularly now that you're not so well. But I'm fine, Aunt Louisa. You just said... I know, my dear, but you must be careful. Very careful. Oh, very. David, are you being very careful of Claudia? Aunt Louisa, you are underestimating the power of my wife. I just hope that Claudia will be very careful of me. What was that? Well, here we are, just the three of us. Isn't that nice? I thought of having some second cousins, but... Oh, this is much nicer, really. It was very sweet of you two to come out here to see me. And I want to hear all about your sweet little farm. Before dinner, even. Then we aren't late? Oh, my dear, no. You're very early. We are, Aunt Louisa? That's what's so very nice about this little visit. We never sit down to eat until at least half past eight. That gives us plenty of time. To half past eight. It's all habit. But you, poor boy, you sound hungry. Still, we shan't give you a thing to spoil your appetite, shall we, Claudia? Half past eight? Well, I suppose that is rather late for some people. It's a question of what one is accustomed to. If David is very, very hungry, we may give him a nice, raw carrot. A raw... That's very kind of you, Aunt Louisa, but I'd rather not spoil my appetite with a raw carrot. Never turn up your nose at raw carrots, David. They're full of vitamin A, and they're supposed to be good for eyes. Really? And I find they're quite helpful for my asthma. How is your asthma, Louisa? Yes. Just the same as always. Better one day? Good. Worse the next? Good. What's that? Uh, we won't say a word about it. Well, if you don't want us to, Aunt Louisa, we certainly won't. Right now, it's better. I think I've only had one attack in the last two weeks. Isn't this nice? We have a whole three quarters of an hour to talk before dinner. Yes. Let's sit down and have a good talk, children. I've always loved your house, Aunt Louisa. Don't you like it, David? Oh, I think it's charming. Really charming. Yes, it's charming. I'm glad you like it, David. I know Claudia always has. Yes. But I want to hear about the sweet little farm you've bought up in Connecticut. Claudia comes very naturally by her love for farming. I'm not a bit surprised. Not the least bit. Her great uncle, you mean? Well, he really isn't a great uncle. He's... Why, yes. He is a great Uncle Ralph. How did you know? Did Claudia's mother tell you? Not exactly. We just sort of... Uncle Ralph was a great farmer. It ran in his blood. Now it's running in Claudia's. He had a 400-acre farm up in New Hampshire. 400 acres? Oh, yes. I'm sure it was 400. You see, child, you come by it naturally. Isn't life fantastic, David? Really fantastic. Sometimes it is, Aunt Louisa. Other times it seems to turn out exactly the way you expect it to. Sometimes it does, but not always. This evening, for example, isn't turning out the way I expected it all. It isn't. It's turning out just the way we expected. Well, child, you knew you were going to be early, and now we're going to have this nice little talk, but I didn't know it. That's true, Claudia. You can't disagree. No, no. Oh dear. I meant to wait until later to tell you about it. I can't seem to restrain myself. There's no great hurry, Aunt Louisa. Whatever it is. That's sweet of you. It's going to give me so much pleasure that I just can't control myself. Isn't it terrible to be so weak? Age, I suppose. Age? Well, if it's really going to give you pleasure, well, Aunt Louisa, please, whatever it is, you go right ahead and do it. Yes, please do. Claudia and David, I want to give you a present for your new farm. Aunt Louisa, that's so sweet of you, but really, we weren't expecting anything at all, and we... And we really don't need anything. No. Nonsense. You need everything. Two young people moving to a farm, you need all sorts of things. Seeds and plows and all sorts of things like that. And you need things for your house. That umbrella stand in the hall. I saw you looking at it, David. Yes, it's quite an umbrella stand. It's irreplaceable, David. There's not another one in the world like it. I can imagine. Weighs over a hundred pounds. Real English china. You must be very attached to it. I am, David, but I'm not the only one who is. Ever since she was a little girl, Claudia has admired that umbrella stand. So she told me. I promised Claudia that when she grew up enough to have a home of her own, I'd give her that umbrella stand. Oh, Aunt Louisa, you shouldn't have. I know I shouldn't have. And as a matter of fact, Claudia, I'm not going to. You're not? It's much too precious a piece of china to give to you now before you even move into the farm. Something might happen to it. You'd never forgive yourself. Aunt Louisa, you are so thoughtful, but you mustn't think I'm not going to give you a housewarming present. Claudia, here's my present to you. Now all you and David have to do is pick it out for yourselves. It's a book. It's more than that, darling. It's practically a Bible. It's a mail order catalog. Your great uncle Ralph told me once that no farm was complete without it. Now I want you and David to look through it and write out a list of the things you really need. And when you do, I shall give it to you for a housewarming present. Aunt Louisa, I don't know how to thank you. It's the night. No, don't try, child. And don't worry. Later on you shall have the umbrella stand too. We'll talk about that some other time. Yes, some other time. Well, well there sounds good. Dinner must be ready now. You were early, and so was he. Certainly has been an evening for surprises. It certainly has. Wonderful surprises. If your family were asked, they'd certainly agree that mom is a hard worker and she deserves a break now and then. One break that's increasingly popular with housewives is the pause that refreshes. Why don't you pause for ice-cold Coca-Cola during the day's work? You'll discover it's a mighty good idea to work refresh. Excuse me a moment, Mr. King. Why certainly, Aunt Louisa. I trust you'll forgive my informality, but I don't know you by any other name. My dear boy, Aunt Louisa is perfectly all right. Tell me, Mr. King, in your opinion, was it a mistake to give David and Claudia a mail order catalog for a housewarming present? Well, what could possibly be wrong? Some people run wild when they look at the pictures, Mr. King, or they're everything in sight. If David doesn't watch out, I'd rather suspect that Claudia may... well, her eyes may be bigger than her pocketbook. I hope that won't happen, Aunt Louisa, but I think that tomorrow Claudia is going to go to work on that catalog all by herself. Oh dear, I hope she doesn't do anything foolish. Well, I hope she won't either, but I'm going to listen in and find out. Goodbye, Aunt Louisa. And as I was about to say, every day, Monday through Friday, Claudia comes to you transcribed with the best wishes of your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola. So listen again tomorrow at the same time. And now this is Joe King saying, Au revoir. And remember, whoever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may be, when you think of refreshment, think of Coca-Cola. For Coca-Cola makes any pause the pause that refreshes, and ice-cold Coca-Cola is everywhere. This broadcast of Claudia was supervised and directed by William Brown Maloney. And now here's a word from your friendly neighbor who bottles Coca-Cola.