Podcast Summary: Amos & Andy 43-12-10: "Bookends and Babies"

Harold's Old Time Radio — January 16, 2026
Guest Star: Ginger Rogers

Episode Overview

This classic episode of Amos & Andy wittily explores a case of comical misunderstandings around gifts, gossip, and babies. Special guest Ginger Rogers joins the cast as a spirited department store sales clerk, and the plot careens from bookend sales to a widespread (and incorrect) rumor about an impending baby in Harlem. The episode blends farce, slapstick, and rapid-fire banter, offering a slice of 1940s American radio comedy.

Key Discussion Points & Plot Highlights

1. Department Store Dealings & Ginger Rogers' Cameo

• Setting: Pritchard’s Department Store Gift Counter
• Mrs. Henry Van Porter searches for bookends as a gift for Andy, assisted by the vivacious sales girl, played by Ginger Rogers.
• Rogers banters humorously about store merchandise and challenges with delivery — “Our truck driver’s getting a permanent wave today. She may be a little late.” (01:50, Ginger Rogers)
• Bookends are purchased and sent to Andy.

2. Andy’s Job Prospects and Reluctance Toward Gift

• Andy is excited about his incoming job at Harlem Hospital (starting Jan 1), but skeptical advice from Kingfish abounds:
  • “Seven o’ clock was never meant for a getting up hour. The only reason they got that number 7 printed on the clock is so there won't be no blank space between six and eight.” (03:06, Kingfish)
• Andy receives the bookends as a thank-you for helping with an insurance sale. He immediately schemes to return them, admitting, “There’s one thing that I hate. It’s bookends.” (04:33, Andy)

3. A Comic Chain of Bartering and Swapping

• Andy’s attempt to return the bookends at the store fails, especially when Mrs. Van Porter arrives mid-exchange, overhearing Andy’s awkward fib about wanting “three more pair.” (06:02)
• Kingfish suggests trying the swap shop; the market for bookends evaporates when Andy wants to sell, and he ends up trading all four pairs for a beat-up baby buggy, plus $2 swapping charge.
  • “A quarter horsepower? What does that mean?” — Andy learning about electric motors (07:42)
  • “That market sure got flooded fast, didn’t it?” (07:22, Andy)

4. The Great Baby Misunderstanding

• While Andy and Kingfish attempt to flip the baby buggy, a mix-up begins:
  • Lightning is asked to "watch the baby buggy," and passersby (and later, all of Harlem) misinterpret this as news that the Crawfords are expecting a baby.
  • “Except the Crawfords is gonna have a baby.” (11:14, Lightning spreads the rumor)
  • Wild gossip ensues, culminating in plans for a surprise baby shower.

5. Chaos at the Baby Shower

• The entire community chips in for a secret baby shower, with Andy proud to re-gift the baby buggy as a present.
• The scene at Pritchard’s baby department is ripe with absurdities. Ginger Rogers, now reassigned to baby clothes, confesses she's as clueless as her customers:
  • “That's too bad, because I'd like to know what it is myself.” (16:00, Ginger Rogers, on the bassinet)
  • Claiming to be a mother of “six… no, seven” for sales credibility, she spins more tall tales.
• Rogers manipulates Andy and Kingfish into buying another baby buggy, invoking dramatic guilt about “two babies and one buggy.”
  • “And if you don’t buy this baby buggy, why, just think of what people will say.” (20:28, Ginger Rogers)

6. The Truth Revealed—and the Final Twist

• At the shower, the Crawfords arrive genuinely baffled.
  • “We are not having any baby.” (23:06, Lightning [Brother Crawford])
  • Andy and Kingfish, mortified, realize the folly.
• In a final comic cycle, Andy returns to the swap shop… only to discover his “grab box” prize is yet again four pairs of bookends.
  • “There’s them four pair of bookends again. High as Reg.” (24:32, Andy)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Department store banter:
  • “The way the women went for those things, you’d have thought Frank Sinatra came with every frame in person.” (02:02, Ginger Rogers)
• On morning work hours:
  • “The only reason they got that number 7 printed on the clock is so there won't be no blank space between six and eight.” (03:06, Kingfish)
• On unwanted gifts:
  • “There’s one thing that I hate. It’s bookends.” (04:33, Andy)
• Cascading rumor:
  • “Except the Crawfords is gonna have a baby.” (11:14, Lightning)
• Bassinet confusion:
  • “That's too bad, because I'd like to know what it is myself.” (16:00, Ginger Rogers)
• Ginger’s failed baby expertise:
  • “Well, the babies are so much younger than I am that we don't have very much in common. I love the rascals, all seven of them.” (16:56, Ginger Rogers)
• On buying another buggy:
  • “And if you don’t buy this baby buggy, why, just think of what people will say.” (20:28, Ginger Rogers)
• Comic reversal:
  • “There’s them four pair of bookends again. High as Reg.” (24:32, Andy)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:05 – 02:19: Mrs. Van Porter buys bookends from Ginger Rogers at Pritchard’s.
• 02:19 – 04:55: Andy receives bookends, schemes to return them; Kingfish’s banter.
• 04:55 – 06:21: Bookend exchange attempt leads to comedic mishaps.
• 06:21 – 09:12: Swap shop scene; bookends traded for a baby buggy.
• 10:39 – 11:24: Lightning spreads the baby rumor.
• 12:49 – 13:46: Plans for a surprise baby shower and gift buying.
• 13:46 – 19:04: Pritchard’s baby department; Ginger Rogers' faux-expertise and sales tactics.
• 20:50 – 23:13: The chaotic, mistaken baby shower.
• 24:01 – 24:32: Andy’s final “swap”—the return of the bookends.

Tone & Style

The episode is fast-paced, built on classic 1940s radio humor with wordplay, comical misunderstandings, and social satire. Ginger Rogers gamely lampoons herself as a clueless-but-plucky clerk. Andy and Kingfish’s chemistry and banter prompt much of the situational comedy.

For New Listeners

You’ll get a full helping of classic radio comedy: quick-witted repartee, contagious misunderstandings, and the warmth of community—albeit very misguided—endeavoring to do good, only to end up in their typical pickle. The guest performance by Ginger Rogers is a highlight, blending Hollywood glam with self-effacing humor, and the episode’s final twist brings the plot hilariously full circle.