Texaco Town 1937 08 15 (48) Rehearsing Shakespeare On Pinky's Ranch
# Texaco Town: August 15, 1937
Picture this: the sprawling ranch lands of the American West, where Eddie Cantor and his sidekick Pinky Lee find themselves in the most unlikely of predicaments—rehearsing Shakespeare in the dusty heat of a cattle ranch. As the episode unfolds over your radio speaker on this warm summer Sunday evening, you'll hear Eddie's unmistakable lisp crack through comedy gold as he attempts to wrangle both unruly actors and actual livestock. What could possibly go wrong when vaudeville's greatest entertainer tries to mount a theatrical production miles from civilization? The answer is everything—gloriously, hilariously everything. Expect rapid-fire dialogue, orchestral swells from the Texaco Town band, and the kind of slapstick comedy that translates brilliantly through sound alone, with carefully timed crashes, exasperated exclamations, and Pinky's frustrated reactions providing the perfect counterpoint to Eddie's anarchic energy.
The Eddie Cantor Show was appointment radio in Depression-era America, a beacon of escape and laughter sponsored by Texaco gasoline. By 1937, Cantor had already established himself as one of entertainment's supreme talents—a Broadway legend, silent film star, and now radio's most versatile comedian. This program exemplified the golden age of variety radio, where anything could happen within a thirty-minute broadcast. The show's format, mixing comedy sketches with live musical numbers and guest performers, made it the template that countless radio programs would follow throughout the medium's glory years.
Don't miss this delightful slice of radio history. Tune in and experience why millions of Americans gathered around their sets each week to hear Eddie Cantor remind them that laughter was always worth the effort—even when it meant herding cattle and spouting iambic pentameter under the desert sun.