Lum Decides to Buy a Trailer for an Office

Originally Aired: August 28, 1935 In Lum & Abner #183, "Lum Decides to Buy a Trailer for an Office," Lum faces a frustrating predicament after the stockholders of the Great Western Sterling Silver Company refuse to pay him a salary as general manager or fund a helper for Abner on their rolling store. Despite recently ousting Squire Skimp from office and taking over management duties himself, Lum finds the stockholders maddeningly tight-fisted. He's determined to establish a proper office befitting his new position, arguing that a company president shouldn't be seen weighing out nickel-and-dime purchases from a traveling store when important business deals need conducting. The situation grows more complicated as customers begin calling, expecting the store to make its regular rounds. Abner remains skeptical of Lum's grand ambitions, pointing out that he has plenty of time to handle both jobs and shouldn't neglect their actual moneymaking business. As tensions mount over who will do the work and how they'll manage both enterprises, Lum considers hiring Grandpappy Spears to help in the store, though he can barely afford it. The two partners bicker over responsibilities and fall into their typical comedic misunderstanding when Lum mentions someone "filling his shoes."