Lum to Be a Family Man

Originally Aired: January 22, 1940 Lum #247, "Lum to Be a Family Man," Lum anxiously awaits the arrival of Florence Beaumont, a wealthy widow whose newspaper advertisement for a husband he answered by letter. She sent a telegram saying she would arrive Monday to meet him in person, and Lum has spent the day frantically preparing, making multiple trips to the barber shop for hair tonic and having his gray hair dyed black with what appears to be shoe polish. Dressed uncomfortably in a too-tight collar and tie, he waits at the Jot 'Em Down store with his partner Abner, growing increasingly worried as the day wears on with no sign of Florence arriving by train, bus, or mail carrier. As the afternoon passes, Abner discovers the extent of Lum's deception in his letter to Florence. Lum claimed to be independently wealthy himself, describing a grand plantation with grazing cattle and cotton fields, when in reality he only owns two cows and can merely see his neighbor's cotton across the road. Despite these exaggerations and his increasingly absurd appearance, Lum remains optimistic that once Florence arrives, he can make her fall in love with him and they'll travel the world together with her fortune.