Lum Wants to Get Married

Originally Aired: April 8, 1938 Lum #18, "Lum Wants to Get Married," Lum and Abner's Lonesome Heart Matrimonial Bureau is officially open for business after placing newspaper advertisements throughout the surrounding territory. When Lum returns from the post office with their first letters from prospective customers, the partners are excited about the potential fifty-dollar profit from each successful match. However, things get complicated when Lum announces his intention to find a wife for himself through their own bureau, insisting he won't pay the company's twenty-five dollar fee if he does marry. As Abner handles phone inquiries from Sister Simpson, an eager local woman seeking a husband, Lum eagerly opens their first letters. While the partners initially dismiss one applicant who seems more interested in paying off her farm mortgage than finding love, their attention turns to Roberta Brandenburg from Gilgore, Texas. When Lum sees her picture, he's immediately smitten with the beautiful manicurist who owns her own beauty salon, sparking his interest in ways that have nothing to do with the matrimonial bureau's profit margins.