 Mother, is Maxwell House really the only coffee in the world? Well, your father says so, and your father knows best. Yes, it's Father Knows Best, transcribed in Hollywood, starring Robert Young as father. A half-hour visit with your neighbors, the Anderson's, brought to you by America's favorite coffee, Maxwell House. The coffee that's always good to the last drop. It's morning in Springfield, the morning of June 21st, and a day long to be remembered in the minds and memories of the family known as Anderson. As with most things that occur in the White Frame House on Maple Street, the situation is approached by way of Hindustan and the East Siberian Archipelago. But in the Anderson household, June 21st will always be remembered as the day we taught Mother to drive. Like this. Good morning, Margaret. Good morning, dear. Why would you look chipper this morning? Why shouldn't I? I'm young, handsome, talented, and you, you lucky woman, you've got me. Jim Anderson, did you put something in your mouthwash? The day nothing can faze me. I'll climb mountains, swim oceans, scale the sides of mighty precipices. Jim, please put me down. You know, it's hard to say, precipices. Jim. Precipices. Jim, you've got to put me down. I will not. What's coming? Well, let him get his own women. All right. Honey, you know how you can get down. Oh, dear, if you're going to be a spoiled baby. Hiya, Mom. Hiya, Dad. Just in Mom, huh, Dad? Well, you sure got a nice day for it. Margaret. Yes, dear. May I please have my coffee? Of course. Dad. Why don't you keep quiet and eat your breakfast? Now what did I do? Nothing. Just eat your breakfast. There you are, dear. Nice hot coffee. Thank you. The girls ought to be down any minute. I'd better get started with the A. OK, honey. You sure got a nice day for it. Dad. But I just finished telling you. But I have to ask you something. If it's about a gasoline scooter, the answer is still no. Well, it isn't exactly about a gasoline scooter. It's about highway safety. Oh, what about it? Well, if you have to talk about it or anything, what's a good thing to say? Well, there are all sorts of things to be said about the highway safety program. It outlines a common sense method of preventing accidents and saving lives. It promotes birds. Why are you suddenly interested in the highway safety movement? Why? It's not that I have any objections, of course. I think it's a very good idea. I just want to know why. Well, they're having a sort of a contest sort of. About highway safety? You have to write 300 words on what highway safety means to me and my community. And if you win, you get a prize. You are going to write 300 words without a gun at the back of your head? Well, I mean, highway safety is something everybody's in favor of. And like you said, it helps to save lives and make the road safe for democracy. But what's the prize? The prize? What are they giving away? Uh, a gasoline scooter. I see. But I wasn't even thinking about that, Dan. I'll bet you weren't. I was thinking of the good I can do for my fellow citizens and prosperity. Posterity. You bet. And if I can do things like that, well, gosh. Please pass the cream and sugar. I'll sort of be killing two birds with one gasoline scooter. That's what I'm afraid of. Now, may I please have the cream and sugar? Yes. Thank you. Good morning, mother. Good morning, father. Hi, bud. Good morning, Mrs. Drink your orange juice, Betty. I'll have some scrambled eggs ready in a minute. OK. Shove over, bud. Why can't you sit on the other side? Go ahead, bud. Move over and stop arguing. What a day. What's the matter with you this morning? Oh, that Janie Liggett. What a friend she turned out to be. Yesterday, I sat over there and she still made me shove over. What's the matter with Janie Liggett? You can't count on her for anything. We were going to wash our hair together today and she can't do it. Just because her aunt's in town. What an excuse. It's no wonder my pants were out. All I do is shove over. Now I've got nothing to do all day, but absolutely nothing. Well, suppose you pass the toast. That'll take up some of your loose time. Father, it isn't funny. Here's the toast. Thank you. You're welcome. How would you like to have a day staring you in the face and have absolutely nothing to do? I'd love it. Heck, it's only about two pages. What is? 300 words. I figured it out. Oh, we're back on that again. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Kathy. Golly, am I going to have fun today? Patty Davis and I are going snail hunting. Kathy. They weren't going to pour salt on them and watch them go squish. Ew. Kitten, not at the table. Oh, no, Daddy. Out in the back of the garage. That'd be quite enough of that silly talk, Angel. Drink your orange juice. Yes, Mommy. Well, scrambled eggs and sausage. Don't touch the plate, Jim. It's very hot. I'll be careful. Go ahead, children. Help yourselves. I'll bet nobody knows what today is. It's Thursday, Smarty Pan. God, leave some of the sausages for somebody else. Oh, yes, ma'am. It's the first day of summer. That's what it is. June 21st. Well, Golly, she's right. The first day of summer. What do you know? Matt, please have the butter. Oh, dear. What's the matter, honey? No butter? I've forgotten all about it. Well, it isn't important. Here's the butter, Father. Thank you. Honey, what do you mean you forgot all about it? I didn't mean the butter, Jim. I promise you won't be angry. All right, I promise. Now, what am I not to be angry about? Well, Jim, you know about the Grey Ladies, don't you? You mean the Red Cross? Sure, what about them? Well, they've arranged a whole series of dances for wounded veterans in Plainville. Fine. See, I didn't get angry at all. But I'm not finished. Oh. They, uh, they needed volunteers to drive men from the Veterans Hospital in Springfield over to Plainville, you know. And, well, I said they could definitely have the use of our car. I think it's a very good idea. And, honey, I'm surprised at you. Why should I be angry about a worthy cause like that? Well, the dances are going to be held on Thursday nights. That's even better. That's my bowling night, so I won't even need the car. Who's going to drive it? Um, I told them you would. Oh, well, you what? Now, Jim, you promised. You said that I'd drive the car on Thursday? Well, you said it was a worthy car. I've been bowling every Thursday night for five years. And what right did you have? Margaret. Yes, dear. As long as you give your word, the Grey Ladies and the Veterans will have the car. But we'll have one of the children drive it. Jim. They're both very excellent, careful drivers. And they'd love to take the veterans over to Plainville. Isn't that right? I would, Father. Me too. Jim, you don't understand. The dances won't be over until midnight. Well? By the time they drive back from Plainville and get the men signed in at the hospital, it'll be after two o'clock. And I will not have either one of them running around at that time of the morning. No, I suppose not. But... Wait a minute. I don't ask you to do these things very often, and I certainly think... Honey, I've got a great idea. Why don't you learn how to drive? Jim Anderson, if you think I'm going to learn how to drive, just so you can go and roll a silly ball at a bunch of sticks. Honey, everybody ought to know how to drive a car. Hot and day, kid. You bet. They sure ought. I am not going to learn to drive. I'll be glad to, Daddy. Honey, there's really nothing to it. You'll go to a driving school, take a few lessons, and the first thing you know, you'll be tooling along the road like Barney Oldfield. I am not going to drive a car. But, honey... I'll be glad to, Daddy. Margaret, it's as much for your sake as anyone else's. Why, if you knew how to drive, you'd be absolutely independent of anybody. Jim, I don't think I ought to drive a car. I'll be glad to, Daddy. Gosh, Mom, there isn't anything to driving a car. Honest there isn't. Once you get the hang of it, it's as easy as shooting fish with a barrel. In a barrel. That's what I said. The way they build cars today, a six-year-old child can drive one. I'm nine. Why don't you think it over, honey? And I'm going to be ten. I'll be if you don't keep still. I didn't do anything. How about it, honey? Will you give it a try? It'll be lots of fun, Mother. Jim, I'm too old. Old? Margaret, you're a mere babe. Hiya, babe. Well, I mean, Joe Phillips' mother is older than you are, and she drives. There you are, honey. If that beat will bring... Jim? We can drive. Anybody can. I'll be glad to, Daddy. Of course, I did learn to use my washing machine. You see? And how about the mangle? If you can steer a shirt through one of those, you can certainly steer a car through a simple thing like traffic. I never thought of it like that. What does steering a shirt have to do with... You finish your breakfast and leave this place. Holy cow. Now you can't even talk. How about it, Mother? Will you try? Well... All right. But on one condition. You've got to teach me. Margaret, they've got very good schools for that. And they use their own cars. It's okay, Dad. We can teach her. Of course we can, Father. Honey, it isn't a good idea for a man to teach his own wife. But if we all pitched in, Dad... Creepers, it'd give us something to do. And then I could write an article on highway safety. What can I do? You, Jim... Finish your breakfast. Yes, Daddy. Now look, honey... Jim, I think I'm being very fair about the whole thing. If you'll try to teach me, I'll try to learn. Okay. And if I learn in time for the first veteran's dance, you won't have to bother driving them at all. That's fair, isn't it? All right, Margaret. When is the first dance? Tonight. Well... When? Didn't I tell you I could have sworn I did? Wait a minute. You want me to teach you to drive a car in one day? Well, I learned to use the washing machine in one day. Honey, it's impossible. Nobody can teach you to drive a car in one day. Well, maybe not an ordinary day. But you forget that today is the 21st of June. What's that got to do with it? Why, Jim, it's the longest day of the year. Can't play Margaret too much for having such faith in father's ability to teach her to drive? After all, ladies, you do depend on the head of the house to be an expert on so many things. For example, when it comes to coffee, truly good coffee, your husband is the world's greatest expert. Naturally, we're thought of as pretty fair experts, too. More families buy our Maxwell House coffee than any other brand. But the expert with the final word, the one you want to please, when you brew coffee, is your husband. And tomorrow, if you fill his cup with the superb, full-bodied flavor of our Maxwell House coffee, we're sure he'll smile with pleasure and say, mmm, that's wonderful coffee. In fact, we're so sure he'll say that we'll return your money if he doesn't. You see, we know there's no coffee made like Maxwell House. That's why no coffee tastes like Maxwell House. It's the only coffee with that famous good to the last drop flavor, because only Maxwell House has the recipe. And that's a very special recipe demanding choice, extra-flavor coffees, blended and roasted just so. Get Maxwell House coffee tomorrow and start serving it to your husband. And if he doesn't say best coffee ever, why send us the can and unused portion and we'll gladly refund your money. Our address is right on every familiar blue tin. Yes, tomorrow, find out how much the world's greatest coffee expert, your husband, enjoys Maxwell House coffee. Always good to the last drop. Count that day lost, whose low descending sun, views from my hand no worthy action done. Well, the sun is neither low nor descending, so a lot of time remains for Jim Anderson to do his good deed for the day. Strangely, though, it isn't working out quite the way he had planned. Like this. I never said we were all going to teach your mother to drive. Why, Father? Jim, if the children want to come along... It's going to be tough enough teaching you to drive without having a back seat full of assistance. I won't say anything, Daddy. Gosh, Dad, if your own father won't help you learn about highway safety... But I don't care if you do win the prize. You may not go toodling around the streets on a gasoline scooter. Is that understood? Even if I buy my own gasoline? Even if you come up with your own oil well? Ah, let's not discuss it any further. Dear, we've already wasted a half hour. And if I'm going to learn today... Honey, this whole thing is ridiculous. What, Jim? You can't take one lesson and then show for a bunch of wounded vets. Don't you think they've gone through enough? You might not believe this, Jim, but my grandmother, William, said that I learned how to use a sewing machine faster than anyone she's ever known. Honey, people don't just get into a car and drive. No matter how brilliantly they can use a sewing machine. Maybe she's a mechanical genius, Father. No, sure. I might be. They've got a second prize, too. Mommy, looks like she knows how to drive. What if I just try to win the second prize? But... That wouldn't be bad, would it? What is the second prize? Uh... That's a gasoline scooter, too. Oh, give me strength. Father, if you don't let us come along, we won't have anything to do. But we're not going anywhere. We're just going to drive up and down Maple Street. Well, what are we waiting for? Kathy... She's absolutely right, dear. The sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be finished. All right. Let's go. Golly, this is gonna be fun. What do I do first, Jim? Well, this part is comparatively simple. You get in. Oh. Then on the other side, honey, you're going to drive, remember? Of course. How silly of me. It just isn't the luck, that's all. What is it? The second prize. Fun. Why don't you keep still? I've got as much right to talk as you have. Can't we take a ride in the country, Daddy? Everybody all set? I am. You bet, Dad. In the country, and I want to see the wildflowers, too. I'll be glad to see Maple Street again. All right, honey, let's go. Where, dear? Start the motor. How do I do that? Margaret, you've been sitting next to me for 18 years, and you mean to say you don't even know how to start the motor? Well, I had so much confidence in you, dear. I guess I never noticed. Now, this is going to be fine. Father, why don't you teach her how to shift gears first? Betty, if you don't mind, I'll handle this in my own way. I was just trying to help. It's the same as the other one, but it doesn't have so much chrome on it. But... Yes, sir? Keep still. Yes, sir. Me too, Daddy. Yes, you too. Yes, Daddy. Now, if no one has any objections, I'll teach your mother how to shift gears. Good. Margaret? Yes, dear? The first thing you do is push down the clutch. Oh? Which one is that? Honey, it's not on the dashboard. It's on the floor. And I push it down. That's right. With your left foot. Why my left foot? Because your right foot is busy with the accelerator. When do I do that? Margaret, if you'll only listen. I'm sorry, dear. Go ahead. Push the clutch down with your left foot. Yes. Now, raise the shift lever up and then pull it down. Jim, you're joking. I'm not joking. But if I lift it up and then pull it down, it's right where it was in the beginning. Margaret, you lift it up like this. Yes. Then you pull it toward you. Oh? Then you take your foot off the clutch. I see. Now, it's in first. If you start it in second, Dad, you get a quicker getaway. Wait a minute. You start this car in second? Well, the fellows all say that it doesn't hurt anything. But if I ever find you starting this car in second, so help me, you'll never drive it again. Well, I was only a, I mean, a... Holy Tom. You and your big mouth. I'm not hurting you any, am I? Keep quiet back there, all of you. I didn't say anything, Daddy. Good. Now... I've been very quiet. I know. Now the next... I'm the next... Kathy, will you please keep still? Yes, Daddy. Margaret? Yes, dear. To shift from low to second? How do I get it in low? Then low. I thought that was first. It is first! Jim, really. They're the same thing, Mother. Oh, it's certainly a nice thing to know. Honey, push the clutch down again. Yeah? The other one, Margaret, that's the brake. But I'm pushing it with my left foot. It's still the brake. You're supposed to push that with your right foot. Well, if you're going to make everything so complicated. I'm not making it complicated. Just push down the clutch with your left foot. Jim, you needn't raise your voice. I can hear you. I'm sorry, honey. Please push down the clutch. All right, dear. There. Now, push the shift lever straight up as far as it will go. And release the clutch again. Like that? That's right. Well, that wasn't hard at all, was it? Oh, no. It was fine. Now. You mean there's more? Push the clutch in again. Jim, you're making this all up. No, he isn't, Mother. Well, it certainly sounds silly to me. Margaret, you push the clutch in. Yeah. And you pull the shift lever straight down. Like, that's what I did before. No, honey, this time you don't lift it up before you pull it down. I just pull it down. Right. Then. Now, release the clutch. And you're in high. Now, what do I do? That's it. All you have to do now is steer. Well, it's really very simple, isn't it? Yes, dear. It's very simple. Now, let's all go back into the house and... Honey, we've only just begun. You said all I had to do was steer, and I certainly know how to do that. Margaret, just to humor me, let's try doing it once with the motor running. All right, Jim, but it seems like an awful waste of time. Turn on the ignition. The what? The key. Turn it on. If you meant the key, you should have said the key. Now, wait a minute. I'll put it back in neutral. All right. Step on the starter. With which foot? It's that little button on the dashboard. I've never seen you step on it. Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Come on. Anyone. Go ahead, honey. All right, dear. This is getting easier all the time. Put it in first. All right, dear, you're moving. Come on. You have to let the clutch out. Push down on the gas pedal with your right foot. And take your left foot off the clutch. Like this. Now we're going. Are you kids all right back there? Yes. I think I swallowed my teeth. Now, Margaret, you're supposed to let the clutch out slowly. Please, don't bother me, dude. Please don't bother me, dear. I'm busy steering. All right, but you have to put it into second. That's straight up, isn't it? Yes, but don't forget... ...back. Jim, I think you ought to have this car fixed. There's just as much noise either way. You've got to practice, Margaret. You can't learn it all in one minute. I suppose not. I think I steer very well, don't you? Mom, you're supposed to be on the other side of the street. I'll go over there, presently. Margaret. Yes? I think you'd better forget about driving the car tonight. Jim, I think I'm doing very well. She hasn't hit anything yet, Father. Well, that's a great consolation. Honey, pull over to the curb. We'll try it again. All right. How do I stop it? You used the brake. The thing you were stepping on before. With which foot? The right foot. What do I do with the left foot? You leave it where it is. Step on the brake with your right foot and put your left hand out the window. Jim, I can see from here it isn't raining. Honey, you're supposed to signal to the cars in fact that you're coming to a stop. If they can't see that a big thing like the back of the car is stopping, how can they see my hand? Betty, what was it you said about a mechanical genius? I'm sorry, Father. I take the whole thing back. Boy, have I got an angle on highway safety. You mean from this? You bet. When my mother's driving, everybody's staying the house. But really? Never mind, honey. You'll get it someday. Now, let's stop, shall we? That's the right foot. Yes, dear. I don't see any reason. Honey, the brake, not the gas pedal. I'll craft the emergency fuel. Jim, will you please let go of the wheel? Oh, Margaret. I was that ever close. What is it, kitten? How? Ladies, it's flavor that makes coffee drinking such a pleasure. And it's flavor by which you judge coffee value. Now, there's one coffee, Maxwell House Coffee, that's famous above all others for flavor. Heartwarming, good to the last drop flavor you'll find in no other coffee. And the world's greatest coffee expert, your husband, will back me up on that. Just serve him a cup of wonderfully satisfying Maxwell House. When he says, best coffee ever, you'll know in your home it's Maxwell House for flavor. Then count all the truly good cups you get from each pound. That's final proof that Maxwell House is today's coffee buy. This weekend, then, take home that familiar blue Maxwell House tin with the big white cup and drop. For flavor, for value, make your coffee Maxwell House coffee. Always good to the last drop. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, that's what they say. Of course, I don't know exactly who said it, but I'm sure somebody did. And if they didn't, I'm going to. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, like this. It's sure nice of you gray ladies to do this for us, ma'am. Oh, it isn't anything, really. Well, it isn't everybody who'd give up a whole evening just to drive a bunch of vets over to Plainville. We're very happy to do it, aren't we, dear? Yes, we're very happy. There's a car coming out of that driveway, Jim. Margaret, for 18 years you sat there and you didn't say a word. Now, all of a sudden... Did you see that? He didn't even put his hand out. Yes, sir. People got their own things to do, like playing cards or bowling, stuff like that. Jim, we're coming to a signal. Honey, for the love of Pete... Don't forget to put your hand out for the stop, dear. Oh, why, I can remember months when nobody even came near the hospital. Don't get too close to the white line, dear. Oh, I don't mean we didn't have anything to do for anything like that. Folks, Gainzy, the famous talking dog always says... Gain's meal. What about Gain's meal, Gainzy? Nourishes every inch of a dog. It sure does. Kennel and laboratory tests prove Gain's meal supplies balanced nourishment your dog needs for good health. Yet Gain's costs less to feed than any other type of dog food. So folks, get Gain's meal. America's largest selling dog food. Join us again next week when we'll be back with Father Knows Best, starring Robert Young as Jim Anderson with Roy Barkey in the Maxwell House Orchestra. In our cast were Rhoda Williams as Betty, June Whitley, Ted Donaldson, Norma G. Nilsson, Ben Weldon and yours truly, Bill Fornton. We've just had a lot of fun about how not to drive a car. But I'm sure we all know that driving an automobile is a serious responsibility. So let's be especially careful on our streets and highways this summer. Now until next Thursday, good night and good luck from the makers of Maxwell House, America's favorite brand of coffee. Always good to the last drop. Father Knows Best was transcribed in Hollywood and written by Ed James. Now stay tuned for Dragnet, which follows immediately over most of these stations. Dragnet, the story of your police force is next on NBC.