 Your coca-cola bottler presents Claudia Claudia based on the famous play and novels by Rose Franken Brought to you transcribed Monday through Friday by your friendly neighbor who bottles coca-cola Relax and while you're listening refresh yourself have a coke and now Claudia Go on Roger. Let yourself go. Yes. Give a really good John Roger. We have the thing to do all easy What a luxury you mean having not a thing to do as you spend this kind of evening in the city certainly not Oh, come there evenings in the city when you have nothing to do But when you have nothing to do in the city it's a catastrophe When you're alone with nothing but a book to read with no theater appointment or dinner date when the evening Stretches out ahead of you empty and solitary in the city. It's a terrible crisis Go on. What do you mean to say is Roger the minute you stay in Eastbrook with us You're perfectly contented to be a vegetable not contented exalted Revelling it. I enjoy my vegetableness to the utmost and why haven't you been here in weeks? I didn't see you now and then the office. I hardly hardly know you now Roger You you must come more often and be a vegetable. Yes, I'd love it I think a man of my age should move to the land David spend the rest of his life in contemplation and dreaming a man of your Age talks more nonsense and the man of my age It's one of the privileges of my age, but I'll never do it. You mean contemplate I'll never have the courage to make the break that takes use more as the pity now listen you You're perfectly contented with your life as it is You're completely satisfied to live in New York and dined at elegant restaurants and live a stone's throw from the office So don't give me this belong in a blondie. Is it David? My boy would that it were a blondie No, come on. It's Tucker. We're in the living room. There goes my peace and quiet back Old man plays on my nerves like a pickle. You don't like our mr. Tucker. I adore him But he doesn't allow me to indulge myself in my dreams of being a farmer He makes me realize I'll never get out of my concrete tomb. What a way to talk and he's so rustic senior lights burning in the living room I knew you was to home. Oh, oh there mr. Killian So just a ambled over here with some important news. Hello there, mr. Tucker. I said hello to you I'm merely returning the compliment. You don't have to say hello again. Oh, don't worry. I ain't naming two I never waste one word when two is just as good What's your important news mr. Tucker to me you're always bursting with important news just like a hand my important news like eggs Don't keep ma'am. This here's not only important news. It's well. It's chimp. It's a I gotta say it's well It's good. Go dang him part. Well then for heaven's sake out with it Remember that there land across the road mr. Norton remember how can I forget it? Yeah, every time I look out my window There it is remember when I come over here already pressed like a flag on a windless dance because you thought they were going to build a Housing development across the road remember how I told you that if they take that land and build houses like cracker boxes all over not head For the open way. Yes, I remember all of that, but what's your news easy son now? Don't rush me sit down David put your feet up relax. Christmas will come soon What's Christmas got to do with it? Oh nothing nothing mr. Tucker. Well, what is your news? Build a housing development after all they are not not over my dead body Remember that their land across the road was owned be a man that lives fast bridge part ways What a dopey is he owns such a beautiful piece of land and he goes and lives past Bridgeport of ways Well good news he's dead I suppose we should all get up and shout with cleave because the old man is dead Well, that ain't nothing to be so cheerful about but it just goes to show that if a man ain't got the sense to live Where the living is good that he just clean up and dies young the hell was this man mr. Tucker Not a day past 75 and if he had half the sense I was born with he'd be walking over these here matters right this minute 90 o'clock at night. I doubt it. Well, you ain't letting me come to the point You're interrupting all the time just like they're like polka dots. I'm in a rock. Claudia go on mr. Tucker Yep, he's dead they tell me his blood started turning to stone hardening of the arteries probably had a heart of stone to start with What's that dear ma'am speak up if you got something to say don't mumble I just wanted to know what the man's hard blood had to do. Oh, well go on. Mr. Tucker, please I'm so they're selling it selling what what do you think they're selling a granite monument for his headstone If you use your grades, mr. Killian, you'd know what they're selling the granite headstone They're selling the land for his grave They're selling the land across the road the estate is a call there selling the land You mean the estate is selling the estate. I've always wondered why they called it in the state Which one is state? Oh, oh that estate. Oh, you young and making jokes and news I gave you ain't sunk deeper in the chicken scratching for cause the news you told us has sunk in but So what they're selling the land so what that means you can buy it We can buy sure you're aiming to buy more land ain't you ain't just gonna set on these here acres you got are you? 78 acres seems plenty to sell I say you can't shed on 78 acres all your life. You got to buy more land. Why? Well, because that's the pattern of it may be the pattern of things But it's not in the finance of things I'm afraid you mean to say you're gonna let there that they're beautiful property across the road Go to waste. Oh somebody'll buy it. Maybe somebody will sure somebody'll buy it They'll build an aquarium on their skyscraper or something Somebody might buy it but that there somebody might not be a man to raise corner plant is his field with corner farmers lander Have cows that that's why I say you you got to buy it a man Well, a man who's got respect for our way of life who ain't going to sell us down to Civilization for a million dollars. I know how you feel mr. Tucker, but there's certain things that are just out of reach We can't afford to buy a fair Square foot of it. Hey, we just have to sit here and pray that the person who can afford to buy it will be a person who Wants to abide by our way of life. That's all we're giving up. No, I'm not giving up. I've been giving up I haven't inherited a million dollars. I haven't found an oil well in my backyard I haven't made a fortune on the stock market. I haven't even well I haven't even saved up enough money to bill my wife a breakfast porch and You want me to buy a 50 acres? No, look so sad Maybe you haven't made a million dollars. It struck a fortune, but I hate an oil well in my backyard I don't trust getting rich on stocks and so I don't look sad and I don't feel sad. I just want mr. Tucker to realize in spite of myself We just simply can't afford 50 more acres of land. I wish I could wish I had the strength to raise a herd of cows It would be so fine. I'd be a Croesus overnight. I wish I had enough hot blood to run around in my veins that I could scurry around this county to raise the money to buy that land Wished I had enough years left ahead of me to make any gamble. I need to make knowing I had the time to pay it off Just shows I could buy that land the thing what gets into a man's blood if he's been born and raised and lived a farmer for 86 years He just don't like to see a fine piece of metal and bought for other purposes It's like taking a perfectly good right arm and not using it for anything practical Well, sorry, I come over and disturb you mr. Tucker. Don't talk like that Oh Every now and then the circumstance comes up and shakes me be the shoulder and makes me look at myself and what to see it Don't make me happy What I see is a tired old man amblin down a few lean years Stepping cautious for fear. He'll break a bone looking neither to right nor to the left for fear Stray off the path huddling himself up saving his last few precious hours Dang it. I I don't like it. I won't have none of it My ginger if I had half the spirit I had at your age. I'd sell my false teeth and buy me that acreage My heck I I need them false choppers. I need them bad. Good night. Good night, mr. Tucker I'll see you to the door. I'll see myself to the door son And the day I can't see myself to the door I'm gonna pull that granite monument over my head stay where you are don't take nothing I said as an insult because I guess I was just talking that myself most of the time So wonderful not to be old what's so wonderful about it Mr. Tucker is over 50 years older than we are but it looks as if we're in the same boat You hadn't said a word in ours Haven't I know I hadn't noticed sitting there like a sphinx Then what is my riddle? I know what your riddle is. I wouldn't doubt it. Somebody tell me please David I'll enter the money. I don't want to be lend any money. Thank you I have enough money as it is. You don't know much money. You only owe the mortgage. That's all I want to Oh, you know David's very conservative about owing money. I don't mind owing money so much I just hate having debts. I don't know why you won't borrow the money from me. After all, I am your partner I'm your friend Why I consider myself almost a part of this family. Oh, you've done enough for us already Roger You made me a partner in your firm. You helped us buy this farm You've been a great friend anything I've done for you. I've done for myself. So don't worry This time I'd really like to help you ask me Roger because I'll only keep saying no Don't ask him Roger. You know David as well as I do so don't ask him Please then borrow the money from our firm set up a purely business proposition pay the loan off as you can I won't be able to pay it off. That's the whole point I'm paying the interest on the mortgage and working this farm and keeping the house going and we have a baby Don't forget. I'm just about keeping up with myself heavy load. So that's that for now But mr. Killian it strikes me that a few minutes ago you were talking about retiring to the land Why don't you buy it? Yes, I talked about it talked about it a long time. I Just never did anything about it Even when I had the strength and the courage instead, I led you to buy this farm and Instead now I do anything I could to help you buy that land But as for myself David I've gone too long away My life has taken its mode Just look at it out the window Stretching across and across and across Beautiful rolling land Some strangers going to buy it. Yep That's life. You know, I was perfectly happy until I found out I wanted that land Now that I can't have it. I'm as sad as a Russian wolf home. That's a lovely disposition you have and you saying Awful to want something most after you find out you can't have it. Yes. Oh, well Let's go to bed and forget it. Yes, oh I can so this is your idea of an evening in the country with nothing to do an evening When nothing is supposed to happen and life stands still nothing has happened nothing at all Nothing except two young people. I know have developed a big appetite for 50 acres of land and now must deny themselves the dish. I Don't call that Nothing. Well, what do you call it Roger? I call it a big slice of life a very generous portion of experience For an evening when nothing at all was the fare written on the menu This broadcast of Claudia was supervised and directed by William Brown Maloney When you enter the lobby of a movie theater these days One of the first things to greet your eyes is a sign that says ice-cold coca-cola Now you can add a gala note to your movie going when you pause for a refreshing coke before or after the show and Treat your guests to refreshment as well as entertainment Every day Monday through Friday Claudia comes to you transcribed with the best wishes of your friendly neighbor who bottles coca-cola So listen again tomorrow at the same time And now this is Joe King saying or if war and remember Whoever you are whatever you do wherever you may be when you think of refreshment think of coca-cola Or coca-cola makes any pause the pause that refreshes and ice-cold coca-cola is everywhere