Wayback Radio Theater presents The Lost Gildersleeves


       
     One of America's favorite comedies during radio's golden age, The Great Gildersleeve was broadcast weekly on NBC beginning in  1941 and continuing through the late 1950s.  The Kraft Cheese Company (later renamed The Kraft Foods Company) sponsored the program from its inception until 1955.  Although the vast majority of  programs broadcast during the Kraft years  have survived in recorded form, approximately thirty programs are not in circulation among collectors and, thus, can be considered "lost" unless and until they are found.  These include many top notch scripts from the wartime years.  On this page, Wayback Radio Theater presents  re-creations of many of those "lost" episodes. 
    By request of a listener, during 2012 we recorded a conversation with the cast.  You can listen to it here.




Episode 028
Original Broadcast date: March 8, 1942
Gone With the Wind
Download



Episode 032
Original Broadcast Date:  April 5, 1942
Easter Egg Hunt
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Episode 033
Original Broadcast Date:  April 12 1942
Felling a Tree
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Episode 039
Original Broadcast date: May 24, 1942
Three Dates for the USO Dance
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Episode 047
Original Broadcast date:  September 13, 1942
Winning the War
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Episode 060
Original Broadcast date:  December 13, 1942
Bye-Bye Birdie
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Episode 069
Original Broadcast date:  February 14, 1943
Prank Valentines
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Episode 070
Original Broadcast date:  February 21, 1943
The Keystone Club
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Episode 074
Original Broadcast date:  March 21, 1943
Community Victory Garden
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Episode 080
Original Broadcast date:  May 2, 1943
Hard Water
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Episode 087
Original Broadcast date:  June 20, 1943
Bachelor Dinner for Gildy
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Episode 090
Original Broadcast date:  September 5, 1943
New Grammar School Principal
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Episode 094
Original Broadcast date:  October 3, 1943
After School Activities
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Episode 096
Original Broadcast date:  October 17, 1943
Heart Trouble
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Episode 101
Original Broadcast date:  November 21, 1943
Moose Hunt
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Episode 102
Original Broadcast date:  November 28, 1943
The Concert Pianist
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Episode 103
Original Broadcast date:  December 5, 1943
Leila's Unpaid Water Bill
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Episode 104
Original Broadcast date:  December 12, 1943
Marjorie Runs Away
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Episode 105
Original Broadcast date:  December 19, 1943
Christmas Eve Search Party
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Episode 106
Original Broadcast date:  December 26, 1943
Rainy Day After Christmas
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Episode 107
Original Broadcast date:  January 2, 1944
New Year, New Man
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Episode 113
Original Broadcast date:  February 13, 1944
Anonymous Valentine
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Episode 116**
Original Broadcast date:  March 5, 1944
Balancing the Checkbook
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Episode 117**
Original Broadcast date:  March 12, 1944
To Run or Not To Run
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Episode 120
Original Broadcast date:  April 2, 1944
Election Platform
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Episode 122
Original Broadcast Date:  April 16 1944
Gildy Quits the Mayor's Race
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Episode 123
Original Broadcast date:  April 23, 1944
Arbor Day Speaker
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Episode 159
Original Broadcast date:  March 4, 1945
Hiding from Aunt Hattie
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Episode 161*
Original Broadcast date:  March 18, 1945
Leila Hears a Burglar
Download


Un-numbered Episode
Original Broadcast date:  June 24, 1945
Inviting the Bullards to Dinner
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  Original Wayback Radio Theater Scripts

  Birdie's Christmas Story - Live Performance
Download 2009 Performance
Download 2022 Performance


Gildersleeve's Lucky Day
Download


Aunt Hattie Fills In for Birdie
Download



 *This Episode has subsequently been found.
** Purported to exist but not currently circulating