The Maxwell

[JohnY]

Hi all,

New to the forum. It has been fun reading through some of the old topics. I had a question and I didn't see a discussion of this elsewhere.

I am confused about the Maxwell and it may be that I just missed something. Did Jack have a Maxwell after WWII or just some unnamed old junker that people just assumed was a Maxwell?

By way of background:

Jack buys the Maxwell on the 10/24/1937 program

He trades it in on the 10/18/1942 program as part of the WWII scrap metal drive.

On 12/5/1943, Jack reveals that he bought a "new" car because he had traded in the Maxwell for the scrap drive. The new car is a yellow taxi.

On 4/27/1947, the Colmans ride in Jack's car and it is clearly an old jalopy with some of the old sounds and flaws of the Maxwell. However, Ronald Colman specifically asks if the car is the Maxwell, and Jack says no because he had traded it in.

But by the 4/24/1949 program, Jack is talking about trading in his car. The two old ladies on the sidewalk see them. One refers to it as a Stanley Steamer, but the other one says it is just a Maxwell that blew it's top. No one else is in the episode says it is a Maxwell.

Am I missing something? Is there an episode where Jack gets a "new" Maxwell, or was it just expedient to work that angle with an old car without saying anything about it specifically?

(Update: On the 3/13/49 program, Rochester does say it is a Maxwell. So it looks like the writers just decided to forget he gave it way?)

[Ray Faiola]

Jack donated his Maxwell to the scrap drive for WWII. After the war he had an "old car" which soon became the old Maxwell again. It was simple dramatic license that they ignored the wartime intervention. I don't think they ever explained Carmichael's disappearance.

One of the biggest laughs I had (I almost drove off the road!) was in one of the very last shows when Ed (Joe Kearns) came up from the vault and Rochester screamed "Boss! You found the gas man!!"