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Lum has returned with Trixie, and her little dog. He and Abner talk about the vicious little critter, how he bites, and how Trixie pampers the pooch. Abner has trouble in grasping what good a Pikanese is when it comes to hunting.
From their discussion of how pretty Trixie is, and how she flirts with every man she sees, we learn that she doesn’t quite fit into the church crowd on Sunday mor nings. Trixie is a Burlesque performer, and apparently rides bicycles.
As the topic of church, and sermons continues, we learn a little about a few of Pine Ridge backsliders, including the preacher. Lum is forgiving of the hypocracy, figuring that folks mean well, and try to do their best anyway. Trixie phones in to talkj to her dog, Choo Choo Pie, but Lum is afraid to admit he let someone else take the critter for a walk. Can Abner fool her into thinking that he’s actually her pet?
PS: A lot of the backwoods morality and ethical code is firmly entrenched in the culture of the years of some 40 or 50 years earlier. During those days of the turn of the 19th century into the 20th century, respectable women wore heavy clothes from neck to foot, and riding a bike was a sport only for men. It was scandalous for a woman to ride a bike unless she was either accompanied by a gentleman escort, or it was on a bicycle built for two.
Going to a Burlesque show was something we almost never hear about in the world of Lum and Abner. Though it was a topic of an early, no longer existing recording or script, for Lum and Abner to pretend not to know what a Burlesque is, isn’t a far stretch for their characters. Whether anybody else in Pine Ridge knows what that form of entertainment is all about, Trixie certainly does a number on the righteous folks of the town, stirring things up quite nicely.
