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As Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis contemplate the boring weekend, the doorbell brings news. Mrs. Davis is certain it’s bad news. Mrs. Davis is superstitious about opening telegrams, and won’t let Connie open it for her. As the messenger boy waits an immediate reply, who will open the telegram, and be the bearer of news? Maybe Walter will open the telegram?
Let’s take this log jam on the road, and visit the Conklin home. The telegram is thought to be from dear old uncle Corkie, most beloved volunteer who loved to play Santa at Christmas. With all the chatter, won’t somebody just open the telegram? It may not even contain bad news. Elsewhere, in the telegraph office, a cantankerous uncle Corkie impatiently awaits his immediate reply. The old crab sure doesn’t seem like he enjoys being the school Santa as everybody implies.
Back with Connie, the message is damaged, opened, and misunderstood. Since Corkie has long since given up on his immediate reply, he is due to arrive and receive a surprise by the gang. A Christmas in July party. Oh, he’ll be surprised alright, but not the way the gang all hoped for. What would make the old bird really happy is to have a few moments alone with Miss Brooks. Maybe this guy ought to give lessons to Boynton.
PS: Gotta love Connie’s response to the dirty old man.
