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Drama & Anthology · Syndicated (C. P. MacGregor transcription, Hollywood -- distribution proven 1942; 1938 origination on secondary sourcing)

Jonathan Thomas and His Christmas on the Moon

November 29, 1938 – December 24, 1938 · 26 broadcasts

A boy of six climbs a moonbeam after his runaway teddy bear and ends up saving Christmas. That is the whole of Jonathan Thomas and His Christmas on the Moon, a twenty-six chapter children's serial syndicated on transcription discs by the C. P. MacGregor company of Hollywood for the 1938 holiday season -- one quarter-hour a day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. On the Moon, Jonathan and his bear Guz are hauled before Old King Cole, accused of the kidnapping of Santa Claus, and sent off to put it right. What follows is a chase across a landscape assembled from every fairy tale on the nursery shelf: a talking, dancing horse named Gorgonzola, a witch who will not be shaken off, a dragon with thirteen tails, a walrus called Sir Algy, a hermit named Kermit, and a Looking Glass Land with a Queen Alice in it. Much of it is written in rhyme. It was built to compete with The Cinnamon Bear, and it lost -- the Bear had the sponsors and became a tradition, while Jonathan Thomas faded into the collector's category of lost classics. Its admirers have argued ever since that it is the better-written of the two. All twenty-six chapters survive.

Collection status: 26 of 26 held (100% complete)
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Episode Spine

1938

November 29, 1938 Santa Claus Is Kidnapped by the Squeebubblians Listen (MP3)
A rhyming narrator introduces a boy just turned six and promises that what follows could have happened to any listener instead.
November 30, 1938 Jonathan Promises to Find Santa Claus Listen (MP3)
In the city of Ohmagoodness, Old King Cole convenes a court to root out a spy, with Professor Iamloony prosecuting and a weary lion for the defence.
December 1, 1938 Jonathan Meets Gorgonzola the Horse Listen (MP3)
Old King Cole sends Jonathan off to Squeebubble country to bring Santa back; his companions are the Man in the Moon and a horse that talks and dances.
December 2, 1938 In the Valley of the Three Dwarfs Listen (MP3)
The road to Squeebubble runs through a canyon belonging to three dwarfs, and the only way past it is to sing.
December 3, 1938 The Merry-Go-Round River Listen (MP3)
A witch dogs the travellers through the land of Rumplestitch and swears to keep at it until she has Jonathan -- then the Merry-Go-Round River blocks the way.
December 4, 1938 The Fairy Queen Listen (MP3)
Stuck at the river with a half-remembered magic phrase, the party is met by Teenya, good fairy queen of Never Mean, who gives them a charm.
December 5, 1938 Dragon with the Thirteen Tails Listen (MP3)
Inside the Nightmare Forest the fairy's acorn keeps the travellers awake, a thirteen-tailed dragon roars somewhere ahead, and the hunt is on for a pepper tree.
December 6, 1938 Whiskery Bill the Squirrel Listen (MP3)
The witch of Rumplestitch learns that the fairy's charm outmatches her hold on the Nightmare Forest, while the travellers fall in with a mischievous squirrel.
December 7, 1938 Jonathan Has Fallen Under the Witch's Spell Listen (MP3)
A fright from Whiskery Bill spills Jonathan off the horse and into the forest, where the witch's spell takes him -- asleep, she promises, for a million years.
December 8, 1938 Jonathan in the Witch's Dream Cave Listen (MP3)
Held fast in Slumber Cave, Jonathan dreams himself the witch's prisoner.
December 9, 1938 Whiskery Bill Meets the Walrus Listen (MP3)
Hunting a red rose, Whiskery Bill takes up with a walrus burdened by the longest name on the Moon: Sir Algernon Q. Whipplesnapple, mercifully shortened to Sir Algy.
December 10, 1938 Getting Rubies at the Rainbow Bridge Listen (MP3)
At Rainbow Bridge the squirrel and the walrus ask for the colour red to redden a white rose, but the bridge's keeper is a miser about his rubies.
December 11, 1938 Crossing the Frozen River Listen (MP3)
A glowing ruby in hand, the pair start back toward the briar rose -- and the witch, watching through her mirror, sets out to stop them.
December 12, 1938 Jonathan Wakes Up from the Witch's Spell Listen (MP3)
Carrying the one thing that would wake Jonathan, Whiskery Bill and Sir Algy go through the river ice, and the squirrel cannot swim.
December 13, 1938 O'Gigraf the Lion Listen (MP3)
Back on the quest, Jonathan and the Man in the Moon meet Tiddle and Dewink, wake a lion who has no name, and between them settle on O'Gigraf.
December 14, 1938 Saving the Elf King Listen (MP3)
Pleased with his new name, O'Gigraf hands over a box of roars -- enough to frighten off the witch and free a small king called His Majesty the King of Any Old Thing.
December 15, 1938 The Wall of Doors Listen (MP3)
Freed from the witch, the little king is grateful -- and grateful in gold: a key, and the knowledge of which of all those doors it fits.
December 16, 1938 In the Kingdom of Alice Listen (MP3)
Beyond the doors, disembodied voices answer back and a trio of guards -- Me, Myself and I -- deliver the news that Guz is behind bars, no bail allowed.
December 17, 1938 Queen Alice's Ball Listen (MP3)
In Looking Glass Land the travellers make their way toward an audience with Queen Alice.
December 18, 1938 King Squeebubbly and Santa Claus Listen (MP3)
Santa, tricked and overpowered one night, is a prisoner in Squeebubblian country -- and good Queen Alice sends Jonathan off with a plan to get him out.
December 19, 1938 Jonathan Grows Large and Small Listen (MP3)
Alice's whistle makes Jonathan tower over the Squeebubblians, but shrinking back takes a second blow and a third at exactly the right height, or he keeps on sinking.
December 20, 1938 Kermit the Hermit Listen (MP3)
The witch is waiting disguised as a tree; a suspicious hermit named Kermit gives Jonathan a rhyme that will show her for what she is.
December 21, 1938 The Dragon with the Thirteen Tails Again Listen (MP3)
Clear of the witch, the party runs into a pea-soup fog with the thirteen-tailed dragon somewhere inside it and one building ahead for shelter.
December 22, 1938 Captured by the Squeebubblians Listen (MP3)
A large helping of plum pudding gives the dragon a stomach ache, but the witch reaches the king of Squeebubble first and the guards turn out to stop Christmas altogether.
December 23, 1938 Rescuing Santa Claus Listen (MP3)
Jailed by the king of Squeebubble with Santa still captive, Jonathan remembers that Alice's whistle shrinks as well as grows.
December 24, 1938 Going Home Listen (MP3)
The breakout is spotted, guards converge from all sides, and Christmas -- with the promise Jonathan made to keep it -- comes down to the last hours.
The Story

A boy of six climbs a moonbeam after his runaway teddy bear and ends up saving Christmas. That is the whole of Jonathan Thomas and His Christmas on the Moon, a twenty-six chapter children's serial syndicated on transcription discs by the C. P. MacGregor company of Hollywood for the 1938 holiday season -- one quarter-hour a day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. On the Moon, Jonathan and his bear Guz are hauled before Old King Cole, accused of the kidnapping of Santa Claus, and sent off to put it right. What follows is a chase across a landscape assembled from every fairy tale on the nursery shelf: a talking, dancing horse named Gorgonzola, a witch who will not be shaken off, a dragon with thirteen tails, a walrus called Sir Algy, a hermit named Kermit, and a Looking Glass Land with a Queen Alice in it. Much of it is written in rhyme. It was built to compete with The Cinnamon Bear, and it lost -- the Bear had the sponsors and became a tradition, while Jonathan Thomas faded into the collector's category of lost classics. Its admirers have argued ever since that it is the better-written of the two. All twenty-six chapters survive.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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