The Fourth of July

On the Fourth of July it's easy to simply sit back and consider the birth of our nation, but something I heard in one of our radio shows recently made me think of how sometimes there is more to an old time radio show than purely entertainment...

Every so often, something leaps from the speaker and grabs my attention and today was a perfect example.

It was a show from the Cavalcade of America entitled Grandpa and the Statue, and is the warm story of the most famous pin-up girl in the world - the Statue of Liberty, upon which of course, is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence.

Given as a gift of friendship to America by the French, 'Liberty Enlightening The World' is universally recognised as symbol of freedom and democracy, with the seven spikes on the crown representing the seven oceans and the seven continents of the world.

But in the summer of 1885 the Statue of Liberty was in New York in pieces, awaiting assembly. A granite plinth for the statue was needed, but nobody could find the money to pay for it. Committees, Governors, and even Congress had tried find ways to fund the pedestal, but everyone fell short.

It seemed as though New York had run out of options, when the publisher Joseph Pulitzer decided to launch a fundraising campaign in his newspaper, The New York World.

This is the story about that triumphant effort to raise the money from more than 160,000 donors, including young children, businessmen, street cleaners and politicians, and in particular a crusty old man named Monaghan, played by Charles Laughton, and how from his early scepticism and refusal to contribute $1 towards her pedestal, he learned to love her.

As well as the shows that we will be adding this week you can also click here for a list of shows relating to our American Day of Independence.

May Joy and I wish you and your family a gloriously happy Fourth of July.

Happy listening my friends,