Bully Boys 1/5

Old timey western music with the “boing boing” sound effect and an establishing shot of a run down shack open up this episode. A man walks out of the shack while putting on his shirt, spits, stretches, and walks over to a barrel of water to wash up. This is the opposite of sexy. “George, Bubba: get a move on” he calls into the house. An older fellow walks out and asks “what’s the hurry, Sam?” That must be George, since Sam says Bubba needs to go to school and the kid who is now in the scene starts to whine. Sam explains that one day the kid “is going to pick up a man’s poke [huh?] and it’s going to have a dollar in it, a quarter, a dime and a nickel and how much are you going to have?” Bubba says he doesn’t know, making his Brain Age 75. For some reason Sam is thrown by this, stammers that it’s a dollar and a half (wrong), and tells Bubba to wash his face. As Bubba cleans up, he asks what he should do about lunch. Sam tells him to find some since someone there will have more than they need. Ugh, Bubba’s going to be that kid that is always asking to borrow a piece a paper AND a pen AND the answers. He runs off and the two older guys decide to head into town.

Mrs. Oleson is getting the Mercantile ready for the day, including sprucing up a crystal punch bowl set. Who besides the Oleson family would want to buy that? Sam and George enter the store and Mrs. Oleson is instantly dubious as she says “good morning”. Sam is eating a pear and Harriet takes notice, letting them know that they are “not inexpensive” at twenty cents a peck. Sam is all “fine, we’ll take a bushel.” This surprises Harriet, but since the guys are planning on spending money she starts to change her tone. After some more formal introductions, Sam tells Harriet that his family is moving into Walnut Grove and they need provisions. Mrs. Oleson’s Spidey Sense is still tingling and she is a bit unwelcoming towards the Galenders and tries to upsell them out of the store. Sam tells her that price isn’t a concern and this charms Harriet.

As this awkward and off-putting transaction is taking place, Nels is riding up to the Mercantile. He walks in carrying a package as George lights up a cigar in the showroom. I’m not sure if this is objectionable to the Olesons but I’m not a fan. Nels greets the two men and his wife and she updates her husband on who these guys are. Nels welcomes them and hopes they like the town. “If everyone is as kind as your wife, I’m sure we will,” says George. Oy, where to begin? Harriet accepts the compliment and then tallies up the Galenders’ bill at over $16. Sam takes a look at the bill and tells the Olesons to charge it to their account. The Olesons balk at this. Nels tries to stammer out an explanation of their credit system but doesn’t get too far before George drops one of the glass decanters from the display table. Harriet’s jaw drops as George tells them, in a semi-menacing way, that the broken glass should go on their bill, too. Sam tells his brother to stop being clumsy then explains to the Olesons that he has a bank draft coming in on Friday that should cover the bill. That sounds rather Wimpy to me, but the Olesons seem to be okay with this arrangement. Now my Spidey Sense is tingling.

Over at the school, Bubba is telling Miss Beadle how to spell his last name. She also asks if Bubba is his given name, which causes the class to laugh before he authoritatively says “That’s right.” Miss Beadle calms the class down and welcomes Bubba to the school. She also explains that there are so few boys in the class at the moment because it is right in the middle of growing season. “All farmers, huh?” Bubba asks with a smirk creeping across his face. He sits down next to Willie, who stares at the new kid a moment before informing him that Bubba is the silliest name he ever heard. Bubba promptly knocks Willie to the ground. The Ingalls girls observe this and do not appear to be amused.

Over at the mill, Charles is loading a wagon with some lumber. The Galenders are walking over and ask Charles if he is Mr. Hanson. Charles calls his boss over to talk with the Galenders about a lumber sale. Sam and George introduce themselves and tell Mr. Hanson they need the lumber to fix up their new place. Hanson tells the guys they’ll need plenty of lumber and the Galenders guestimate that the wagonload that Charles is preparing should be enough. Hanson tells them that Mr. Henderson has already reserved that lumber, but Charles cuts in saying that Henderson isn’t starting his project for a couple of weeks so a new load can be prepped for him by then. George offers to pay an extra $2 for the wagonload, but Hanson says that he is only going to charge $18 since that’s what he is charging Henderson. Sam explains the bank note situation to Hanson, but he agrees to deliver the goods that afternoon. Wimpy!