I loved Fred Allen, who had a radio show. His humor was witty and somewhat subtle, not just one gag after another. I loved him but my mother didn’t. He had a bit called Allen’s Alley where he would walk down the hall (and here is where radio shines–you could image him walking down a corridor in a building just like yours). Anyway, he would knock on doors and various characters would appear. For instance, one was a Southern blow hard named Senator Claghorn. (“Ah say, I said, I will neva go to Yankee Stadium!”) My daughter tells me this is the basis of a cartoon character, Foghorn Leghorn.

Well one of the occupants of Allen’s Alley was Mrs. Nussbaum, an obviously Jewish character with a Yiddish accent, played by the wonderful Minerva Pious. (“Who stole mine stole?”) I thought this was hilarious. But my mother never liked anything where they made fun of Jewish people. She took umbrage. My mother hated Mrs. Nussbaum and anything that was a take-off, travesty, or stereotype.

But Minerva Pious was delightful. Click on the player below to hear her as Mrs. Nussbaum on the Fred Allen Show, May 26, 1946. You will have to decide if it is offensive or funny, or both.