Trying to Assemble Bones

Originally Aired: March 23, 1938

Lum #11, "Trying to Assemble Bones," finds Abner and Grandpappy Spears hard at work in Lum's house, attempting to reconstruct the prehistoric fossil they discovered in Abner's yard. Using baling wire and a reference book on historic animals, the two men struggle to determine which bones belong where, debating whether the back legs should be longer than the front and whether they're looking at the right picture in the book. Their makeshift paleontology efforts prove more difficult than a jigsaw puzzle, especially when they realize they may have assembled parts incorrectly and still have leftover pieces they can't figure out how to incorporate.

Meanwhile, Lum has gone to the barber shop to get cleaned up, anticipating the arrival of an archaeology professor from the State University who could arrive any day this week. The men are eager to have their dinosaur properly assembled before the expert shows up to examine their discovery. As they hide the extra bones they can't fit and worry about getting caught with an incomplete reconstruction, their ambitious venture into prehistoric science teeters between hopeful discovery and comedic disaster.