Sister Molly Finnister is modelled on Sister Aimee Semple McPherson, a female Pentecostal evangelist who had a popular radio ministry and did faith healing in a large church in LA called the Angellus Temple.
Lewis and the others park near a theater showing the 1938 remake of "The Dawn Patrol". The movie premiered in December 1938, placing the events of the episode in that month.
In the scene at the beach, Peter Craft is reading what appears to be an early edition of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, published in 1936. The famous film adaptation, Gone with the Wind (1939), would have been in production while the events of this episode took place.