AUNT BEA

Don D

Why was there a swinging kitchen door in Andy's house and what religion was Aunt Bea that required her to always wear her hair up in a bun?

Rockie

Gee Don, I must have missed that episode! I'd guess there was a swinging door because she always had her hands full of food when she was going from the kitchen to the dining room and it was easier to push it open.

As far as the bun,I haven't a clue!

System

I think the bun was a fashion statement.

ritaanz

The swinging door....that's so she could tell Opie, "Don't let the door hit you in the a** on your out." Off camera of course.

Dutch2

How's 'bout: a swinging door so that the door would always be closed and the camera did not have to be concerned when making shooting from other angles that there really wasn't always a kitchen on the other side of the door.
Hair in a bun, I would have to guess Assembly of God or a branch thereof.

ray a

Wasn't it common for situation comedies to use a swinging door to the kitichen? The Petries on the Dick VanDyke show had one, too.

Let's see, hair bun, swinging door - swinger? There must be some deep seated emotional connection between the two.

Don D

on whose part? Since you're making the connection, can we assume it's on yours?

I don't think it would be Assembly of God because she always wore a gaudy string of large, faux pearls from the hardware store. I may be wrong, but I think AOG shuns jewelry like that, but it would be consistent with her never wearing pants (as in slacks).

Speaking of S. Moll, I noticed that the camera never showed Bea's shoes, so she was probably barefoot(ed).

ray a

Yeah, I have this thing for hair buns. My AOG aunt wore gaudy jewelry and pants.

System

I specifically recall an episode with Aunt Bea on the sofa and her shoes were brown, ortho-style, wedgies with shoestrings (velcro had not been invented then). But the shoes went well with the bun.

JudyT929

Didn't most all homes of that era have a swinging kitchen door? Back in "those days" women belonged in the kitchen and men didn't want to see what was happening behind the door they just wanted the food on the table. I think the bun signifys Wican religion cause they all had to be witches to be so cheery all the time.

zen

I have had a solid swinging kitchen door in the last three houses I've lived in. All were built around the turn of the century. Parents have one, too in their house - keeps the messy pots and pans in the kitchen invisible to dinner guests in the dining room, keeps noises and steam from bothering diners, also. Since the door swings both ways, you can carry armloads of stuff in and out without problems - makes sense if you think about it.

As far as the bun thing...maybe it was a way for her to show off her lovely double chin to full advantage? I do have a question...if Floyd was the town barber, who was Aunt Bea's beautician?

As far as being so cheerful - isn't that about the time frame that Valium and Nebutol first came out? How about an episode where Aunt Bea visits the Valley of the Dolls?

sonny

There is an episode where Aunt Bea gets into the traveling salesman's feel good tonic. It's a classic.

TN HR

Mad TV or In Living Color did a skit one time where Aunt Bea and Otis were sharing a "40" (40 oz. bottle of malt liquor)on the town square and ended-up getting frisky when they both landed in the drunk tank.

Don D

Aunt Bea shunned Wican stuff, except for the time when she bought the black, 55 Ford and the steering column rose up 15" while Barney was driving. The double-chin theory has promise. Floyd is my absolute favorite, right behind Otis. I'm sure you all know that Floyd's character actually had a stroke late in the original show and, if you noticed, they propped him up in a chair for his last 10 or so episodes and he was about to shift out of the chair when the camera moved away, God bless his gentle soul. Aunt Bea never wore slacks but she did cavort with quite a managerie of gentlemen callers, including The Major who came through Mayberry selling "The Medicine". Aunt Bea actually has an illigitimate child who is never mentioned and Emmitt, the toaster repairman, knows the details of that. But, in her later years, her only satisfaction was derived from the cucumbers from which she made the hundreds of jars of pickles that often entered, and frequently lost, the annual county cooking contest. So, we are left to wonder about 'The Bun' and my theory is that she did that at the request of the man at the butcher shop who had a thing for opal earrings and finely twisted grey hair. Mrs. Mendlebright's affection for Ben Weaver can wait for a subsequent discussion as can Barney's rendevous with Mr. MacBeebe in the restroom at the Mayberry Diner.

HRinNH

Too much information...

NM _Tom

Just a quick question...

Who is Aunt Bea? She sounds like some 1950's TV character.

HRinNH

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-07-04 AT 10:18AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Andy Griffith Show...before my time )

sonny

Catch the re-runs

Don D

Anyone who has missed Mayberry has missed at least half of life. I think it can be said that if there is anything at all about life that you cannot learn from Mayberry reruns, that is knowledge you can do without entirely.

POPEYE

My son even learned how to throw a rock through a window from Earnest T.

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-07-04 AT 01:37PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Butchaknowhat? On Mayberry, you never heard a cuss word, never saw real or implied sex, never came away from the show with a bad lesson, you never saw anyone get killed or cut and nobody EVER broke wind....although I think Otis came close twice.

Pure, unintended genious.

POPEYE

And you didn't even have to worry about watching it with your mom or grandma sitting in the same room with you.