Aunt Bee and Miss Johnson

[don_willard]

I always thought that Aunt Bea was Andy’s aunt, and there seems to be evidence for this from the show. For instance when relatives are coming to visit, Bee remarks that Andy hasn’t seen his Cousin Olly for a long time, and this Olly married Bee’s baby sister. However, this would make Olly Andy’s uncle. Aunt Bee also raised Andy from a boy, which would make it unlikely that she is not his aunt. I heard some radio talk show hosts say yesterday that they had heard that Aunt Bee was Andy’s wife’s aunt. 1)Whose aunt was Aunt Bee, 2) Speaking of Aunt Bee, what was her friend Clara’s name? Sometimes she is called Mz (Southern pronunciation) Edwards and sometimes Mz Johnson. I have heard her called Clara Edwards but I don’t recall ever hearing her referred to as Clara Johnson. It is possible that the same ACTRESS played two different roles, of course, but one wonders. 3)Barney is called Andy’s cousin, is this true? Or does everyone from the South call one another cousin? Barney calls Andy Cousin Andy I think only once, so perhaps the writers decided to change the genealogy?

[waterj2]

Is this a Great Debate?

Oh, and congratulations on having now started (by my count) your 100th thread here. Which is pretty, err, impressive I guess for someone with under 300 posts total.

[Fear_Itself]

From the Searchable Mayberry FAQ:

Q. Aunt Bee was Andy’s father’s sister, because they have the same last name. Since Barney’s last name is different, but he still calls Bee “Aunt”, his mother was probably their sister, as well?

A. Not quite. We learn in “Aunt Bee’s Invisible Beau” that Aunt Bee is not Barney’s aunt. He says, “Boy, for the life of me, I can’t figure you out, Andy. If Aunt Bee was my aunt, I wouldn’t be staring out of windows. I’d get in the car, I’d drive straight over to Mt. Pilot, I’d get that Hendricks out in the alley and POW!” In other episodes, Barney refers to his mother’s side of the family as if Andy does not know any of them. An example is in “Cousin Virgil,” when Barney says, “You’re really gonna like my cousin Virgil. He comes from my mother’s side of the family; they’re the fun ones.” So, the correct relationship must be: Andy’s mother is the sister of Barney’s father (assuming that they are FIRST cousins.)

[Fear_Itself]

From the same site:

Q. There were several references to Mrs. Clara Edwards (she was the pickle champion, so we know she was married) but not many to Miss Flora Edwards…Anybody know the story, or is there one?

A. The character of “Clara,” portrayed by actress Hope Summers, first appears in the first season episode “Andy and Opie, Housekeepers.” However, in that episode she is called Bertha Edwards. She is also called Bertha a few episodes later in “Andy Forecloses” (in a scene that was later cut out, Aunt Bee tries to sell Bertha her own toaster at the rummage sale.) Beginning with the second season, the character came to be known as Clara. In “The Pickle Story,” she refers to her late husband as Mr. Johnson, therefore we know that Johnson is her married name. Before too much longer, though, she came to be known as Clara Edwards. Obviously, some time after her husband’s passing, she went back to using her maiden name. The never-seen Flora Edwards mentioned in “Andy’s English Valet” was probably not supposed to be the same person as Clara. Perhaps she was supposed to be Clara’s sister, or maybe they were not related at all.

[Ivorybill]

*Originally posted by don willard *
**Or does everyone from the South call one another cousin? Barney calls Andy Cousin Andy I think only once, so perhaps the writers decided to change the genealogy? **

Speaking from my experience as a life-long Southerner with seven generations of Southern roots, no, we don’t call one another cousin unless we really are cousins. Now, to complicate matters, lots of Southerners keep track of many branches of their extended families, so it’s not uncommon for third cousins once-removed and fourth cousins to know one another and refer to each other as “cousin.” In some cases, folks know that they’re distant relatives but cannot remember how they’re related. In that sense, it’s not unreasonable for Andy to have given “cousin” Barney his job but not really know all the details of Barney’s family’s history, etc.

Also, FWIW, it’s not that uncommon for Southerners to have a number of honorary Aunts and Uncles. These will (or would, the practice is likely dying out) be close family friends for whom calling them Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so would be too formal, but calling them by their first names wouldn’t be appropriate. Thus “Uncle John” who is no relation at all. Thus, many Southern children are confused about who they’re actually related to well into adult-hood. (We have friends in Maine who do this too, so it might not be as regional as I might think.)

Curiously, this practice was extended in such a fashion that a number of white children would have honorary African American Aunts and Uncles, who were generally entrusted with teaching their “neices” and “nephews” many life lessons.

And yes, this explains a LOT about the South. Yee-Haww and all that. (And this is worthy of Great Debates…)

[Guinastasia]

Hey, we have “Honorary” aunts and uncles in the north, too!
LOL. I used to call my mom’s friend “Aunt” Dale. Even though she wasn’t really my aunt.
Who hasn’t called a close personal friend of their family Aunt or Uncle?

[Gaudere]

[Moderator Hat ON]

Um. Since this started out as a General Question, but that seems to have been answered, and it is now a discussion of non-relatives being called “aunt” or “uncle”… What the hell. I’ll send it to MPSIMS.

[Moderator Hat OFF]