# Duke boys: "in trouble with the law..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383 "2003-05-15T05:53:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/21 "2003-05-16T11:32:14Z")
Was it ever explained why Bo, Luke, and Daisy live with their uncle? What happened to Ma and Pa Duke? ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/22 "2003-05-16T11:58:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\*His [much-younger] _what_ threatened to bring suit against her? \*\* Basset hound. Flash was actually a skilled attorney in real life. All it took was one look at those big brown eyes and juries caved right in. ---
**Author:** ![Bunnylady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bunnylady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bunnylady)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/23 "2003-05-16T13:06:12Z")
Nowadays, they’d be in trouble with the law for driving a car named “General Lee” with a Stars & Bars on the roof and a horn that played “Dixie.” The Political Correctness Police would never stop chasing them! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/24 "2003-05-16T17:02:37Z")
Now, was Daisy their sister, or their cousin? I thought she was their cousin? I have to say, I loved watching the E! True Hollywood Story on the show. The actors who played the Duke boys were very funny and-I think-better looking now than they were then. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/25 "2003-05-16T17:19:00Z")
Wow. I was missing most of this. I just sort of assumed that it was known that they were from a moonshining family, and as such the law had their eye on them from day one. That and the fact that they kind of do whatever they want, regardless of the law, and then get in to high speed chases. For some reason cops seem to hate that. LC ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/26 "2003-05-16T17:35:50Z")
Thanks a lot, people. Now I have that theme song in my head. “Straightenin’ the curves, Flattenin’ the hills, Someday the mountain might get 'em but the law never will.” ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/27 "2003-05-16T18:59:42Z")
And now Bo Duke is Superman’s father… ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/28 "2003-05-17T07:36:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Now, was Daisy their sister, or their cousin? I thought she was their cousin? They were _all_ cousins–i.e. Bo and Luke were cousins, not brothers, and Daisy was another cousin and Vance and Coy were yet more cousins. There was even another cousin, Jeb Stuart Duke, who was in only one episode that I know of. Luke did have a brother, but I don’t remember his name. So, apparently Jesse Duke had many siblings, who were all either dead (along with their spouses) or never cared to visit their brother and children/nephews & niece. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/29 "2003-05-17T07:51:18Z")
As others have mentioned, the car doors were welded shut for strength and safety. What nobody has mentioned is that the “General Lee” was built as a dirt-track race car. That’s also why it was so fast. Amateur dirt-track racing is really big in most of the Deep South, and lots of peple build or buy their own cars to indulge in the sport on weekends. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/30 "2003-05-17T10:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > \*\*They were _all_ cousins. So, apparently Jesse Duke had many siblings, who were all either dead (along with their spouses) or never cared to visit their brother and children/nephews & niece. \*\* Probably not. The meaning of the word “cousin” tends to not be so specific in small towns where many extended members of a clan live nearby. Any relatives who are your age and not a brother or a sister get stuck with the “cousin” label. I still want to know what happened to their parents. Anyone have that info? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/31 "2003-05-17T11:10:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > **Odd that there was such a demand for moonshine in a wet county (as evidenced by Daisy serving beers at the Boar’s Nest).** You must live in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, not the US Georgia. Here, in TN, in a _wet_ county, I can make a phone call and have a jug of moonshine delivered to me in about an hour. Moonshine is redneck pot, if you will (at least in these parts). Even with safe and legal booze widely available, some people still prefer moonshine. ---
**Author:** ![UES\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@UES\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UES_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/32 "2003-05-17T14:59:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bunnylady \* > \*\*Nowadays, they’d be in trouble with the law for driving a car named “General Lee” with a Stars & Bars on the roof and a horn that played “Dixie.” The Political Correctness Police would never stop chasing them! \*\* Ha! More likely they would be elected to high state office in Georgia. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/33 "2003-05-17T18:50:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I still want to know what happened to their parents. Anyone have that info? I seem to recall something about Luke’s parents dying in a fire–I think it was at the hospital at Luke’s birth, and only he was saved. Later on, his brother (older, or a twin, even?) shows up, having been adopted out after everyone was thought dead. He actually is a NASCAR racer, and Luke almost goes with him to follow his dream of driving on the race-car circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/34 "2003-05-18T01:49:16Z")
[Jeff Foxworthy] If… > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > I can make a phone call and have a jug of moonshine delivered to me in about an hour. … you might be a redneck. [/Jeff Foxworthy] ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/35 "2003-05-18T12:14:19Z")
Dude, _don’t_ even joke about that! I grew up in Ohio, and have found myself exiled here! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/36 "2003-05-18T22:48:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\*His [much-younger] _what_ threatened to bring suit against her? \*\* Oops- His much younger WIFE. (Best remarried shortly after the show to a 20 something lady; his grown daughters from his first marriage appeared on the show, incidentally.) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/37 "2003-05-18T22:54:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*You must live in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, not the US Georgia. Here, in TN, in a _wet_ county, I can make a phone call and have a jug of moonshine delivered to me in about an hour. \*\* I hope you get a second pair of lenses FREE if they don’t deliver on time. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383/38 "2003-05-18T23:25:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Dude, _don’t_ even joke about that! I grew up in Ohio, and have found myself exiled here! \*\* Don’t think of it as “exiled.” Think of it as “embedded.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duke-boys-in-trouble-with-the-law/175383.md?page=1)