# How Much Money Would "Miss Jane" Make **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876 "2009-04-21T18:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/61 "2009-04-25T21:47:30Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > As to how old the kids were: I’m fairly sure they both started out as being in their late teens. Ellie Mae was often called an old maid, and the stupid jokes about Jethro only work if he’s a legal adult. They played fast and loose with the ages, though. I was watching an episode which originally aired in about 1969 or 70. Granny wanted to go back to the hills to find a man for Ellie. She mentioned they’d been in Beverly Hills for 7 years now, and Ellie May was “purt’ near 20.” Which would have meant that Ellie was 12 when they moved to California. Even when Ellie May and Jethro (and the actors) were clearly many years older than that when the show premiered in 1962. Either that or Granny’s memory wasn’t what it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/62 "2009-04-25T21:59:25Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Lynn Bodoni writes: > > \> I don’t think that teachers needed college degrees back then, just a high school > \> diploma, and possibly going on to normal school, unless they were themselves > \> college teachers. Nurses and secretaries tended to go to trade schools to learn > \> their skills. Usually, women’s colleges had a “brother” college for men, or rather, > \> men’s colleges frequently had “sister” colleges, and the women who attended > \> these colleges were regarded as a pool of dates and possibly wives for the > \> guys who attended the brother colleges. > \ Wendell, as an aside, why do you quote like this? I’m not complaining; it just seems like it must add needless work on your end, and thus I am curious. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/63 "2009-04-25T22:18:59Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Ellie Mae was often called an old maid Keep in mind, they ARE fictional hillbillies. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/64 "2009-04-25T23:31:37Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > She always drove a very nice late-model convertible. Probably product placement. While that might have been the case, remember that convertibles in those days, while they weren’t the cheapest things available, weren’t the symbols of extravagant luxury they would shortly become when they ceased to be manufactured in the US. Before that happened, convertibles were available to the public in a wide range of prices, with some quite reasonably priced like the Corvair. There was also a famous run of Hertz commercials that dropped the actor into a convertible from above; the point wasn’t that the customer was getting a convertible, but just that Hertz could get you into a rental car quickly and easily. I used to want a convertible so bad it hurt, but the only ones you ever saw were the old Beetles–which cost as much as a small Beemer–and other imports that were even more expensive.. But then I started living in city neighborhoods where I preferred to walk anyway, so that took away most of the reason for wanting one. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/65 "2009-04-27T12:18:26Z")
I’ve always admired the way convertibles look, but I never owned one. I’m curious whether you get a lot of air whistling through gaps in them, like you would from a window cracked slightly open, or do they seal effectively? Rattles, whistles, and other road noise makes me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/66 "2009-04-27T17:24:37Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I’ve always admired the way convertibles look, but I never owned one. I’m curious whether you get a lot of air whistling through gaps in them, like you would from a window cracked slightly open, or do they seal effectively? Rattles, whistles, and other road noise makes me crazy. Depends COMPLETELY on the make/model and age. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/67 "2009-05-13T01:37:10Z")
Bump. One of the episodes with Miss Jane’s apartment was aired on _TV LAND_ today and I thought of this thread. It was [Elly the Working Girl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0522477/) in which Elly becomes Miss Jane’s roommate; it aired after the episode where Granny and Elly lived with Miss Jane. The apartment was an efficiency with a fold out sofa, a window seat, a twin sized Murphy bed, and a bathroom. There was a refrigerator but no kitchen. It was in a three story brick building (there was an outside shot) and the landlord (the ubiquitous [Charles Lane](http://www.einsiders.com/features/images/charles_lane.jpg)) mentioned that the rent was $65 per month. He raised it to $200 when Elly moved in (at Drysdale’s bidding to be as uncooperative as possible) which Miss Jane said was absolutely preposterous. So, most people pay around 1/4 of their take home income in rent (I’ve read somewhere, can’t remember where). Assuming Miss Jane does this her take home would be $260 month/$3120 per year, meaning even in the 60s she was grossly underpaid OR that she was extremely frugal. Or she was a gambling and smack addict. In any case, hard to believe that Jed and Granny and clan, after seeing her place and remarking on its tininess, wouldn’t buy her a 3 bedroom house or luxury 1 BR condo as a birthday present. Presumably you could buy one then for $50K or under and they earned more than that in a week just with interest (this being Season 9 when the fortune is over $100 million). ETA: Per the inflation calculator, $65 in 1971 (when the episode aired) would be $329 today. Since I’m reasonably sure there’s no place you could rent in L.A. today for $329 that you wouldn’t be absolutely terrified to live in (there isn’t in Montgomery AL for that matter), I wonder if the $65 was absurdly cheap even then or if rental prices have just skyrocketed that much. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/68 "2009-05-13T01:58:21Z")
> [@Creaky](#): > > I’m thinkin’ Miz Hathaway had her a trust fund an’ went West to Callyfornie to work fer fun, so it really didn’t matter what Mr. Drysdale paid 'er. Nah. It was Californ-i-a. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/69 "2009-05-13T14:44:40Z")
One supposes that if Miss Jane had really been in want of money, all she would have needed to do was throw Jed a big city-style blowjob and she’d have been in the chips. To an unsophisticated (in most ways) bumpkin like Jed Clampett, such oral pleasuring would become his addiction. Miss Jane need only keep him convinced that this technique is something that she, personally, discovered and for which she alone has the skill. She could probably ask\_and get\_$100,000 per slurpee. And remember, we’re talking 1960’s dollars here. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/70 "2009-05-13T22:34:24Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > One supposes that if Miss Jane had really been in want of money, all she would have needed to do was throw Jed a big city-style blowjob and she’d have been in the chips. To an unsophisticated (in most ways) bumpkin like Jed Clampett, such oral pleasuring would become his addiction. Miss Jane need only keep him convinced that this technique is something that she, personally, discovered and for which she alone has the skill. She could probably ask\_and get\_$100,000 per slurpee. And remember, we’re talking 1960’s dollars here. Just because he’s from the mountains doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be sexually educated. With no phones or electricity there probably wasn’t a lot else to do and he might could have shown Miss Jane a couple of moves. “This one here is one we call the Bugtussel Back Door Barngobbler!” Did it ever give the name of Jed’s wife? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/71 "2009-05-13T23:31:47Z")
You rule, Sampiro. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/72 "2009-05-14T01:20:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Just because he’s from the mountains doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be sexually educated. With no phones or electricity there probably wasn’t a lot else to do and he might could have shown Miss Jane a couple of moves. “This one here is one we call the Bugtussel Back Door Barngobbler!” > > Did it ever give the name of Jed’s wife? Wiki and imdb give her name as Rose Ellen. As far as sex informatino and education goes, what did you think Jed was going to talk about whenever he kept say, re Jethro, “One of these days I gotta have a long talk with that boy”? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/73 "2009-05-19T16:50:28Z")
I just saw an old Martin and Lewis comedy the other night: [The Caddy.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045589/) Miss Jane (Nancy Culp) has a tiny role as the wife of a drunk. She has only one spoken line and it’s the punchline from a dirty joke! Dean is a golfer and Jerry is his caddy. They’re staying at a motel while Dean plays in a tournament (which he wins). Dean is out partying with Donna Reed, so Jerry decorates their motel room to celebrate the victory. One of the decorations is a cardboard trophy cup on the door. A cab drops off a drunk on the parking lot. Jerry thinks it’s Dean and pulls him into the room. While bitching at him for breaking training, he starts undressing the drunk and shoving him in bed. Shortly, he realizes he has the wrong guy. The drunk says that he lives across the way. Jerry rolls the drunk’s clothes in a ball, shoves them into his arms, and pushes him out the door. Somehow, the drunk also ends up with the cardboard trophy. He staggers home to Miss Jane who glares at him, takes the trophy from him, and says “I don’t know where you’ve been, but I see you won first prize.” I think Miss Jane got tired of living in a motel with a drunk and went into banking so she could be independent. The Caddy is set in California in the late 50’s and her character doesn’t have a name, so it could be true. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876/74 "2009-05-19T20:02:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > ETA: Per the inflation calculator, $65 in 1971 (when the episode aired) would be $329 today. Since I’m reasonably sure there’s no place you could rent in L.A. today for $329 that you wouldn’t be absolutely terrified to live in (there isn’t in Montgomery AL for that matter), I wonder if the $65 was absurdly cheap even then or if rental prices have just skyrocketed that much. It was probably pretty cheap, even for the sort of place it was, but housing prices relative to other factors like food prices have also skyrocketed. That old saw about spending 1/4 of your income, max, on rent/mortgage hasn’t been true for a long, long time. Even when I was in high school in the early 90’s, our home ec teacher told us half was more realistic in the current economy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-money-would-miss-jane-make/493876.md?page=3)