Question about 50's & 60's TV couples' sleeping arrangements

Cafe Society
1

It’s not the question of which couple was the first to sleep in the same bed.

Didn’t it seem odd to married people (and people in general, I guess) that actors who portrayed married people on TV would sleep in separate beds?

2

Wasn’t it just a continuation of what movies had been doing? The Production Code was stiil in effect and didn’t end until the mid/late 'Sixties.

But since I wasn’t married (or alive) in that era, I will defer to those who were.

3

I’ve been told many couples in that day really did sleep in separate beds; not the majority, but it was common. One set of grandparents slept in separate bedrooms for much of their marriage, even though there was no marital disharmony. I’ve also seen newspaper ads for bedroom sets in the 1950s, more oftent han not showing two twin beds instead of a single queen or king.

Then again, I could be wrong … I didn’t live back then.

The thing I find strange about 1950s and 1960s era television is that for shows set in the then-present time, a disproportionately large number of the men worked for advertising firms. The shows took place in north suburban NYC, and the husband always commuted to work by train.

4

Actually… it would be rather convenient to have seperate beds, wouldn’t it? I mean, each person would have their own bed to sleep in, & not have to worry about someone jerking the covers away, or the other hacking & wheezing if sick. Plus you could take turns with the lovin’ in the other’s bed, for variety.

Or have I not thought this through? (Or maybe I’ve thought about it TOO much.)

5

I guess it was no more odd than the bathrooms without any toilets.

6

The Production Code was from the Motion Picture Association of America. It did not govern the TV networks, each of which had their own Standards and Practices department.

But in any case, Hollywood movies began to show couples in the same bed in 1954, after a 20-year period when it was banned by the Code. Pre-1934 movies also showed couples in the same bed.

From Rebecca Mead’s review of the book Sex and Real Estate: Why We Love Houses, by Marjorie Garber.