# Ward Cleaver's Occupation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241 "2001-06-18T19:06:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/41 "2011-01-31T21:47:52Z")
We never saw Cliff’s nurses or reception/bookkeeping staff either, so given that even full time staff didn’t make it into the show I can see how a part-time maid wouldn’t either. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/42 "2011-01-31T21:49:49Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Did anybody think it was odd that the Huxtable’s didn’t have a housekeeper? He is a doctor and she is a partner at her law firm. I would think that somebody coming in twice a week to clean would be the minimum. One billable hour a month would pay for it. But they had five kids. Cliff and Claire were the types of parents who would insist on the children doing their share of the chores. They were good parents who made sure their kids learned to be responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/43 "2011-01-31T22:07:40Z")
Yeah, but that house was spotless. I have a hard time imagining Cliff and Claire would be able to get the kids to dust and clean the top of the fridge and keep everything as nice as things were in that house. They had a hard enough time just trying to get their kids through school and not going off on harmful tangents in their social lives. 😃 ---
**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:** [January 31, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/44 "2011-01-31T22:26:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > But they had five kids. Originally there were only four. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/45 "2011-01-31T22:28:24Z")
Also why did the Jeffersons need a live in maid when they had a small NY apartment? I guess they just needed someone for George to argue with. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/46 "2011-01-31T23:46:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Originally there were only four. Well, yes, in the pilot there were four. Oldest daughter Sondra was added once the series got underway, though. Cosby wanted to establish the Huxtables as successful parents by having an eldest daughter attending college. Still, four kids would have been enough to be responsible for keeping the house clean. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/47 "2011-02-01T00:35:20Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Also why did the Jeffersons need a live in maid when they had a small NY apartment? I guess they just needed someone for George to argue with. They didn’t need one. In fact in the beginning it was a battle with Louise NOT wanting a maid and George insisting now that they were rich, Louise needed a maid. There was even an episode where Mother Jefferson agrees Louise does not need a maid (thinking Louise wants one). Then when Mother Jefferson finds out it is her son George who wants one, Mother Jefferson replies “Well I could understand how George would want someone to keep the house clean.” Implying Louise doesn’t do a good enough job. Then at first Florence was a cleaning woman that didn’t work full time. Only after awhile did she move in as a full time maid. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/48 "2011-02-01T00:37:03Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Wait a minute. Three bedrooms. Mike and Carol in one. Greg, Peter, and Bobby in the second one. Marcia, Jan, and Cindy in the third. Where does Alice sleep? On a hide a bed in the rec room? Or the living room sofa? Surely she didn’t sneak off to sleep with Sam the butcher? Was that ever explained? They had an episode where they show Alice’s room. It’s a typical maid’s room off the kitchen, as was Hazel’s room and the maid’s room on _Diff’rent Strokes_ ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/49 "2011-02-01T00:46:45Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > They also never said what Ozzie did. And what did the **My Three Sons** dad do? > [@kelly5078](#): > > Ozzie Nelson was quite a well-known band leader in his day. He actually got into radio, and later TV, because he didn’t want to be away from his family. I don’t think anyone of my parents generation would have assumed he was anything other than a band leader. he was a band leader for about 15 years before doing radio. his being a band leader was mentioned though infrequently on tv. i don’t recall it on the radio shows i’ve heard (i’ve heard only a small fraction of the hundreds). the real kids were not on the first 5 years of the radio show. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/50 "2011-02-01T00:52:16Z")
Was it ever specified where the Cleavers lived? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241/51 "2011-02-01T00:58:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Was it ever specified where the Cleavers lived? Mayfield, of course. Not far from Springfield. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ward-cleavers-occupation/69241.md?page=2)