# Was Aunt Bee A Spinster? Widow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686 "2009-01-03T07:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/21 "2009-01-05T16:02:22Z")
But not a white onion. They didn’t have any white onions, because of the war; the only thing you can get was those big yellow ones. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/22 "2009-01-05T16:03:10Z")
(Sing to tune of “Windy”) \*Who’s walkin’ ‘round the streets of May-ber-ry Smilin’ at everybody she sees Who’s takin’ care of Andy and Opie Everyone knows it’s Aunt Bee And Aunt Bee has thun-der thighs Her aprons are all king size She gives Gomer’s jeans a rise When she walks by When she walks byyyy…\* This was taught me by a classmate in the mid 80s. He is now an economist at Oxford. Yes, _that_ Oxford. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/23 "2009-01-05T16:33:21Z")
I love it! ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/24 "2009-01-05T18:26:02Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > (Sing to tune of “Windy”) > This was taught me by a classmate in the mid 80s. He is now an economist at Oxford. Yes, _that_ Oxford. I guess it’s a good thing he’s not teaching poetry at Oxford. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/25 "2009-01-05T18:37:04Z")
I don’t think it’s fair to characterize Aunt Bee as a “slut.” She was a woman of appetites, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/26 "2009-01-05T18:48:39Z")
We all know Aunt Bee was a FAFL. (Fat Ass Free Loader). But she wasn’t a lesbian. Anytime any many over 50 came into town she was all over him ASAP. (And so was Clara who usually lost out to Bee, thus proving weight isn’t that much of an issue to guys over 50) I noticed Millie was also from West Virigina (Wheeling) ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/27 "2009-01-05T20:48:49Z")
> [@bup](#): > > [This still](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clara_and_Aunt_Bee_101.JPG) from Wikipedia shows a naked left hand. Then again, it is a posed still, and not a frame from an episode, but I’m inclined to believe there’s no wedding ring on her finger in the shows. In light of this photographic evidence, I must admit there is little to support the notion that Aunt Bee was a widow, although… > [@5-4-Fighting](#): > > Wouldn’t the fact that her name on the show is Bee Taylor and she’s Andy Taylor’s paternal aunt be a clue that she never married? If she had been married to Andy’s paternal uncle, she would have his last name. > [@Chimera](#): > > The one question I have is this: If she had previously raised a mess of kids, where the hell are they? I mean, I could ask WHOSE kids they were, but I still have to ask why they never visit, write or have any apparent contact. That was pretty much standard for the show. Why does Opie have no grandparents, aunts, uncles, or first cousins? (Bee is of course his great-aunt.) His deceased mother is barely mentioned at all in the show and there’s no evidence, other than Opie himself, of her ever having lived in the house. Barney was once established as Andy’s cousin, but that notion was quietly dropped. On the other hand, we do see one of Aunt Bee’s sisters (does Andy ever call her Aunt Nora?) and a cousin, and a cousin (named Bradford T. Taylor, which, incidentally supports the idea that she wa born a Taylor). ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/28 "2009-01-05T22:10:00Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > On the other hand, we do see one of Aunt Bee’s sisters (does Andy ever call her Aunt Nora?) and a cousin, and a cousin (named Bradford T. Taylor, which, incidentally supports the idea that she wa born a Taylor). This, along with the belief I posted in my first paragraph (not included) that _she was a blood relative of Andy_’s supports my contention that she was a spinster. I watch the show quite a lot and I \*kind of \*remember something being said about the blood relationship between her and Andy, but haven’t been storing such information exactly. I will still try to find something that supports (or not) what I’ve posted though. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/29 "2009-01-05T22:20:51Z")
Widows aren’t required to wear their wedding rings. Since Aunt Bea was looking for some action, it wouldn’t be surprising for her to stop wearing hers. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686/30 "2009-01-06T03:47:04Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > We all know Aunt Bee was a FAFL. (Fat Ass Free Loader). > > But she wasn’t a lesbian. Anytime any many over 50 came into town she was all over him ASAP. (And so was Clara who usually lost out to Bee, thus proving weight isn’t that much of an issue to guys over 50) > > I noticed Millie was also from West Virigina (Wheeling) After a certain age, a man comes to appreciate good nature and good cooking skills in a woman. In my family, widows continue to wear their rings. If their husbands had a ring, generally they wear that ring on a necklace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-aunt-bee-a-spinster-widow/479686.md?page=1)