# What state were the Beverly Hillbillies originally from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953 "2004-08-15T16:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/61 "2017-07-02T19:46:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I wonder how many people ever figured out the inside joke? > [Grandma Moses - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses) This was actually the premise of at least one episode. Some important dude (a prominent psychiatrist?) thought Granny was suffering from the delusion that she was the other Grandma Moses. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/62 "2017-07-02T19:53:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > A (not entirely un-)related question–how old are Jethro and Ellie Mae supposed to be? Not the actors, but the characters themselves? Aren’t they supposed to be teenagers? Well, it was clear that Elly May was “well past her prime” (14), since Granny constantly fretted she’d never snare a husband at her age. On the other hand, Granny also noted that Elly was only now “popping her buttons” in the pilot, so she had to be under 20 at the time. Jethro “done gradyated sixth grade” after he moved to California, so he too must have been a strapping youth of less than 20. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/63 "2017-07-02T19:58:16Z")
Last entry in Beverly Hillbillies trivia section of IMDB: _In the original pilot episode, The Hillbillies of Beverly Hills, the narrator states as the cast is just entering the gate of the mansion. “Let’s take them back to their home in the Ozarks and see how this whole thing got started”. In a later episode it is mentioned that Granny is from Tennessee. Her character was born in Tennessee and moved to the Ozarks (Probably Missouri, since that is where Paul Henning was from)._ This pretty much is what I always understood… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/64 "2017-07-02T19:59:47Z")
FWIW, my dad spent almost 20 years in the oil business, headquartered in Parkersburg, West Virginia. There’s definitely oil there, though probably nowhere near as much as there was fifty years ago. Some claim it was West Virginia where the first oil well was drilled, and not Pennsylvania (which is just across the border). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/65 "2017-07-02T20:07:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Well, it was clear that Elly May was “well past her prime” (14), since Granny constantly fretted she’d never snare a husband at her age. On the other hand, Granny also noted that Elly was only now “popping her buttons” in the pilot, so she had to be under 20 at the time. > > Jethro “done gradyated sixth grade” after he moved to California, so he too must have been a strapping youth of less than 20. Which of course puts a different spin on Miss Jane’s interactions with Jethro and half the guest stars with Ellie Mae. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/66 "2017-07-02T20:16:19Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No fucking way it was Texas. I was in Texas, and no one ever thought that’s where it was. It was always “the Ozarks.” “Texas tea” was just slang for oil, because Texas has so much of it. It was never meant to imply they were from Texas. Totally agree. No fucking way were they from Texas. First off is your points. Second, why would they move out of state if the struck oil in Texas? Move to Dallas, sure. Beverly Hills, no way. Then toss in the fact that nobody in Texas has ever called it “Californy” in the history of the state. Bootheel of Missouri has always been my guess. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/67 "2017-07-02T21:00:54Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Which of course puts a different spin on Miss Jane’s interactions with Jethro and half the guest stars with Ellie Mae. Every eligible male on the show had the hots for Elly May, except maybe Wally Cox. Jethro’s twin sister Jethrine was also “of courtin’ age,” so we may assume that both she and her brother were between 14 and 20. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/68 "2017-07-02T21:22:19Z")
I always assumed they were all from Tennessee until now. Reading the new evidence coming in convinces me they were from the Ozarks on the Arkansas/Missouri border. I am very familiar with that area and there were (and still are) true hillbillies that live there. It definitely fits. I own a farm/camp in very rural northern Arkansas and the closest store runs like a ridiculous movie stereotype. It is just a very dark building and things are randomly placed everywhere including the bare concrete floors. They don’t even have a cash register or take debit cards. You just find whatever you want, they add it up the best they can and you fork over the literal cash (exact change appreciated). I agree that there is no way in hell that they were from Texas or Oklahoma. Texas has lots of things but real hillbillies aren’t one of them. Oklahoma barely has any either. It is better known for its Native Americans, tornadoes and being really flat for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/69 "2017-07-02T21:24:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Oklahoma is as ludicrous as Texas for a suggestion and suggests a lack of proper viewing of the show. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I agree that there is no way in hell that they were from Texas or Oklahoma. I agree that Oklahoma is unlikely but I wouldn’t call it “ludicrous.” As was mentioned upthread, the northeast border of Oklahoma brushes up against the Ozark mountains. I would also mention that the real-life Silver Dollar City, while located in Missouri, is only a few miles north of the Arkansas state line, and is relatively close (about 75 miles) from the Oklahoma border as well. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/70 "2017-07-02T21:30:42Z")
Re: “Texas tea”. Umm, general term for all oil. It’s like assuming that anyone calling a toilet seat protector a “Texas t-shirt” means they think it is from Texas. While the show made it clear several times they moved from the Ozarks, like all TV shows consistency is never a concern. Writers are surprisingly unconcerned about little details that people are going to argue about on the Internet 50 years later. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/71 "2017-07-02T22:10:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Totally agree. No fucking way were they from Texas. First off is your points. Second, why would they move out of state if the struck oil in Texas? Move to Dallas, sure. Beverly Hills, no way. Wherever they lived, it had very cold winters. One of the reasons Pearl gave for moving to “Californy” was that Granny kept slipping on the ice in the winter. It also had to be a state that was part of the Confederacy, since they waved a Confederate flag on more than one occasion. (On the other hand, it could also have been a border state that had Confederate sympathizers. This would include Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/72 "2017-07-02T22:28:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: Granny Moses. Granny’s real name was Daisy Moses True. But I always think of her as Granny Clampett. Either way, my great-grandmother was a dead ringer. She died about 1968 as I recall, and the few times I met her as a child, she would give me “coppers,” which were what she called pennies. I stand by my assertion that Oklahoma would be ludicrous. It just wasn’t Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/73 "2017-07-02T22:31:37Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > How would Flatt and Scruggs have competed for Pearl’s affections if she’d been in Arkansas? They were connected with TN/KY. The real Earl Scruggs was from North Carolina. This is TV Land, folks. We might as well be designing an experiment to determine why chickens cross roads. > [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: Granny Moses. Granny’s real name was Daisy Moses But I’m pretty sure that Drysdale once referred to her as “Granny Clampett”. In one episode, one of Drysdale’s rivals was trying to woo Granny romantically, and he asked an older gentleman (possibly his father-in-law, "Daddy Farquhar) to counter-woo. The FIL asked who he was supposed to romance, and floated names of some famous screen sirens. Drysdale shook his head and replied, “Granny Clampett”. > [@terentii](#): > > Well, it was clear that Elly May was “well past her prime” (14), since Granny constantly fretted she’d never snare a husband at her age. On the other hand, Granny also noted that Elly was only now “popping her buttons” in the pilot, so she had to be under 20 at the time. > > Jethro “done gradyated sixth grade” after he moved to California, so he too must have been a strapping youth of less than 20. After the Army recruiter spent some time interviewing Jethro, he spoke to Jed in private: Recruiter (incredulously): “You said he had twelve years of schooling?” Jed (nodding): “Clean through the sixth grade.” Recruiter (sarcastically): “And graduated highest in his class?” Jed: “By a good two feet”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/74 "2017-07-02T22:34:10Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > But I’m pretty sure that Drysdale once referred to her as “Granny Clampett”. In one episode, one of Drysdale’s rivals was trying to woo Granny romantically, and he asked an older gentleman (possibly his father-in-law, "Daddy Farquhar) to counter-woo. The FIL asked who he was supposed to romance, and floated names of some famous screen sirens. Drysdale shook his head and replied, “Granny Clampett”. I am certain I heard her referred to as Granny Clampett numerous times even though it’s true that would be incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/75 "2017-07-02T22:48:44Z")
Jethro went to school in Oxford, which was assumed to be the Oxford in the UK. But there’s an Oxford, Mississippi. There are also Oxfords in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/76 "2017-07-02T23:13:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I am certain I heard her referred to as Granny Clampett numerous times even though it’s true that would be incorrect. Not exactly, as Jed’s wife has died, Granny has become the Matriarch of the Clampett family, at least by popular family opinion if nothing else, so yea you could refer to her as Granny Clampett. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/77 "2017-07-02T23:26:26Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Not exactly, as Jed’s wife has died, Granny has become the Matriarch of the Clampett family, at least by popular family opinion if nothing else, so yea you could refer to her as Granny Clampett. I’m certain that I remember Jed telling Ellie Mae “Yer granny ain’t really yer granny.” ---
**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:** [July 2, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/78 "2017-07-02T23:28:16Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > True. But I always think of her as Granny Clampett. Either way, my great-grandmother was a dead ringer. She died about 1968 as I recall, and the few times I met her as a child, she would give me “coppers,” which were what she called pennies. > > I stand by my assertion that Oklahoma would be ludicrous. It just wasn’t Oklahoma. Like I said, it was a nitpick. But it’s one of those things that bug me. It’s like when people call Herman’s father-in-law “Grandpa Munster.” He’s Lily’s father. His name is Sam Dracula. Herman didn’t even have a father. He was created in Dr. Frankenstein’s lab. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/79 "2017-07-02T23:35:05Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Not exactly, as Jed’s wife has died, Granny has become the Matriarch of the Clampett family, at least by popular family opinion if nothing else, so yea you could refer to her as Granny Clampett. Creator Paul Henning explained that he made Granny Jed’s mother-in-law instead of his mother so that Jed would clearly be the head of the family and not be subservient to her. Jed can and does overrule Granny on numerous occasions and she does defer to him as head of the family. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953/80 "2017-07-03T00:06:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I _know_ there’s not much oil in Arkansas … in the real world, but there could be in TV Land. Some previously unknown deposit. No way were they Okies. They were Ozark Mountain hillbillies, of the type I personally am descended from. I mentioned my great-grandfather already, and my great-grandmother was a dead ringer for Granny Clampett. I say Arkansas or _maybe_ just across the state line in Missouri. Oklahoma is as ludicrous as Texas for a suggestion and suggests a lack of proper viewing of the show. This is probably as good a place as any to point out that the Clampetts were bought out by the “ **OK Oil Company** ” before they moved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-state-were-the-beverly-hillbillies-originally-from/259953.md?page=5)