# Yours, Mine, And Ours (1968) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 13, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468 "2024-05-13T03:37:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/1 "2024-05-13T03:37:41Z")
A couple of observations of _Yours, Mine, And Ours_ (1968). 1. Henry Fonda’s character has a single stripe on his sleeve, indicating an ensign (ENS O1). 2. Henry Fonda wears a single silver bar on his collar, indicating a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG, O2). 3. Henry Fonda seems a bit old to be either an ENS or LTJG. (FWIW, my ‘[mustang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_(military_officer))’ dad made ENS when he was 29.) Did I mis-see something? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/2 "2024-05-13T04:13:41Z")
The [Wikipedia entry for the movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yours%2C_Mine_and_Ours_(1968_film)#Plot) says that Fonda’s character is a Chief Warrant Officer, which appears to be a very senior non-commissioned officer rank. > **[Warrant officer (United States) | Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_officer_(United_States)#Navy)** > > In the United States Navy, the warrant and chief warrant officer ranks are held by technical specialists who direct specific activities essential to the proper operation of the ship, which also require commissioned officer authority. Navy warrant officers serve in 30 specialties covering five categories. Warrant officers should not be confused with the limited duty officer (LDO) in the Navy. Warrant officers perform duties that are directly related to their previous enlisted service and speci ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/3 "2024-05-13T05:29:06Z")
In the United States Armed Forces Warrant Officers (W-1) and Chief Warrant Officers (W-2~W-5) are not non-commissioned officers. They are senior to enlisted personnel (E-1~E-10) and junior to Commissioned Officers (O-1~O-10). The one thing to make it confusing is Chief Warrant Officers are, in fact and by law, commissioned. If you look at Fonda’s rank insigna in the movie, you’ll notice it’s not just a single gold stripe. It’s a single gold stripe with a single blue break. That’s the insignia for Chief Warrant Officer (W-4). The Navy recently restored the rank of Warant Officer (W-1). That was originally just for Cyber Warfare, but is also now for that and for drone pilots. BTW Warrants and Chief Warrants salute personnel senior to them and are saluted by personnel junior to them. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/4 "2024-05-13T05:39:21Z")
I don’t know what he was or what his pay grade was. I know in the Military with that many kids to feed they were starving. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/5 "2024-05-13T05:42:15Z")
Doubtful. They wouldn’t be living large, of course, but the pay for W-4 along with other special pays and allowances should have been sufficient, even then, to stave off starvation. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/6 "2024-05-13T06:14:26Z")
I forgot to mention Beardsley’s specialty. The insignia looks to me to be that of an Aviation Boatswain. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/7 "2024-05-13T11:13:59Z")
Just wanted to mention that this was a movie I would watch pretty often with my Mom while growing up (along with the similar With Six You Get Eggroll) whenever it showed up on TV and given it was Mother’s Day I had been thinking about her and seeing this randomly pop up made me smile so thanks. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/8 "2024-05-13T11:28:45Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The [Wikipedia entry for the movie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yours%2C_Mine_and_Ours_(1968_film)#Plot) says that Fonda’s character is a Chief Warrant Officer, which appears to be a very senior non-commissioned officer rank. Also according to Wikipedia, the real-life Frank Beardsley was a Chief Warrant Officer who was Personnel Officer at the Naval Postgraduate School. > **[Helen Beardsley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Beardsley)** > > Helen Eileen Beardsley (née Brandmeir, formerly North; April 5, 1930 – April 26, 2000) was the mother of a noted blended family of twenty children — eight by her first marriage to Richard North, ten stepchildren from her second husband Frank Beardsley, and two that she and Frank had during their marriage. She wrote a book, Who Gets the Drumstick?, about her blended family's experiences. > The book was the basis for two motion pictures: the 1968 film, Yours, Mine and Ours, starring Lucille Ball and... ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/9 "2024-05-13T13:22:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > If you look at Fonda’s rank insigna in the movie, you’ll notice it’s not just a single gold stripe. It’s a single gold stripe with a single blue break. That’s the insignia for Chief Warrant Officer (W-4). I stand corrected. It sure looked like a silver bar on his collar. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I know in the Military with that many kids to feed they were starving. > [@Monty](#): > > They wouldn’t be living large, of course, but the pay for W-4 along with other special pays and allowances should have been sufficient, even then, to stave off starvation. My mom used to volunteer at Navy Relief. Back then, enlisted did need additional help. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/10 "2024-05-13T13:34:23Z")
**A W-4 would get a base $582.00 and another $145.05 in Quarters allowance.** Here are the pay chart for the Military in 1968. > **[1968 Military Pay Chart](https://www.navycs.com/charts/1968-military-pay-chart.html)** > > 1968 US military basic pay charts reflecting a 6.9% raise effective on July 1, 1968 and continued to be in effect until June 30, 1969. > **[1967-1971 Military Basic Living Allowances](https://www.navycs.com/charts/1967-basic-allowance.html)** > > Basic living allowances for the United States military for the years 1967 through 1971. I can’t recall, was he assigned to a base or a ship? A ship could bring in Sea Pay also. FTR: All the rates shown are Monthly. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/11 "2024-05-13T15:09:53Z")
I always liked that movie, partly because I had a small family and liked the idea of a big one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/12 "2024-05-13T17:20:31Z")
About the same time this movie came out, my widowed mother married a divorced man, so we had eight kids plus four kids in our case (the youngest about 12). My mother scoffed at the grocery store scene, where the total ran to an incredible $100. “I pay much more than that!” This movie, and _The Brady Bunch_, really waved away the whole step-family issues by solving everything with everyone getting adopted. Not in our family. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/13 "2024-05-13T17:24:01Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > My mother scoffed at the grocery store scene, where the total ran to an incredible $100. “I pay much more than that!” - Wasn’t that the base exchange? ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/14 "2024-05-13T17:29:47Z")
No, the grocery stores on military bases are called commissaries. The base exchange or post exchange were like retail chains and sold a variety of goods. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/15 "2024-05-13T22:14:52Z")
A friend of mine knew the Beardsley family, so I watched it. Even as a teen I wasn’t crazy about it. And my friend said it was kind of fakey. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/16 "2024-05-13T22:38:58Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > In the United States Armed Forces Warrant Officers (W-1) and Chief Warrant Officers (W-2~W-5) are not non-commissioned officers. They are senior to enlisted personnel (E-1~E-10) and junior to Commissioned Officers (O-1~O-10). The one thing to make it confusing is Chief Warrant Officers are, in fact and by law, commissioned. Thank you for the clarification! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/17 "2024-05-14T13:44:46Z")
Helen Beardsley was working and was a widow, surely she had some kind of income (although she probably retired to take care of that mob and have some more). ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/18 "2024-05-14T13:45:58Z")
I’d like to know the real story, I thought the movie was fakey, too. One of the kids wrote a book about abuses that went on. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/19 "2024-05-14T21:24:54Z")
Gawd, it’s been 50 years! My friend was a kid when she knew them, so I don’t think she saw too many serious problems, but she said the movie was nothing like how the family dynamic was IRL. I don’t remember any details now. Especially for movies of that vintage and earlier, most bio pics were pretty artificial (polite term for fake). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468/20 "2024-05-14T21:51:26Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > One of the kids wrote a book about abuses that went on. He’s interviewed about it here: > **[A Hollywood tale of happiness rocketed a Carmel family to fame. But one son...](https://www.montereycountynow.com/archives/2013/0711/a-hollywood-tale-of-happiness-rocketed-a-carmel-family-to/article_05c5fba8-e9b8-11e2-8f99-001a4bcf6878.html)** > > Before the Brady Bunch, there was the Beardsley bunch. Instead of six kids stuffing a house in a Los Angeles suburb, it was 20 in Carmel. And it was a [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yours-mine-and-ours-1968/1001468.md?page=2)