OT: Where Are The Beverly Hillbillies From?

[Randall Bart]

This is off topic for this newsgroup, but it's the sort of trivia which
people here tend to know.

Where do the characters on The Beverly Hillbillies hail from? I have
found two town names and three state names, and I would like to know which
is (are) correct. It's possible that they come from two or three places,
one for the Clampetts (Jed and Ellie Mae) one for the Bodines (Jethro,
Jethrine and Pearl) and a third Granny (Daisie Mae Moses). I am
deliberately not revealing the town and state names I have accumulated so
as not to pollute anyone's memory.

They do not come from Hooterville. They come from somewhere back east,
and from all evidence Hooterville is in California. There is no real
Hooterville CA, but Pixlie CA is a real place and whenever a Hootervillian
went to Pixlie they showed the genuine Pixlie CA water tower. There is a
town named Porterville about 20 miles from Pixlie, and I have always
guessed that Hooterville is a named after Porterville, but I may be wrong
on that.

[R H Draney]

Post by Randall Bart
This is off topic for this newsgroup, but it's the sort of trivia which
people here tend to know.
Where do the characters on The Beverly Hillbillies hail from? I have
found two town names and three state names, and I would like to know which
is (are) correct. It's possible that they come from two or three places,
one for the Clampetts (Jed and Ellie Mae) one for the Bodines (Jethro,
Jethrine and Pearl) and a third Granny (Daisie Mae Moses). I am
deliberately not revealing the town and state names I have accumulated so
as not to pollute anyone's memory.
They do not come from Hooterville. They come from somewhere back east,
and from all evidence Hooterville is in California. There is no real
Hooterville CA, but Pixlie CA is a real place and whenever a Hootervillian
went to Pixlie they showed the genuine Pixlie CA water tower. There is a
town named Porterville about 20 miles from Pixlie, and I have always
guessed that Hooterville is a named after Porterville, but I may be wrong
on that.

But the town on Green Acres was spelled "Pixley"...there's also a town called
"Greenacres" out in that part of California...there was considerable crossover
among the various Paul Henning shows, so the names of the towns on that show may
be of some value: Pixley, Hooterville, Crabwell Corners...certainly Pearl Bodine
bore a *striking* resemblance to Kate Bradley from Petticoat Junction; did they
ever explain that little detail away?...

Another clue might be where they went in the final season of the show...the
Clampetts spent a lot of time near the end of the run going back and forth to
Silver Dollar City, which is an actual attraction in Branson Missouri, a sort of
theme park on the model of Colonial Williamsburg, and that seems to match the
"Ozarks" references better than somewhere in central California....

The place name server over at the USGS says there's a "Bug Tussle" in Texas and
another in Oklahoma, so you might look into that...there's also a "Pixley" in
Kansas in addition to the one in California...no real-world "Hooterville"
though....

Did I ever regale this group with my theory about why Joe Friday got busted from
Lieutenant back down to Sergeant in the seven or so years between the B&W and
color versions of "Dragnet"?...and why he was working a different division every
week?...r

[Randall Bart]

'Twas 28 Jan 2004 20:26:35 -0800 when all rec.music.dementia stood in awe

Post by R H Draney
But the town on Green Acres was spelled "Pixley"...

Are you sure? I was in Pixlie about 1970 and saw the water tower. I had
understood it was the actual water tower used on Green Acres and Petticoat
Junction. It looked to be identical lettering. What is your source for
"Pixley"? (And shows can be inconsistent. Why did Kelsey work at Kelcy's
bar?)

Post by R H Draney
there's also a town called
"Greenacres" out in that part of California...

I never heard of that one.

Post by R H Draney
there was considerable crossover
among the various Paul Henning shows, so the names of the towns on that show may
be of some value: Pixley, Hooterville, Crabwell Corners...

Green Acres and Petticoat Junction were intended to take place in the same
universe. Beverly Hillbillies was separate, but they had their annual
crossover shows.

Post by R H Draney
certainly Pearl Bodine
bore a *striking* resemblance to Kate Bradley from Petticoat Junction; did they
ever explain that little detail away?...

Huntington's Law of Parallel Planet Development. In this case you're
talking about different shows; you will often find that happening on the
same show. A character who appears in the later years of a show will
often be an actor who had a one time or short term roll in an earlier
season. Paul Lynde played two different characters on Bewitched before
Uncle Arthur. Vincent Gardenia played the man who sold his house to the
Jeffersons on All in the Family before he played Frank Lorenzo. Dennis
Franz played both Benedetto and Buntz on Hill Street Blues. And then
there are lots of rolls played by two or three actors. It's the nature of
episodic television.

Post by R H Draney
Another clue might be where they went in the final season of the show...the
Clampetts spent a lot of time near the end of the run going back and forth to
Silver Dollar City, which is an actual attraction in Branson Missouri, a sort of
theme park on the model of Colonial Williamsburg, and that seems to match the
"Ozarks" references better than somewhere in central California....

Yes they went to Silver Dollar City, MO near the end of the run. That is
not their home town but a place near their home town.

Post by R H Draney
The place name server over at the USGS says there's a "Bug Tussle" in Texas and
another in Oklahoma, so you might look into that...there's also a "Pixley" in
Kansas in addition to the one in California...

Bug Tussle, OK was the home town of some politician who was big in the
1960s and 1970s. The Clampetts couldn't be Texans (Texans let you know
they are Texans). Pixley, KS does make sense for Green Acres and
Petticoat Junction, but you are right about the Clampetts being from the
Ozarks, so they would be from Missouri or Arkansas.

The reason I bring it up is that I have read that the Clampetts came from
Bugtussle, AR, Bugtussle, MO, Bugtussle, TN, Silver Dollar City, MO, and
Cedar City, MO. IMDB is split. For the movie it says Arkansas
(http://imdb.com/title/tt0106400/) but for the TV show it says Bugtussle
TN (http://imdb.com/title/tt0055662/trivia). The Ozarks are not in
Tennessee, but Granny appears to come from Tennessee. They all think the
South won the Civil War, which makes Missouri a little less likely, but
still plausible. (Why am I expecting plausibility from a silly comedy?)

Post by R H Draney
no real-world "Hooterville"
though....

How about Hootersville? Where are you doing this lookup, BTW?

Post by R H Draney
Did I ever regale this group with my theory about why Joe Friday got busted from
Lieutenant back down to Sergeant in the seven or so years between the B&W and
color versions of "Dragnet"?...and why he was working a different division every
week?...r

I have an answer: It's in the script. I think Jack Webb had an
explanation, which went something like this: "We tell you up front that
the names have been changed. Every week we change the detectives names to
Friday and Gannon."

[R H Draney]

Post by Randall Bart
'Twas 28 Jan 2004 20:26:35 -0800 when all rec.music.dementia stood in awe

Post by R H Draney
But the town on Green Acres was spelled "Pixley"...

Are you sure? I was in Pixlie about 1970 and saw the water tower. I had
understood it was the actual water tower used on Green Acres and Petticoat
Junction. It looked to be identical lettering. What is your source for
"Pixley"? (And shows can be inconsistent. Why did Kelsey work at Kelcy's
bar?)

I'm sure it was on a sign or newspaper headline or something....

Post by Randall Bart

Post by R H Draney
there's also a town called
"Greenacres" out in that part of California...

I never heard of that one.

Found it in the statewide Thomas Bros Guide once...it's in Kern county....

Post by Randall Bart

Post by R H Draney
there was considerable crossover
among the various Paul Henning shows, so the names of the towns on that show may
be of some value: Pixley, Hooterville, Crabwell Corners...

Green Acres and Petticoat Junction were intended to take place in the same
universe. Beverly Hillbillies was separate, but they had their annual
crossover shows.

Post by R H Draney
certainly Pearl Bodine
bore a *striking* resemblance to Kate Bradley from Petticoat Junction; did they
ever explain that little detail away?...

Huntington's Law of Parallel Planet Development. In this case you're
talking about different shows; you will often find that happening on the
same show. A character who appears in the later years of a show will
often be an actor who had a one time or short term roll in an earlier
season. Paul Lynde played two different characters on Bewitched before
Uncle Arthur. Vincent Gardenia played the man who sold his house to the
Jeffersons on All in the Family before he played Frank Lorenzo. Dennis
Franz played both Benedetto and Buntz on Hill Street Blues. And then
there are lots of rolls played by two or three actors. It's the nature of
episodic television.

Yeah, and check out all the different characters Allan Melvin played during the
run of the Dick Van Dyke Show...at least three of them were Rob's old army
buddies....

At least Dark Shadows made mention of those resemblances when they started in
with the time-travel stuff....

Post by Randall Bart

Post by R H Draney
The place name server over at the USGS says there's a "Bug Tussle" in Texas and
another in Oklahoma, so you might look into that...there's also a "Pixley" in
Kansas in addition to the one in California...

Bug Tussle, OK was the home town of some politician who was big in the
1960s and 1970s. The Clampetts couldn't be Texans (Texans let you know
they are Texans). Pixley, KS does make sense for Green Acres and
Petticoat Junction, but you are right about the Clampetts being from the
Ozarks, so they would be from Missouri or Arkansas.
The reason I bring it up is that I have read that the Clampetts came from
Bugtussle, AR, Bugtussle, MO, Bugtussle, TN, Silver Dollar City, MO, and
Cedar City, MO. IMDB is split. For the movie it says Arkansas
(http://imdb.com/title/tt0106400/) but for the TV show it says Bugtussle
TN (http://imdb.com/title/tt0055662/trivia). The Ozarks are not in
Tennessee, but Granny appears to come from Tennessee. They all think the
South won the Civil War, which makes Missouri a little less likely, but
still plausible. (Why am I expecting plausibility from a silly comedy?)

Post by R H Draney
no real-world "Hooterville"
though....

How about Hootersville? Where are you doing this lookup, BTW?

http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form

Under "Feature Type:" select "populated place"...since it gives you latitude and
longitude you can do things like feed the locations into Excel and make a map of
all the places named Springfield....

Post by Randall Bart

Post by R H Draney
Did I ever regale this group with my theory about why Joe Friday got busted from
Lieutenant back down to Sergeant in the seven or so years between the B&W and
color versions of "Dragnet"?...and why he was working a different division every
week?...r

I have an answer: It's in the script. I think Jack Webb had an
explanation, which went something like this: "We tell you up front that
the names have been changed. Every week we change the detectives names to
Friday and Gannon."

Sure, that's the explanation in the real-world universe, but I wanted something
that would explain it in terms of the show's own reality...decided Friday had a
little trouble adjusting to the Miranda ruling that came along during those
missing years...roughed up one crook too many or "forgot" to read them the
rights they were due, and you can just see his Captain calling him in and saying
"Joe, you're too good a cop to kick out, but until you learn to play by the
rules we're gonna have to put you on probationary status"....r

[Brian]

Post by Randall Bart
Where do the characters on The Beverly Hillbillies hail from?

Here is some info I found:

Three books on TV shows state that they came from the Ozarks.
That would put them in or near Missouri and Arkansas.

The most specific reference was in "The Great Sitcom Book"
by Rick Mitz. He says "Living in their mansion at
518 Crestview Dr., the simple backwoods family wish they
were back in Sibly (where the OK Oil Company bought their
Ozark land)..." [he does not site the source of this info.]

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica:
Ozark Mountains
"heavily forested group of highlands in the south-central United
States, extending southwestward from St. Louis, Mo., to the
Arkansas River. The mountains occupy an area of about 50,000
square miles (130,000 square km), of which 33,000 square miles
(85,500 square km) are in Missouri, 13,000 square miles
(33,700 square km) in northern Arkansas, and the remainder
in southern Illinois and southeastern Kansas. The Ozarks…"


And the Columbia Encyclopedia has:
"upland region, actually a dissected plateau, c.50,000 sq mi
(129,500 sq km), chiefly in S Mo. and N Ark., but partly in
Oklahoma and Kansas, between the Arkansas and Missouri rivers."

I couldn't find any towns named "Sibly" but I did find a few named
"Sibley." Two were in the states containing the Ozarks.
(plus a Sibleyville.)

Sibley Illinois Ford County 40:35:13 N 088:22:52 W
TOO FAR NORTH

Sibleyville Kansas Douglas County 38:53:03 N 095:11:43 W
A LITTLE TOO FAR WEST, BUT IT COULD BE JUST BARELY PART OF THE OZARKS.
But the name is not quite correct.

Sibley Missouri Jackson County 39:10:43 N 094:11:35 W
[named for Fort Sibley, which was commanded by George Sibley]
THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE THE BEST ONE - If the show creators picked a
real town in the Ozarks, it would probably be in Missouri or Arkansas
because those states contain most of the Ozarks.
Population (year 2000): 347



Brian

[Randall Bart]

'Twas Tue, 03 Feb 2004 22:17:31 -0800 when all rec.music.dementia stood in

Post by Brian
Three books on TV shows state that they came from the Ozarks.
That would put them in or near Missouri and Arkansas.

There is no doubt they came from the Ozarks.

Post by Brian
The most specific reference was in "The Great Sitcom Book"
by Rick Mitz. He says "Living in their mansion at
518 Crestview Dr., the simple backwoods family wish they
were back in Sibly (where the OK Oil Company bought their
Ozark land)..." [he does not site the source of this info.]

I have not run across Sibly (or Sibley) anywhere.
http://www.tvtome.com/BeverlyHillbillies/guide.html does not mention
Sibly, but mentions Bugtussle (spelled "Bug Tussle" once) in connection
with three episodes. It does say that Granny wanted to go home to
Bugtussle, and as I already said she may not come from the same town as
the Clampetts and the Bodines. The references to Tennessee also seem to
be about Granny.

Thanx, I will add this data point to my research.

Which all brings up a not so off topic question: I've heard that Irene Ryan
and (maybe) Buddy Ebsen did a tune called "Granny's Mini Skirt". I've
requested the song on Dr D a couple of times but it wasn't played. Has
anyone actually heard, or heard of, this song? Cheers, John

Post by Randall Bart
'Twas Tue, 03 Feb 2004 22:17:31 -0800 when all rec.music.dementia stood in

Post by Brian
Three books on TV shows state that they came from the Ozarks.
That would put them in or near Missouri and Arkansas.

There is no doubt they came from the Ozarks.

Post by Brian
The most specific reference was in "The Great Sitcom Book"
by Rick Mitz. He says "Living in their mansion at
518 Crestview Dr., the simple backwoods family wish they
were back in Sibly (where the OK Oil Company bought their
Ozark land)..." [he does not site the source of this info.]

I have not run across Sibly (or Sibley) anywhere.
http://www.tvtome.com/BeverlyHillbillies/guide.html does not mention
Sibly, but mentions Bugtussle (spelled "Bug Tussle" once) in connection
with three episodes. It does say that Granny wanted to go home to
Bugtussle, and as I already said she may not come from the same town as
the Clampetts and the Bodines. The references to Tennessee also seem to
be about Granny.
Thanx, I will add this data point to my research.
--
RB |\ © Randall Bart
nr |\ Please reply without spam I LOVE YOU 1-917-715-0831
dt ||\ Weebl and Bob: http://weebl.brainthru.com
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[Brian]

Post by
Which all brings up a not so off topic question: I've heard that Irene Ryan
and (maybe) Buddy Ebsen did a tune called "Granny's Mini Skirt". I've
requested the song on Dr D a couple of times but it wasn't played. Has
anyone actually heard, or heard of, this song? Cheers, John

It does exist - I've never seen a copy, but there is a picture
of the sleeve and a description in "Hollywood Hi-Fi" by
George Gimarc & Pat Reeder.

The record is by Irene Ryan issued in 1968
Granny's Mini-Skirt
b/w
Bring on the Show

Nashwood Records.

There is an album by Buddy Ebsen.
"...Ebsen had a long career in musicals. And one listen
to this LP will demonstrate conclusively why he became a dancer."
Buddy Ebsen Says Howdy
Reprise records
1965

Plus, there is a record by the cast of the Beverly Hillbillies doing
novelty songs based on the show. Iren Ryan does a song titled
"Vittles."
(c. 1968)

Brian

[b***@gmail.com]

This was 16 years ago, but the answer is Tennessee. Bugtussle, Tennessee. Granny once gave Jethro a Tennessee volunteers uniform to wear when he was going to join the army and back home is the Tennessee hills. (the movie made them from Arkansas for the purpose of a Bill Clinton joke). Hooterville is in an undisclosed state in the south. The Douglasses traveled by air with Arnold to California. Pearl Bodine and Kate are cousins. This was explained when the clampetts traveled to Hooterville.

[RH Draney]

Post by b***@gmail.com
This was 16 years ago, but the answer is Tennessee. Bugtussle, Tennessee. Granny once gave Jethro a Tennessee volunteers uniform to wear when he was going to join the army and back home is the Tennessee hills. (the movie made them from Arkansas for the purpose of a Bill Clinton joke). Hooterville is in an undisclosed state in the south. The Douglasses traveled by air with Arnold to California. Pearl Bodine and Kate are cousins. This was explained when the clampetts traveled to Hooterville.

Hooterville's state is not "undisclosed"...it's made quite plain in one
episode that it's the Kangaroo state....r

[Karen Orlick]

Post by Randall Bart
This is off topic for this newsgroup, but it's the sort of trivia which
people here tend to know.
Where do the characters on The Beverly Hillbillies hail from? I have
found two town names and three state names, and I would like to know which
is (are) correct. It's possible that they come from two or three places,
one for the Clampetts (Jed and Ellie Mae) one for the Bodines (Jethro,
Jethrine and Pearl) and a third Granny (Daisie Mae Moses). I am
deliberately not revealing the town and state names I have accumulated so
as not to pollute anyone's memory.
They do not come from Hooterville. They come from somewhere back east,
and from all evidence Hooterville is in California. There is no real
Hooterville CA, but Pixlie CA is a real place and whenever a Hootervillian
went to Pixlie they showed the genuine Pixlie CA water tower. There is a
town named Porterville about 20 miles from Pixlie, and I have always
guessed that Hooterville is a named after Porterville, but I may be wrong
on that.
--
RB |\ Š Randall Bart
nr |\ Please reply without spam I LOVE YOU 1-917-715-0831
dt ||\ Weebl and Bob: http://weebl.brainthru.com
a |/ Smart Greek Dude: http://aristarchus.brainthru.com

Clampetts are from Northern Central Tennessee near the Kentucky line. I recently moved to TN and began to notice all the references in the series. Closest "big city" is Bugtussle, KY - per Jed trying to phone home.