Hi everyone,

I hope nobody thought that they missed a digest this week because they didn't! Actually it was a slow week mail wise so I thought that I'd just leave it and only send out one digest this week. Enjoy the letters.

All the best, Karen.

From Carolyn:

Hi! This is the first time I've written since joining the mailing list. My name is Carolyn and I live in PA. I've watched the Walton's since it first started airing. I have always loved the show.

In answer to the question about who first played Cindy. It was Melody Thomas Scott who now plays Nikki on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless". I agree that Leslie Winston was definitely a better Cindy, she was more sensitive and intelligent. I really loved her character. She and Ben eloped because according to Ben, they couldn't wait to "be together" any longer. They were afraid they might get "carried away" and Ben had too much respect for her for that to happen. Cindy was in the episode where Pearl Harbor was bombed and Curt gets killed, at least supposedly. She and Ben were in her car when he heard the news on the radio.

Thanks for the GREAT digests, I have really enjoyed reading them.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Welcome Carolyn. I really can't imagine Melody Thomas Scott as Cindy. I do seem to remember it all now. I haven't seen those episodes for such a long time.

Another wonderful article from Arthur (I'm loving these):

Hello Karen,

I do hope your laryngitis (I must learn to spell that...) passes quickly. Thanks for Digest 30. I've looked up my synopses about Cindy, though the later synopses need revising. Cindy first appeared in The Captive (Season 7) played by Robin Eisenman. Ben then brought her home as his wife, stunning the family, in The Outsider, (later in Season 7), now played by Leslie Winston. Here's something I found recently in the public library, it's from The Guiness Television Encyclopedia (Jeff Evans). Guiness Publishing, 1995:

The Waltons - Sentimental tales of a Virginian family during the Depression and World War 2.

"The Walton family lived in the town of Walton's Mountain, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Jefferson County, Virginia. Mom and Dad were Olivia and John, she a caring devoted mother, he a solid father figure and part-owner of the family's sawmill, with Grandpa Walton.

The Waltons had seven children, plus a dog named Reckless. The eldest was John-Boy, a fresh-faced youth with writing ambitions. He majored in English at Boatwright University, started a local newspaper, The Blue Ridge Chronicles, had a novel published which took him to New York, then worked as a war correspondent during the hostilities.

The next in line was Mary Ellen, who became a nurse, married Dr. Curtis Willard, gave birth to little John Curtis and then saw her husband die at Pearl Harbor (or so it was thought). When he resurfaced in Florida, he decided not to return to Virginia, leaving Mary Ellen with the new man in her life, fellow pre-med student Jonesy.

The Waltons' other sons were Jim Bob, Jason and Ben, and the two youngest daughters were Elizabeth and Erin. They didn't play such prominent roles but were always on hand to help out during family crises, of which there were plenty.

Grandma was taken ill, then Grandpa died (actor Will Geer passed away between seasons). Olivia suffered an attack of tuberculosis and was sent away to recuperate in a sanitorium, with her place as housekeeper given to her cousin, Rose. Then the war arrived and saw the boys taken off with the armed forces, leaving the sawmill short-staffed and forced into temporary closure.

"Meanwhile, the other townsfolk also had their ups and downs. Most prominent was storekeeper Ike Godsey and his prim wife Corabeth, the vicar Reverend Fordwick who married schoolteacher Emily Hunter, and two fading spinster sisters, Mamie and Emily Baldwin.

The Waltons shunned sex and violence for human tragedy and family drama. It showed the children growing up and getting married, following domestic upheaval after domestic upheaval and portrayed a good-natured family struggling to survive in one of America's poorest areas at a time of great deprivation. All stories were told through the moist eyes of John-Boy.

The series was created by Earl Hamner Jnr, who also acted as narrator. The stories were based on his own life, which had first been portrayed in a 1963 Henry Fonda film, Spenser's Mountain. The Waltons began as a TV movie called The Homecoming. It was so squeaky- clean and wholesome that it attracted much parody, particularly for its closing sequence when the family, tucked up in bed, all called "Goodnight" to each other as the household lights were dimmed one by one. After the series ended, three TV specials were produced to update events in Walton's Mountain." (Jeff Evans, 1995).

Arthur's comments: - While being a good overall view of the series, there are several errors - notably:

• The schoolteacher's name was Rosemary Hunter (not Emily).
• Mary Ellen didn't see her husband die at Pearl Harbor (she only heard about it).
• They have "preachers" or "ministers" in America, not "vicars".

Anyone spot any more?

KAREN'S COMMENT: Well we seem to have found another actress playing the part of Cindy. Very interesting. Was Jonesy a pre-med student? I thought he was into geology, then later became a Vet.

By the way Arthur, I am on the mend now thankyou. My family has had a very quiet week though because my voice didn't come back until Thursday! They thought it was wonderful.

From Larissa:

Hi Everyone, I realized that I forgot to give you guys some more background on me. I am 23 and have been married for almost one month now. Robert and I share our house with two cats, one of which is trying to help me type this letter right now! Rob is kind enough to put up with my obsession with the show!

Reading through the digest archives, I have only seen one other person who was around my age and I didn't want that person to feel alone! Granted I haven't been watching since the first episodes, my mom has, and she gets all the credit for getting me hooked on the show! She grew up in a family with 7 kids (though in the 50's and 60's) in a small town, so to her the show reminds her of her childhood. To me, I think, the show helps me gain insight into her childhood and to learn what has made her family so close-knit. Plus, due largely to the show, I have become fascinated with what life was like in the 30's, mostly from a sociological sense.

Now onto the questions:

Alison asks "Incidentally does Boatright really exist ?" No, it doesn't. There is nothing in the area by that name. The lady at the Walton's museum said that Earl Hamner went to the University of Richmond and that he named the university in the show after the man who was President of UR while Mr. Hamner was attending it.

Also, Marca is not sure about if Mary-Ellen, Erin, and Elizabeth stay on the mountain. According to the last special to air recently (if memory serves me correctly), Erin was a school teacher on the mountain. Others have already mentioned that she was divorced from Paul Northridge. I don't remember much about what Mary-Ellen was doing, and Elizabeth I think was just starting to think about settling down - although I don't remember if she'd decided to stay in the area. Maybe others can remember more about the special than I can. I don't want to say something that's not right!

KAREN'S COMMENT: Hope you're enjoying married life Larissa. Actually we have a real mix of ages of people on the list which is great. Some of us are reminiscing when we watch The Waltons, but some of us are seeing the episodes for the first time. It makes for interesting comments I think. I could be wrong but I think that one of the specials (1993 perhaps?) had Mary Ellen living in Charlottesville I think, and working as a Doctor there.

From Lael:

Hi Karen and everyone,

About The Shivaree: I live in a Northern part of Pennsylvania and I can remember my grandmother telling me about when she married. (She was married in 1927) She told me that when she married my grandfather, the only people who knew about the wedding were her parents and his parents. No one else knew - not even brothers and sisters or friends. They only told people after they came back from their honeymoon. She said they did this because there was a tradition among their social group of "giving the newlyweds a really hard time" - though she didn't elaborate on what she meant by that - and she and grandpa didn't want to have to deal with it. She didn't call it a "shivaree", but that is sure what it sounded like.

These traditions may have existed only in the eastern parts of the US, or perhaps they were a tradition of the time. I am really not sure.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks for this Lael. I love old customs and certainly appreciate that a shivaree would probably make most newly weds very uncomfortable! :-) What about the custom of the quilting? Does this still go on in some parts?

From Tammy:

Hello everyone, I'm a new member to the list. I joined around the time of the 30th digest (and, by the way, I think the digests are full of tons of wonderful information and memories). My name's Tammy and I'm from Illinois. I've been a fan of the Waltons for as long as I can remember. To prove my devotion to the series as a child, I vividly recall one Thursday night when I couldn't have been much more than 7 or 8 years old and I was confined to my room by my parents because I had a cold or the flu or something contagious that they didn't want my younger brother to catch. Well, around 7 p.m. I protested so vehemently about having to miss the Waltons that a compromise was reached. My folks let me come down to watch as long as I wore one of those surgical-style dust masks so I wouldn't expose everyone in the household to my germs while I was downstairs in front of the TV. :-) I don't recall what episode it was... though I do seem to remember the Baldwin Sisters and maybe Jason or John-Boy.

Other than a few earlier season episodes, I've found since I've begun watching the rebroadcasts on the Family Channel that I don't remember most of the episodes...especially the war-years episodes that have been airing currently. Of course, that shouldn't be surprising since I was all of one year old when the series premiered. I do recall snatches of scenes here and there, but never entire episodes. So it's been a joy to go back and view these great old episodes as if they were first-time airings.

The snatches of episodes I most recall from childhood tend to involve big events...the house burning, the Hindenberg crash and its effects on John-Boy, when John-Boy had the accident in the mill and his sight was threatened. These are episodes that have stayed in my memory forever...I can't wait until the Family Channel re-airs them, as I haven't seen any of these 3 episodes since they were originally broadcast in the 1970s on CBS.

I've only been watching the Family Channel rebroadcasts for a few months, so I haven't seen any further back than the middle of season 6. They do show all the episodes eventually, don't they (except the couple of ghost episodes, of course)? All the way from season 1 through 9? Have they shown the earliest seasons in the past? That would be a good indication for the future.

As for favorite episodes, I can't make a comment on any prior to the ones I've seen lately as I just don't remember the earlier ones, but of the latter ones, several stand out to me. I love "The Wager" with Erin and Mary Ellen competing in the run-and-ride race, and also "The Outsider" when Grandma has to help Ben and Cindy get used to the squabbles of married life. I also enjoyed the episode "Spring Fever." It was a classic Grandpa episode with his delightful antics intended to help Miss Mamie out of her depression. It made me laugh. :-)

Other episodes that I enjoy are the ones involving Ashley Longworth Jr. and Erin. Though I really like Paul and I loved G.W., I thought Ashley was truly the man that Erin loved the most, and I thought they had wonderful chemistry together. A couple other "Ashley" episodes stand out in memory for me...one where Erin is helping the Baldwins write their memoirs and they discover a ring and the reason that Ashley never returned for Emily. I loved the scene where Miss Emily told Erin to take down Papa's portrait and put it in the closet for a while as his punishment for what he'd done to break up her and Ashley. :-) A scene from another episode that stands out for me is when Ashley Jr. brings Miss Emily the letter from his father. As I watched Miss Emily read the letter, I got a lump in my throat just thinking what it must have meant to her to have such a momento so many years after their courtship.

One other scene that really got to me was at the end of the episode where the family was informed that John-Boy was missing in action. There were no goodnights and no narrative voiceover from Earl Hamner (John-Boy). It was just silence and the view of the front of the house...a fitting yet unsettling ending to the episode. Knowing that John-Boy later returned didn't stop me from getting teary-eyed when I saw this scene. I can imagine the emotional impact the scene must have had the first time the episode was aired, before viewers knew what was to become of John-Boy.

Speaking of John-Boy, in my mind there wasn't a finer actor on the Waltons than Richard Thomas. His wide-eyed and warm portrayal of John-Boy really made an impression on me. But I also liked Robert Wightman's portrayal. Perhaps it's because I haven't seen Richard Thomas in the role on a consistent basis for years that it was easier for me to accept someone else in the role. But, although I feel Wightman did a fine job, I must add a disclaimer and say no one will ever truly be able to fill the role the way Thomas did.

My least favorite episode would easily have to be "The Tempest," where Mary Ellen confronted a very different Curt in Florida. I, too, didn't see the purpose of bringing him back like that. His memory should have been as a Pearl Harbor hero, and not marred by what Mary Ellen saw when she met up with him again face to face. I realize that time changes feelings and war does terrible things to the mind and heart, but it seemed so unrealistic the way Curt and Mary Ellen spoke to each other and the feelings they each had, especially Curt's total disregard for her or his son. I really disliked this storyline, though I can't say that I disliked the episode prior to it, "The Whirlwind," since I happen to love Jonesy and this was an episode where he truly shined in his pursuit of Mary Ellen.

As for favorite characters, my tastes have changed over the years. When I was a child, I remember loving Mary Ellen (as she reminded me of myself--tomboyish) and John-Boy (who doesn't?) and Elizabeth (because she's not much older than me). And I've always loved Ben. He's by far my favorite character in the series. Now that I've gotten older and have gone back and am able to review the episodes, I've developed an appreciation for the characters of Erin and Jim-Bob much more than I ever did when I was younger. Erin's now one of my favorite Waltons, whereas when I was younger I wasn't particularly fond of her. I think I can now relate more to her wistful yearning heart. And I now appreciate what a great man and actor Will Geer was...what a delight it is to see episodes in which he appeared. He was a dear gem and I miss him in the later episodes.

Now that I'm older, I no longer consider Mary Ellen and Elizabeth among my most favorites... after Ben and Erin, I consider them and the other characters in the cast all equal as far as how much I like them. They're all tremendous actors and truly made their characters come to life and feel like members of your own family. John and Olivia were the perfect parents, loving not only to their children, but also to each other. And I loved all the in-laws that the children married... Jonesy, Cindy, Paul, Toni...and Drew will soon be a "Walton." He's my special favorite non-Walton. I also loved G.W. and Ashley and Josh Foster (Verdie's youngest son). And although the earliest episodes tended to revolve more around John-Boy than the other children, I must say I've enjoyed the latter episodes immensely because the storylines involved the younger children in more detail and their personalities were developed right before our eyes. If not for these latter episodes, I never would have discovered how engaging Erin and Jim-Bob were as actors and characters.

I, too, like John-Boy, have dreams of becoming a published writer one day. I'm not sure when the dream began, but I'm sure it was either inspired or fed by the image I've kept in my mind of John-Boy sitting at his desk beneath the open window, scribbling away in his journal. It intrigued me at the time and it's one of my lasting images of the Waltons. The memory of it, along with the goodnights at the end of each episode, the opening and closing narration by Earl Hamner, and the theme music always fills me with a sense of warmth and security and nostalgia. I loved that the show dealt with difficult world events and issues, yet it showed that solace, if not solutions, could often be found in one's family, heritage, and faith. Even if you don't come from a big extended family like the Waltons, you can feel through the show what it's like to have lots of brothers and sisters and the warmth and security of a family's love to help shelter you during the storms of life.

I didn't intend to ramble on quite so much, but I hope you've enjoyed reading about my fond recollections and opinions. I've certainly enjoyed writing it, considering the memories it's brought back. Again, I love that this mailing list is available to allow us to share our feelings and thoughts about the show with others. Thanks, Karen, for putting this together! :-)

Goodnight everyone.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Welcome Tammy. It's been great to hear from some of our newer members this digest. If you haven't written yet, how about dropping us a line really soon. It's so nice to get to know the list members. :-))

Thanks for your thoughts Tammy...you've certainly brought back some memories for me as you've mentioned various episodes. I really loved the Ashley Longworth storylines too. Perhaps we could have a reformed Ashley Longworth Jr coming back to woo Erin now that she is divorced. :-)

From Shirley Irene:

The Waltons have entertained me only since last November. I was asked to write a poem for a friend who was moving. She loves the Walton's. When the Realtor said "This is a Walton House," that was all she needed to hear in rural North Carolina. I watched one episode and was able to write a poem that enumerated her experience and four boy's names, Walton style. She cried big tears in a party we had when I read the poem. I became hooked to the show. I live in Raleigh, North Carolina, just four hours from the Museum, which I visited once so far. (fantastic) A Raleigh summer has many days in the 90's with high humidity. Some evenings never go under 70. I was born in January in Buffalo, New York, where they get lots of snow. It is taking me years to adjust to the heat here. A trip to Virginia is always refreshing!

I never saw the specials except for the last one. I came home early from vacation (in the N.C. mountains) to experience a power failure. I was able to watch parts of it in the van and discovered my neighbors, family of five, in their van also watching the Waltons! I finally got the whole thing on video. I enjoy these digests. They are really interesting to read.

The way the Family channel runs, I saw from the sixth season except for the first seven episodes, to the last episode. Some of these I've seen four times. I'm getting the Columbia videos and my husband says, every time he sees the Waltons, the kids are different ages. I look forward to each "older" episode. Elizabeth is my favorite, Jim Bob is next but all the cast is a favorite.

In response to Alison's letter, when I was at the Museum, they said that "Boatwright" was the name of a man that Earl respected at his University which I think was in Virginia.

Arthur mentioned the gem from Elizabeth on the word "Inventory". In the episode titled Spring Fever, Grandpa was at the table reading a book to solve the problem of Mamie's dying Rosebush. "I'm looking for some dust to put on Miss Mamie's thrips."

Mary Ellen said, "Has Miss Mamie seen a doctor?" (Remember, Miss Mamie was depressed and thought this was her very last spring.)

Elizabeth was listening, as children do, and her comments were ignored as the conversation ensued. Elizabeth's comments were, "How did she catch these thrips?...Do thrips hurt?...Can we catch these thrips?"

I also liked when Grandpa (same episode) said they would go on a picnic. Miss Emily said "Yes, it would be so nice to see the birds and the beasts."

Sometimes it takes four viewings to catch all these little gems.

Good Night