In my other post about The Wealthy Cleavers, I mentioned that I doubt June's pearls were fake. I seem to remember an episode of The New Leave It To Beaver where Wally's daughter Kelly gets June's pearls and while she is out bike riding with Beaver's son Ollie, she breaks the strand and they all roll to the bottom of the hill where road construction is taking place and the pearls are steam rolled over with asphalt. Kelly & Ollie decide to replace the necklace and go to the jewlery store where they were first purchased. The jewler remembers when Ward first bought the pearls and that Ward had good taste. He then tells the kids how expensive they will be. Kelly can only afford to buy one pearl. Kelly then tells her parents what happened and then later confesses to June in front of everyone and gives her the pearl and tells June that she will buy her a pearl every year until they make a full necklace to replace the one she ruined. June tells her she forgives her and that the necklace Kelly broke was imitations and not to worry. Kelly is happy and leaves with Wally and her mother. Beaver remarks that it was a lucky thing that they were the fake ones, June tells Beaver " No Beaver they were not" Beaver then realizes how June didn't want Kelly to feel bad about her mistake. The only thing that bugs me about the episode is, I was always told that real pearls were knotted in between so if the strand was to break, the pearls would stay in place.

WOW that sounds like a good episode. I think your right about the pearl thing.

A li'l trivia: In an old interview, Barbara Bilingsley said that June's pearls were originally introduced as a way to obscure a scar she has on her neck.:eek:

whoa! really?

Swear! It was in an old TV interview, I think from the 80's.

thats pretty intresting!

Originally posted by Corvetteguy
I was always told that real pearls were knotted in between so if the strand was to break, the pearls would stay in place. True. Even many fakes are tied the same way.

Jerry Mathers said in an 80s interview that Billingsley wore a string of pearls to distract viewer attention from a deep wrinkle in her neck that resembled a tracheotomy scar.

I interviewed Barbara Billingsley in the late 1980s and she told me she wore the pearls on the TV show because she had prominent bones at the base of her neck that the producer and costume designer felt should be covered. I saw her neck during the interview and even though she was older then, I didn't see a visible scar.

I interviewed Barbara Billingsley in the late 1980s and she told me she wore the pearls on the TV show because she had prominent bones at the base of her neck that the producer and costume designer felt should be covered. I saw her neck during the interview and even though she was older then, I didn't see a visible scar.

No, there wasn't a scar because (according to Mathers) it was a deep wrinkle that resembled a scar. I often look for the deep wrinkle in Barbara's neck but can't find it. I don't think the necklace is supposed to cover the wrinkle so much as it is supposed to draw the viewer's gaze away from it. Anyway, I can't see a deep wrinkle that resembles a scar. There are some very prominent bones however that I've noticed in recent episodes. For me, the necklace is more distracting than prominent bones could possibly be because few women then or now wore/wear pearl necklaces when doing housework.

In the early episodes (the ones we're currently watching on TVLand), June often wears a necklace with a heart shaped pendant. She's alternating in these very early episodes between her heart shaped pendant, her pearls, and her bows. The good woman has yet to settle once and for all upon the pearls.