During the first season, Archie makes at least 3 references of his father hitting him with a shovel simply for saying something harmless his father didn't like like "Today I am a man" (his 18th birthday). In the "Two's a Crowd" episode of "All in the Family," Archie actually talks about his father with affection with things like "He busted his hand on me to teach me to do good" and "He shoved me in the closet to teach me to do good cause he loved me." Who are you trying to fool Archie? Not only did your father fill your mind with poisonous bigotry but he physically and psychologically abused you as badly as possible. I suppose hitting you with a shovel was to teach you to do good too. Anybody who would hit their child with a shovel is an evil bastard who should be jailed for attempted murder. I pity you Archie. You really had a miserable life.:(

It was abuse. Now a days you can call child-welfare or the police. That was
unheard of back then, you had to take it or runaway from home. Its very sad.

When was that

No doubt about it, Archie's dad was a mean hateful abusive bastard. Unlike many abused children, Archie did not abuse Gloria and continue that cycle. He deserves high marks for that.

Wow, I didn't know about that. Did they ever mention this on AITF? It seems like "Archie Bunker's Place" had some more serious undertones in it than AITF did. That would have been awful for him to abuse Gloria. I really would have hated the show if they had gone that route.

Wow, I didn't know about that. Did they ever mention this on AITF? It seems like "Archie Bunker's Place" had some more serious undertones in it than AITF did. That would have been awful for him to abuse Gloria. I really would have hated the show if they had gone that route.


Various episodes where Archie would mention how his father would hit him with a shovel or some other unforgivable thing and Archie's brother mentioned once how the father never gave Archie credit for anything nor was proud of him.