I believe I read somewhere that Miss Landers' first name was not known, or I may have just assumed this. So I was surpirsed to hear Miss Landers' finace, Tom Brittingham, call her Alice...twice and very clearly. I was very excited with this bit of information (new to me anyway) because anything about Miss Landers makes me very happy indeed. I guess she marries Tom and lives happily ever after in Mayfield. She sure is the best!

Markie

< I guess she marries Tom and lives happily ever after in Mayfield. She sure is the best! >

I'm not really so sure (disregarding, of course, that this Mayfield and all its characters exist only in imagination).

But there is a later episode, after Beaver was past his 3 straight years with the same teacher, that he is having a little crisis about becoming a teenager, after hearing about how "nice" and "cute" he used to be.. Looking for reassurance, one person he visits is Miss Landers, who is still a grammar school teacher with the same name. Since even today very few women do not change their names upon marriage, this calls to question whether she and her fiance followed through and got married. This may not have been the intention of the writers; perhaps just an oversight quite common to any TV series that runs long at all.

But as for her being the "best," I agree. Beautiful, nice, fair, understanding, firm when necessary, but only then.... too bad perfect teachers, like perfect families, only exist in imagination.

Originally posted by Markie
I guess she marries Tom and lives happily ever after in Mayfield.

Hmm, I really wonder. tdr is right. In the last epiosde where Miss Landers is seen, Beaver still calls her Miss Landers. Now, I believe it was a big custom during that era for the bride to change her surname to that of her husbands. So, she would be called Mrs. Brittingham. Yet, I am sure on occasion, the bride didn't always change their surname; when a lot of people know your last name, especially when your in the teaching profession. But to reflect her being married, she could now be called Mrs. Landers instead of Miss. So, I wonder if they really did get married afterall? The Mayfield paper sure did make a big fuss about Miss Landers getting married, didn't they?


Yet, I believe this is another one of those slip-ups by the writers of the show. It happened quite a lot during the Golden Era tv shows. :)