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Were they roaming the country back in the 60s in mass?

Fear?

Even the Munsters had an episode when they were trying to sell their home to move to Buffalo. They were terrified of "Gypsies".

Andy Griffith, Dennis the Menace--it must have been a thing to have a gypsy episode in the 60s.

I think Green Acres had a Gypsy episode? And I know the Waltons did too, but that was 70's TV taklng place in the 30's ! :)

There could have been two for Green Acres:

The Vulgar Ring Story

The Blue Feather

In total seriousness, I believe this is one of those instances where Hollywood reshaped reality.

I think there was a movie made in the 1940s dramatizing that gypsies would steal your children. And this thought process escaped into the public consciousness. Parents warned their children to not wander off, for concern that the gypsies might snatch them.

I remember being told that gas stations were a favorite place for gypsies to grab children. Of course this was generally reinforced during gas stops on family vacations, mainly as a tool of convenience to keep the kiddies organized.

So, the use on tv sitcoms might have been spillover from contemporary gossip?

I think Green Acres had a Gypsy episode? And I know the Waltons did too, but that was 70's TV taklng place in the 30's ! :)

In the Walton one, the old gypsy woman stated that the Waltons would steel gypsy children. I thought that was an odd thing to say.

In Season 5 of The Beverly Hillbillies, the Clampetts encounter a couple of scammers who are purportedly gypsies. Also, much earlier in the series, Jethro's mother fears he'll be taken away by gypsies, and in that same episode Miss Jane wears a wig and says she is a gypsy woman who'll take Jethro to her camp.