I've noticed in just about EVERY sitcom from this era, whenever a man gets out of bed, he's always wearing a nightcap/sleeping cap; characters like Jed, Jethro, and on Green Acres, Sam Drucker, Mr. Ziffle, etc.... I'm wondering was it just done for comic effect or was it common for men to wear them?

I think just for comic effect, the comedy being that it was a very outmoded style.

I think they make fun of this in the Andy Griffith episode "A Feud Is a Feud"? Elopers bang on the front door, and Andy throws a nightshirt and cap over his regular pajamas?

It's been a while since I paid close attention to this episode, but wasn't this a prop that Aunt Bee provided to Andy so that he would look the part of a freshly woke constable?


OTOH, if you look at the amount of grease he wears in his hair to maintain his do, anyone doing his laundry would not want that mess on the pillowcase.

I remember in the early 1960s, my grandmother had a calendar hanging on the wall behind any chair oriented with it's back to the wall. And asking why she had multiple calendars in the same room, was told it was to protect the wallpaper from hair grease.

Andy really is greased up, especially early on.

wasn't this a prop that Aunt Bee provided to Andy so that he would look the part of a freshly woke constable?

Yeah, that's it.

I grew up in the 1960's and my dad always slept in shorts and a t-shirt. My mother and older sisters wore long night gowns. I wore kids pajamas.