The Wealthy Cleavers

[Corvetteguy]

I laugh every time Wally & Beaver ask Ward for anything. He puts up the fuss that he is not made of money etc etc....Ward acts like they have to struggle to make ends meet when in reality, the Cleavers are financialy well off. The Cleavers live in a big two story house furnished with expensive queen anne furniture and other expensive items. Ward gets a new car every year and belongs to the country club. In several episodes June has been seen wearing a mink stole when she & Ward go out for a night on the town and I doubt those pearls are fake. Ward also annoys me when he makes the boys put their money in the bank instead of enjoying it. He is a frugal tight wad.

[rockrgurl71110]

LOL!! I guess your right in the LEAVE IT TO BEAVER movie the fellow that played eddie said " hey squrit, your pops always crying poverty but hes got a sweet nest egg.

[UncleBilly]

You have to realize that life was very different back in the 50's when Leave it to Beaver was written. Most families believed in saving money for a rainy day and didn't spend money like people do today. The parents of that generation (Ward and June included) grew up during the Depression and learned the hard way about being poor and without money. They never wanted to go through that again. Ward provided well for his family, the nice house, the car, the pearls etc. But at the same time he wanted to teach the boys the value of a dollar, Wally and Beaver didn't get evertyhing they asked for and had to save their allowance to buy items they wanted or to go to the movies.

[rockrgurl71110]

Yeah thats true.

[desilu #1]

I agree with Uncle Billy. Those boys never really wanted or needed for anything and all Ward wanted to do was teach them the value of a dollar just like Uncle Billy said. I believe that if a man works hard and provides well for his family he deserves to reward himself now and then. As for June's furs and pearls, he is mearly rewarding her and showing her appreciation for what she does for the family as well and I think it is wonderful that he took June out at least once a week or however much he took her. I certainly wouldn't call him a tight wad because if those boys or June "needed" something he never hesitated to provide it. And I wouldn't say that Ward always made them put their money in the bank, I recall Beaver buying that silly jackass or burro.

[Corvetteguy]

I agree 100 % with the point of working for what you want. I was raised that way and I have worked for what I have and will raise my children the same way when I get married and have children. I'm just saying that they make a federal case out of anything where the boys and money are concerned. I agree that it is foolish to blow money left and right at the spur of the moment and that children should learn the value of a dollar, but it just seems to me that Ward went overboard at times. He usualy always tries to talk them out of buying things. The episode where the boys bought the hunting jacket for Ward is a good example. Ward had a fit when he thought the boys spent their own money on themselves. Another thing bothers me is the way they force the boys to attend social functions and how they usualy stay in their room all the time. I know kids like privacy, but the boys practicaly lived in their room. I remember an episode where Beaver is in the living room and Ward see's him in there and says " Beaver what are you doing in here" Beaver tells him Wally wanted the room to himself and Ward told Beaver to go back and tell Wally to let him in. It looked as if Ward couldn't stand for Beaver to be in the living room. I won't get started on the listening to phone conversations and June digging in the trash for things the boys had written.

[desilu #1]

I do understand some of your points Corvette guy. I also recall in the episode where Ward threw a fit about them spending their money, he sure felt like a heel at the end when he got that hunting jacket that we never saw him use. I'm not sure I recall the one where Ward tells him to go tell Wally to let him back in the room but I sure can understand because Beaver got more and more repulsive just to look at as he got older.

[Corvetteguy]

Desilu #1 I agree. He started acting weird and I got embarrased for him in certain scenes he was in. Remember the record club episode ? " Don't bother me now, I'm sailing". He also got into a head bobbing method of acting. I still crack up at the scene where Wally burst out laughing at Beaver in the " Beaver the Sheep Dog" episode. Tony Dow did all he could to hold back his laughter.

[Tonyd]

The "bunny suit" episode was really ridiculous too!

[desilu #1]

I certainly know what you mean! At first I thought that it was just the Beaver character but I'm just wondering if it ain't just how Jerry is. IMO, he still looks strange. It's rather shocking because he was so adorable as a little guy...what happened?!

[Tonyd]

It is sometimes hard to tell that he is the same person from the early to later episodes!

[Corvetteguy]

Desilu & Tony I agree. In the last 2 seasons he was painful to watch. Episodes that stick out are the "Nobody Loves Me" episode, and the episode where the girl he likes falls for Wally. He was embarrasing himself trying to impress her. He acts like a big baby and runs and jumps on his bed crying like a 5 year old after she leaves with Wally. Beaver the Bunny is just an episode that was totaly off the mark. I noticed after all the episodes started focusing on Wally, the writers would find ways to stick his weird behind in the plot or scene because they didn't know what else to do with him. The episode about the camel back cutoff is a prime example. Instead of having Wally, Eddie, and Lumpy in Ward's car getting into trouble, they had to stick Beaver in there with them because they didn't know what else to do with him.

[Tonyd]

One of the few "later" episodes that I think Beaver was really good in is "Beaver's Fear." Jerry did some genuinely good acting there.

[HaskellGirl]

I don't think the Cleavers were wealthy....I think they did alright, probably due to Ward's not over-spending his money. The Rutherfords seemed to be wealthy, but the Cleavers were middle class. Of course, its all relative! But I think a lot of Ward's putting his foot down was more to teach them the value of a dollar than it was that they simply couldn't afford it. I agree with whoever said that this was a result of Ward growing up on a farm through the Depression. For him, it was important to save your money and only spend it on important things. But I agree, he did tend to get a bit tight-fisted, especially when the boys wanted to spend their own money.

[OK Beaver Fan 89]

I don't think they were really wealthy either but definitely Upper Middle Class. Also wasn't Ward Fred Rutherford's boss?