People walking about

[Tankeryanker]

I have noticed that a lot of people are shown walking around the neighborhood and town.

In my neck of the woods, you would not see that many out and about. What about your area?

Could this have been more of a 1950's thing?

[vitoscotti]

Notice the men are in dark suit, tie, and hat, out for a walk.

We get tons of people walking around the block. Many with dogs, small kids, and baby carriers. Got to crawl out of the driveway. No vile pit bulls, or dobermans as I know. Attracts lots of walkers.

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

I have noticed that a lot of people are shown walking around the neighborhood and town.

In my neck of the woods, you would not see that many out and about. What about your area?

Could this have been more of a 1950's thing?

Up until the mid 1960s, neighborhood grocery stores were quite common. People would walk to go get a bottle of milk, needed "fixins" for the evening meals, stuff like that.

After reading a book about the rise and fall of A&P I got a 1930's era city directory and looked up Kroger, A&P, and another national chain for my local city.

And at that time they had neighborhood grocery stores in about every third block. After world war II Americans became obsessed with the automobile, and the big chains consolidated many smaller stores into larger more centralized locations having large parking lots. And sold off their smaller buildings. Which many a mom-n-pop bought to open their own small grocery stores.
Those would have been the ones within walking distance of the Cleaver household.

As I was growing up there were many brick two story buildings spread throughout the neighborhoods, usually with apartments on top, and some small grocery store, or second hand store on ground level They stuck out like sore thumbs in neighborhoods that were otherwise all wood framed houses. Always wondered why someone would build such an odd duck building.

Those buildings were the old Kroger's and A&P. And the lack of a parking lot was what "killed" them.

[Tankeryanker]

^^^
Are you meaning the tea company?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26P

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

^^^
Are you meaning the tea company?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26P

That was their name, but they rose to be the "Walmart" of 1940s and 1950s grocery business.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26P

Of their original buildings, in the 1930s, there were 3 Krogers and 5 A&P within a 15 block radius of the house I eventually grew up in. They catered to walk-in business.

[GentlemanJim]

There also were quite a few neighborhood drug stores in the 1950s-60s. And post offices that were smaller and more local.

So, definitely a reason for foot traffic.
There was a 60ish woman in my neighborhood, who took a stroll every afternoon around 3 PM. Always wearing the same scarf, sunglasses, and tan calf-length raincoat...summer, winter, didn't matter, same get up.

One summer when I was about 10, like a 90 degree day...and I asked her if the coat wasn't hot to wear.

She told me, a dear sweet innocent at the time, that she was wearing nothing beneath the coat.

[GentlemanJim]

Just an additional thought, even police used to spend considerably more time patrolling on foot in the olden days. Hence the slang term "flatfoot".

I forget which show it was exactly, but I think it may have been Car 54 where are you? there was a running gag where an ill behaved patrolman was threatened to be assigned walking a beat in Staten Island.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by GentlemanJim

There also were quite a few neighborhood drug stores in the 1950s-60s.

I think every small town had a Rexall drug store.

[vitoscotti]

I remember my old boss who's 18 years older than me said our town had multiple mini candy stores in homes. It would be two story houses with the store on the bottom. Very small stores selling mostly candy. Not mom & pop grocery stores which we had also. I remember going to one when I was young by our high school. I think they were in the midst of dyng off when I was young.

Talking about cars going by Gilbert & Beaver were cutting grass. Ever see a dirty car exterior on tv? Or rust? Or dirty windshield? Or morning dew? All car exteriors are perfectly clean & polished. Even in dirt roads, or snow. Cars are never warmed up even in freezing cold. Never ice on the windshield in winter mornings left out overnight.

My earliest memory of our chain grocer was a good sized store. But, it was originally downtown, and very small my mom said. My era the chain grocers were mostly in, or moving to bigger standalone buildings.

IMDb trivia says some downtime Mayfield stills are Albuquerque, NM pointing out specific buildings.

[GentlemanJim]

There was even a small dry cleaning outfit about 6 blocks away, and it was not out of the ordinary to see someone walking by my house with freshly completed drycleaning hoisted up over one shoulder. Hard to imagine anyone doing that today.

And, I know at one point a script of LITB featured a school bus. But the location I grew up in did not feature widespread school bus transportation until the early 1970s. You attended the school(s) nearest your home. In many instances you'd see parents walking kindergarten age children to school, and then returning solo.

Comparatively speaking, modern society has become addicted to their autos.

[vitoscotti]

Mayfield is cuducive to walking because it never rains, or snows, no ice, no car traffic. It's also 100 % crime free. Even when the kids walk downtown sidewalks are clear. In what appears to be a ghost town except for a stray car, and pedestrian, or where the camera is filming.

[TSMIV]

Mayfield is cuducive to walking because it never rains

Hmm...I don't know about that, the street and sidewalk in front of the Cleaver house was always wet.

[Cx]

Originally Posted by vitoscotti

Mayfield is cuducive to walking because it never rains, or snows, no ice, no car traffic. It's also 100 % crime free. Even when the kids walk downtown sidewalks are clear. In what appears to be a ghost town except for a stray car, and pedestrian, or where the camera is filming.

One of my longtime gripes that hacks away at my ability to apply suspension of disbelief, is that the backlot sets of the era depicting downtown areas of small towns or cities always looked phony as hell. Too clean, staged "traffic", whether vehicular or foot, and sparse at that. Same for those depicting "neighborhoods".

The only time you see "real" town locations on LITB are canned footage clips for establishment shots.

I note that even a decade or so later, on a show like 'Adam-12' it's easy to see the switching back and forth from live on-location shooting to set locations. So comically obvious now. I wonder if it was then....

[RetroGuy2000]

One of my earliest memories in the late 1970s was walking around the downtown area of a town with 3,000 people. It was busy, with people crossing the street, walking in front of the hospital, going to the post office, corner grocery store, or drug store. Downtowns were still a big part of how people shopped. You'd never see that today: people take their cars everywhere. I think that changed with the 1980s, when malls killed local downtowns.

[vitoscotti]

Originally Posted by Cx

One of my longtime gripes that hacks away at my ability to apply suspension of disbelief, is that the backlot sets of the era depicting downtown areas of small towns or cities always looked phony as hell. Too clean, staged "traffic", whether vehicular or foot, and sparse at that. Same for those depicting "neighborhoods".

The only time you see "real" town locations on LITB are canned footage clips for establishment shots.

I note that even a decade or so later, on a show like 'Adam-12' it's easy to see the switching back and forth from live on-location shooting to set locations. So comically obvious now. I wonder if it was then....

All the "stone" buildings in downtown Mayfield (like Mayberry) look brand spanking new.