Ralph 'always' wore longsleeves/bus uniform or lodge uniform.

Hasn't anyone got any reason why Ralph always wore longsleeves all the time………… the reason………the reason..... I tell you why coz you're afraid to tell me why....coz you know that I know....

Well, he was pretty fat, and so I guess they didn't want his flabby arms exposed for all to see.

I totally agree about him wearing his bus uniform too often in the house. Andy Taylor used to sit aroud in the house and even go fishing with his uniform on. I never understood that. If I had to wear a uniform at work all day, I'd want to change out of it the minute I got home.

p.s.: I think your imitation is quite funny - don't let others spoil your fun. People with a real sense of humor get these things. 😀

Re: Men wearing suits all day back then. That reminds me of the scene in Double Indemnity in which Fred MacMurray's character relaxes by going bowling after work--still in his suit and tie.

Adults just didn't have the big selection of casual clothing that they do today. The average adult may have owned a pair or two of casual "slacks" (men)
or a few housedresses for the women, but sweatpants and sweatshirts were less
ubiquitous, and usually reserved for someone who was seriously into exercise. I remember a commercial in the early 1970s in which a housewife is shopping in a track suit, which causes everyone to stare and ask her incredulously why she would wear such a thing in public (it advertised a deodorant, and she was making the point that all her running around was a workout, which qualified her to wear athletic clothing in public). This was still a time when most women wore dresses almost exclusively--Mary Tyler Moore caused a stir when she wore capri pants on
The Dick Van Dyke Show, and had to compromise with the show's producers
to wear a dress in each episode in order to be "allowed" to wear the pants in a scene or two. Most men wore hats to work; girls weren't allowed to wear slacks
to school, boys over a certain age couldn't wear shorts, jeans were for farmers and manual laborers and never for style (except for beatniks and punks in the '50s and hippies in the '60s). And no one would dream of wearing flannel pajama pants in public, as some people do now, for fear of being accosted by the police and/or the staff of the nearest psychiatric hospital.

Kramden chose to stay in his uniform because the alternative back then would have been to hang around the apartment in his underwear (either the long kind
or the unfortunately named "wifebeater" shirt and baggy shorts), and that probably would have been seen as a little risque for TV. Garrity, the loudmouth
neighbor, appeared in a T-shirt once, and Norton almost always wore his T-shirt
(but he added the vest and hat to give himself some elegance). Archie Bunker
had a similar style on All in the Family in the '70s--he was almost always seen in a white shirt buttoned up to the neck, long pants and dress shoes, even when sitting around the house. It was okay for Mike to look like a
slovenly hippie, but someone like Archie was more sensitive about his working-class status and wanted to maintain a little dignity instead of looking like a slob, even in his own home. Today, people seem to care a lot less about the way
they dress and wear worse clothing in public than people back then wore at home.



I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

His uniform jacket must have been a bit too short (or Ralph too wide) because when he is standing up he seems be be constantly pulling it down. It is a rather subtle movement but, if you watch for it, it is there in almost every episode.

There may have been a simple, practical reason:

If Gleason entered the scene in his uniform, there would be no time to change into something else, as the show was filmed live in front of an audience.

Keeping him in uniform simply saved time; no need to stop shooting and set up for the next scene while he changed.

From what I've heard from people who have been to today's tapings, there is a lot of waiting around between scenes. I believe Gleason liked to keep things simple.

In the '50s and '60s my dad usually wore slacks and a button-up shirt around the house, but he would sometimes wear blue jeans and a t-shirt if he was doing yard work or working on the car. He always wore leather dress shoes--old worn ones for working around the house. My mom would sometimes wear capri pants, slacks, or shorts, but they had the zipper on the side, going down the hip. They were nothing like men's jeans or the pants women wear today. I never saw any men who wore a suit and tie around the house in the evenings or on weekends. That was pure "Leave it to Beaver" fantasy, not real 1950s life, at least not for most people.