Im sure barney got paid a decent salary as deputy, but he lived like a poor college kid, almost like a street person, he had no car no kids no hobbies no big expenses I can see so where did all his money go???
shareHe spend his money on genuine whiplash cord uniforms and cashew fudge.
Now more than ever we can use you in our sadly depleted organization.
He bought a pair of cymbals for the marching band. That should have set him back a pretty penny
shareI doubt very much that Barney's salary was all that good. I worked for a small town police department in the early 80's and the pay was barely enough to survive on - it was so low that I ended up quitting and taking a job in the "Big House" for the next twenty years.
No, I always thought it was quite realistic that Barney had very little, because that was my experience as well.
considering mayberry was a small town I dont think rent would be that expensive for a small studio apartment.
shareBut Thelma Lou had her own house! In fact, all of the women in Mayberry did. Boy Mayberry sure had a ton of pretty single women who ALL had their own houses! How did they manage that?
shareIn television, make believe happens a lot.
Now more than ever we can use you in our sadly depleted organization.
Inherited money or homes. Mostly the latter.
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[quote]He bought a pair of cymbals for the marching band. That should have set him back a pretty penny.
Not just cymbals, Andre Kostelanetz marchers. Pretty penny indeed.
I don't think Barney made very much money as a deputy. In several episodes he moans about how hard it is to stretch his paycheck, how he and Thelma Lou have to usually go "Dutch treat", etc.
One of my favorite episodes is when Barney is telling Andy how little money he has, and mentions how on his last date with Thelma Lou they went to a Chinese restaurant.
He says something like, "By the time I paid the bill, there wasn't barely enough for the tip. I put down something, and the waiter called me something, and I don't think it was "SPORT""!!!
Back then minimum wage was one dollar. Civil servant jobs such as deputy and postal wotkers were considered the lowest jobs you could get. I doubt that Barney coming from such a small town that had virtually no crime got any more than that.
That being said said Barney was cheep cheep cheep.
...he had no car...
He did buy a car for $300 in one episode. It turned out to be a POS but it led to him and Andy busting a car theft ring.
Here's a clip from the episode with Ellen Corby and the often seen Allan Melvin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSMvwNxs1-4
I think it was just because he wasn't married and that's how a lot of bachelors lived in those days.
share I can't help thinking that Barney was kinda cheap. Thelma Lou obviously didn't have a high paying job. I suppose she was a secretary in an office. Helen Crump was a school teacher. Yet both women had houses (probably rentals) while Barney had a rented room.
He had no car payments, no family to support like Andy did, yet he always seemed on the verge of poverty.
He just about always ate out which is not a good use of income.
share Forgot about that. Yeah, he and Andy seemed to eat out at the diner for lunch. And Barney ate breakfast there too. Of course Aunt Bee used to bring their lunches to the courthouse. I don't think Barney paid for any of the groceries.
But he sure wasn't a big tipper! In one episode they arrived back at the courthouse after lunch and Barney said you don't mind leaving a tip when the meal is good. He had put down a quarter. Andy said he put down a quarter too and Barney was going to go back to the diner and take one of the quarters back.
Andy said, "Olive (the waitress) is a widow with four children". Barney relented and said that they should just let her keep it. What a sport!
A quarter wasn't a bad tip for a diner waitress. In the early '60s you could buy a bag of M&Ms and a comic book for a quarter. I doubt Olive would have wanted either of those, but that's my perspective as a kid back then. For a quarter, she could have bought a pack of cigarettes, a couple of cups of coffee, the Sunday paper, a movie ticket, or a bus ride.
share Of course a quarter could actually BUY you something back in the sixties. I remember buying two candy bars for that price (the most important kid purchase!)
A quarter wasn't a bad tip, but Barney's suggestion that he go back to the diner and retrieve one of the two quarters was bad! lol
If you recall, the next day when Barney was at the diner again, Olive tried to return one quarter. She thought they had mistakenly left two which they had.
Barney told her to keep it. "Do you think you're dealing with a couple of pikers?"
He sure liked to take credit for his "generosity".
Assuming 100 meals per month not counting snacks and late dessert I would bet he ate out on his own money for 80 meals or more for that month. I don't think that Aunt Bea bringing lunch or having Barney over for dinner happened all that much. Dinner with Thelma Lou was not implied to be a regular occurrence. I think that in a couple episodes he sent money home to his mother.
shareIn a very early episode I recall that Barney told Andy that he bought his parents a new septic tank for their anniversary.
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