Thing to ponder. Why did Carol of the Brady Bunch have a cook/housekeeper-Alice, when Carol had no young children to

[debm55]

take of and had no outside job???? What did she do all day????? What are your reasons for the maid? What was Carol doing?

[debm55]

3. Could be.Thank you for your insight.

[angryxyouth]

18. Mother's little helper more likely

She was high on Valium kicking around the town with her girlfriends. Shopping for cute little outfits to entice Mike. Playing tennis and golf and getting massages. Mike was still in the closet and not really interested in sex. Carol thought it was her. She wasn’t enough for Mike. It made her anxious and she really felt bad about herself. Hence the Valium.

[debm55]

21. Great speculation there angrylyouth.

[Coolgoober]

2. Anything

She wanted to do.

[debm55]

5. Thank you Coolgoober . But like what?

[Coolgoober]

14. Well

Like a lot of people with money, she probably socialized, shopped, and maybe partook in some quailuds like a lot of people did back then. And she probably hung with her kids a lot, you know, friends, sports, school, rides to and fro.

[debm55]

22. But until the kids all came home from school. Did she have a hobby, I never saw here have a life beyond the show.with

friends or otherwise. I feel so sorry for Carol

[Coolgoober]

15. Im A Bad Speller

I guess it's Quaalude.

[debm55]

23. Thats okay and welcome to DU. If you misspell a word a red line will go underneath it.

[Coolgoober]

25. Thanks

Thanks debm55. And thanks for the game. Although I watched the show quite a bit, I just don't remember much. I quit this time around but look forward to playing another some time soon.

[mymomwasright]

4. She was seeing other guys

Because Mike was gay.

[debm55]

33. He was in real life but not as Mike Bradey

[buzzycrumbhunger]

54. Even as a kid...

… that weird perm and sadly un-hip polyester casual wear screamed it, but then Carol’s odd Greek boy haircut sent confusing messages, too.

[debm55]

55. HAHAHAHAHHAH. Thank you buzzycrumbhunger.

[surrealAmerican]

7. She was apparently too wealthy to keep house or cook.

The real question is why such a wealthy family would keep a three bedroom house when they have six children.

[JMCKUSICK]

8. Yea what's up with that

[Wiz Imp]

10. 1 bathroom for 6 kids (and without a toilet!)

And if they had so much money, why did they freak out over like a $20 phone bill so much that they installed a pay phone?

The did have an artificial turf backyard instead of real grass which in those days was I guess a big luxury. But for some reason, they mowed it anyway.

[debm55]

35. Well, Wiz Imp people like the Bradeys don't make #1 or 2. The first program that had a person flushing the toilet was

All in the Family.

[debm55]

34. Agree, the two older children should have had their own separate rooms.

[debm55]

58. Thank you surrealAmerican.

[Historic NY]

9. Hard to stay pretty and crisp all day is you're doing housework and cooking/baking

ala 1950s culture.

]

[debm55]

36. But this show was in the 60s or early 70s June Cleaver must have seen this ad as she always wore pearls.

[SARose]

11. How did she have a white maid?

My Mother had a maid in Louisiana. She was pressured into hiring a maid by my Dad’s boss. Her name was Henrietta and my brother and I loved her. She was a middle aged black woman and she smelled like vanilla and sugar!💕

My Mom didn’t know exactly what her role was. Sooo she basically volunteered at the hospital, volunteered with the Democratic Party during elections and played lots and lots of bridge and canasta.

That lasted about 18 months and we were transferred to Texas.

[debm55]

20. Thank you very much.SARose. And Carol always had these perky outfits on. Did she charity work. grow a garden. or work as

a teacher's aid, or take classes at the local community college or gym. I would be so bored.

[spooky3]

12. And how did an architect's salary cover all expenses for a maid, a wife and six kids as well as himself?

Probably the same way Al Bundy's minimum wage covered expenses for a Chicago house and four occupants.

[debm55]

17. Hi spooky3, Was Mike secretly doing work for the CIA?????

[spooky3]

24. Hee hee! Maybe he worked alongside Jefferson D'Arcy. Nt

[debm55]

37. Agree. Who knows what he was doing in his "office"

[Historic NY]

27. Carol must have got a ton from the ex.

[debm55]

38. I thought her spouse died? But she would have still gotten a ton from the Deceased--Agent Mike.

[FSogol]

29. Because before Reagan, middle class families could survive on a single decent salary.

[spooky3]

30. True but TV is very unrealistic about how far that salary stretches.

I knew a lot of middle class families but none had a full time maid.

[debm55]

51. Thank you spooky3

[debm55]

39. That's true. Thank you FSogol.

[Demovictory9]

53. Insurance settlement from those dead spouses??

[debm55]

59. Could be , Demovictory 9, Could be.

[The Blue Flower]

13. She was already working for Mr. Brady when they met

And Carole didn't get married just to keep house for all of them.

[debm55]

16. But what did she do all day? it would seem boring.

[The Blue Flower]

60. There's always something to do with 6 kids

I was a stay-at-home mom, and it was truly boring.

[debm55]

61. That could be during the summer. But what about when they were in school?

[ms liberty]

19. Thanks. Alice came with Mike and the boys, not Carol and the girls

And she wasn't just the housekeeper, she was Alice, a part of the family!

[debm55]

40. Then poor Alice had to do all of work , while Carol flitters around. Who treats their family member like that?

[ZDU]

26. Mike was gay...

Alice & Carol were lovers.

#untoldAmericanStories

[debm55]

41. Now that makes sense. Thank you ZDU

[ZDU]

47. Hi Deb!

[Lochloosa]

28. Kind of like Melanoma, she needed time with the Pool Boy

[debm55]

42. Thank you, Lochloosa. so true. But their backyard was so small . And the Turf so green

[MichMan]

31. Had to keep up with the Baxters with Hazel.

[debm55]

43. Thank you MichMan. There is another Ponder right there.

[Mister Ed]

32. What was Carol doing? In real life, she was doing young Greg.

I think I recall that Barry Williams, who played eldest son Greg Brady, revealed in his memoirs that during the production of the show he'd had an affair with Florence Henderson, who played his TV step-mom Carol Brady.

[debm55]

44. OHHHHHHHH, NOOOOOO. Is that true or not. I am shocked, shocked I tell you. Mike was doing Willlllburrr in the back of

My Mother the Car.

[Mister Ed]

49. I'm relieved to report that a quick internet search tells me that this decades-old story (of a lovely lady) is...

...FALSE. A mere urban legend, repeated so often that people like me have believed it for years.

You'll sleep better tonight knowing that claim has been laid to rest.

[debm55]

52. I do buy your story, Mr.Ed. But Jerry Van Dyke. was said to have heard Mike say" i can't quit you Willlberrrr"

[jmowreader]

45. It was a package deal

IIRC when Carol married Mike, Alice was already working for Mike. After the marriage Alice's employment continued.

Besides, the show still needed the Voice of Reason Alice provided.

[debm55]

46. Thank you jmowreader.

[flvegan]

48. Sam the butcher bringing not only Alice the meat. n/t

[debm55]

50. Oh you. HAHHHAHAHHAHH. Thank you fivegan.

[LudwigPastorius]

56. Mike couldn't satisfy Carol sexually.

Alice was kept around to baste Mrs. Brady's turkey.

[debm55]

57. Oh my. Thank you LudwigPastorius.