If you don't know what Mayberry is, it's a small fictional southern town that was the setting for The Andy Griffith Show. It's commonly used to describe a "perfect" small town where crime is non-existent, no one locks their doors, and everybody knows everyone (and their business). The streets are clean, the houses are cute and well-kept, and the jail is tiny with only 2 cells (one for women, one for men). Everybody goes to church every Sunday and they judge YOU if you don't go.
That's my hometown- at least that's how it was when I was living there. It was stifling to me. There was a small clique of people who were considered 'elite' in that town. They were the wealthy upper crust- the officials, the owners of the town businesses, the doctors, the lawyers, and all their spouses and kids. 🙄 This is an actual photo of those types, taken in my hometown in 1950-something. It's like a Rockwell painting.
If you weren't one of those people or their descendants, you were nobody. It's still like that, too. One reason I left as soon as I legally could.
I've spent time in the real Mayberry, aka Mount Airy, NC. Nice town and it pays homage to the TV show, which oddly referenced Mt Airy from time to time.
I lived for awhile in what is the supposed real 'Mayberry'. Look up Mount Airy NC. There are still remnants of the lamdmarks still there today, including the jail and the Snappy Lunch. I like small town life, but I also live in the country. I work in the city but I get to go home when it gets too much.
Mount Airy–affectionately known as Mayberry–was Andy Griffith's hometown and the inspiration for the setting of The Andy Griffith Show. Today, the town pays homage to its television counterpart in many ways, but it is more than just Mayberry.Jan 12, 2023
I'm wondering if your town didn't also have at least a couple of hardcore, mean-as-hell redneck families, families that most others avoided as much as possible. That's how it was in the smallish Texas city where I once lived.
@Fungirlmmm I worked there, close to the waterfront, and lived just across the bridge for several years. A lot of us full-time residents referred to Manteo, where Any Griffith had a home, as Mayberry. I haven't been back there for many years, but I loved that little town...too. :)
Being an army brat I didn't grow up this way but through circumstance forced it on my children in small-town central Pennsylvania. They have semi forgiven me!
