Last night my wife and I were watching the old Leave It To Beaver show. One scene showed the unmistakeable shape of a rifle in the background. The slender barrel made me believe it was a .22, rather than the fat barrel of a BB gun. The really interesting part of the scene: The gun was just sitting in the corner, mixed in with a hockey stick , a baseball bat , what appeared to be a fishing rod and a few other items that the brief scene didn't allow me to ID. The people that produced the show evidently felt that every kid had a gun,or should have a gun, and that having a gun was a wholesome part of growing up. The gun was neither good or bad, not a central part of the theme, but just as important a part of a "typical" kids room as a desk or chair. The complete irony of the LiTB series was the episode where Papa Ward took a young Beav to task for using an electric drill without permission, yet felt 100% confident that Wally and brother could be trusted to have a rifle sitting in the corner of their room!
My how things have changed.
My how things have changed.