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Post by eclectic on Apr 12, 2014 21:55:04 GMT -5
There are several ideas about the Baldwin sisters I want to throw out to the group to get your thoughts and opinions.
1. Their mother
I don't remember them ever mentioning their mother. It was always "dear Papa". From this, I get the impression that she died when both sisters were quite young, probably before either of them turned ten. (I imagine them being three years apart with Mamie being the elder, parallel to Helen Kleeb being three years older than Mary Jackson). I get the impression that their father raised them alone for most of their childhood, perhaps with the help of a housekeeper or other servants.
2. Siblings
Did they have siblings? I'm thinking not, unless there were more who didn't survive until adulthood. If they'd had a brother, especially, I don't doubt their father would have left everything to him.
3. Their education
In an early episode, it is mention that their father educated them entirely at home. But in a later epipsode, they went to some sort of female finishing school. I tend to go with them being educated at home, as I think their father purposely isolated them as children and as young marriageable women, which I'll explain further in the next point.
4. Why didn't they ever marry?
My theory is that their father was selfish and didn't want to be left alone in his old age. Thus, he educated them at home and then later ran off Ashley Longworth. I'm guessing this wasn't the only time he did such a thing, as well as other things to ensure their social isolation. They were likely both rather pretty as young women and probably both had interested suitors, but their father no doubt ruined all chances for either to be married and have families of their own, probably telling them it was "For their own good". So "dear Papa" probably wasn't so dear as all. he was probably very much like the procession of shifty cousins who all tried taking advantage of them over the years.
I also think that Miss Emily's dottiness was something that started when she was much younger and had everything to do with her having to resign herself to a spinster's life and repeatedly swallowing her disappointment. Perhaps Mamie was simply better able to adjust to disappointment than Emily was as the "strong older sister".
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Post by carol on Apr 12, 2014 23:03:15 GMT -5
In the episode The Statue the Baldwins said that their mother never liked the statue and that was one of the reasons they donated it. That was the only episode I recall Mother Baldwin being mentioned.
Miss Mamie and Miss Emily must have gone to school at some point because in The Revel they planned a class reunion and all the invitations came back because their classmates were either no longer living or were unable to be located.
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Post by goodnight on Apr 12, 2014 23:18:49 GMT -5
Wasn't Rev. Fordwick related to them through their mother or was it his mother was related to the Baldwins? I also recall that their mother is mentioned in the "The Statue".
I think you are right about him selfishly keeping them to himself by running off their potential suitors.
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Post by Alexis From Texas on Apr 13, 2014 1:04:46 GMT -5
I always got the impression that Mama Baldwin didn't live very long. Because if she was a Judges wife you'd think she'd be remembered by the Waltons Mountain Community and be mentioned some as the wife of a judge would have entertained quite a bit.
Dear Papa was a jerk. I don't know if he kept his girls at home so someone could wait on him hand and foot and take care of him in his old age? Or if because they kinda hint in one episode Emily's a little mentally unstable that Mamie stays unmarried to take care of her.
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Post by patriciaanne on Apr 13, 2014 6:38:43 GMT -5
It's funny because I always pictured the Ashley Longworth thing as something else. I think Ashley was truly up to no good and may have had no good intentions toward Emily. I always thought that Ashley had simply "moved on" and the story of "Papa" chasing him away was made up to spare Emily's feelings.
I guess we all bring our own prejudices and preconceived notions to something like this. I'm a daddy's girl, so I'm going to believe that Papa was a wonderful man and had their best interests at heart. 
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2014 6:46:13 GMT -5
It's funny because I always pictured the Ashley Longworth thing as something else. I think Ashley was truly up to no good and may have had no good intentions toward Emily. I always thought that Ashley had simply "moved on" and the story of "Papa" chasing him away was made up to spare Emily's feelings.
I guess we all bring our own prejudices and preconceived notions to something like this. I'm a daddy's girl, so I'm going to believe that Papa was a wonderful man and had their best interests at heart. This is how I pictured the Ashley Longworth situation too, he was up to no good and Papa chased him away. But I also agree with Alexis that papa was probably a jerk too. Not all papa's have the best interest of their kids at heart. Some dads are real jerks/idiots (mine for example) |
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Post by patriciaanne on Apr 13, 2014 6:55:39 GMT -5
It's funny because I always pictured the Ashley Longworth thing as something else. I think Ashley was truly up to no good and may have had no good intentions toward Emily. I always thought that Ashley had simply "moved on" and the story of "Papa" chasing him away was made up to spare Emily's feelings.
I guess we all bring our own prejudices and preconceived notions to something like this. I'm a daddy's girl, so I'm going to believe that Papa was a wonderful man and had their best interests at heart. This is how I pictured the Ashley Longworth situation too, he was up to no good and Papa chased him away. But I also agree with Alexis that papa was probably a jerk too. Not all papa's have the best interest of their kids at heart. Some dads are real jerks/idiots (mine for example)  |
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Post by maxwalton on Apr 13, 2014 7:42:32 GMT -5
I think your answer to number 1 (their mother) might be the answer to number 4(why they never married). In the episode where Dr. Curt Willard is introduced you remember Mary Ellen described the Baldwins as "being from another century." This would explain a lot.
Marriage for love was virtually non existent in the Victorian era and in high society in the South around the turn of the 20th Century. A wife's primary "job" was to see that her children were properly married to a proper gentleman of the right class. If Mrs. Judge Baldwin died young before the girls were married, the duty of finding proper suitors for the young ladies would have fallen to the judge. In any case, we know that Ashley Longworth junior turned out to be a bit of a rogue, it is also possible Ashley Longworth senior was simply not on Mr. and/or Mrs. Baldwin's list of eligible gentlemen. Also, I suspect if and when the marital duties fell upon the judge, he was quite likely not interested in sharing details of "the recipe" with any prospective son in law.
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Post by ForeverWaltons on Apr 17, 2014 12:07:59 GMT -5
In the episode The Statue the Baldwins said that their mother never liked the statue and that was one of the reasons they donated it. That was the only episode I recall Mother Baldwin being mentioned. Miss Mamie and Miss Emily must have gone to school at some point because in The Revel they planned a class reunion and all the invitations came back because their classmates were either no longer living or were unable to be located.
If I counted correctly Carol....this was your 1,000th post. 
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Post by maxwalton on Apr 17, 2014 14:53:32 GMT -5
In the episode The Statue the Baldwins said that their mother never liked the statue and that was one of the reasons they donated it. That was the only episode I recall Mother Baldwin being mentioned. Miss Mamie and Miss Emily must have gone to school at some point because in The Revel they planned a class reunion and all the invitations came back because their classmates were either no longer living or were unable to be located.
If I counted correctly Carol....this was your 1,000th post.
Yay! There should be applesauce cake! |
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