Granny Clampett’s rheumatism medicine was one of the most popular jokes on ‘The Beverly Hillibillies’. Of course, it wasn’t a real cure but ‘it sure makes you happy you got it.’
If you have ever watched a few seasons of the 1960s television show The Beverly Hillbillies then you have probably seen Granny Clampett (played by actress Irene Ryan) talk about her “rheumatiz medicine”. Of course, the show was just poking fun at Appalachian moonshiners (so-called “hillbillies”), who had a well-established reputation for ignoring the law on many accounts.
Irene Ryan poses with the prop jug holding Granny Clampett’s famous rheumatism medicine (moonshine).
Rheumatism is an inflammation of the joints, muscles, and fibrous tissue. It’s an old name that described the symptoms of many different diseases, including one called “Rheumatoid Arthritis”.
Most moonshine is made from “corn mash” and moonshine is thus often called “corn whiskey”. Corn has a very high sugar content and thus was favored by American frontier farmers as a source for home-made alcohol.
They would mash up the kernels and cook them, stirring occasionally. After a while they added malted barley and stirred some more.
Finally, after the mix had cooled down some they added yeast to start the fermentation process.
Moonshiners are famous for using odd pieces of equipment to build their stills. The stereotypical still incorporating an old car radiator, however, was actually very dangerous. Toxic compounds easily got into the moonshine. Although experienced moonshiners figured out ways to get rid of some of the toxic elements they didn’t know how to remove them all (especially methanol).
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Good Girl Moonshine – Cook County News Herald
By ohtadmin | on September 20, 2019
Sandy Holthaus 
Until recently it had been years since I heard about moonshine. Moonshine was originally a slang term for spirits that were usually made without government authorization. It is a homemade whiskey that is not aged, and therefore it is clear.
After the Revolutionary War, whiskey was among the items taxed to pay for the war. For this reason, poor farmers built stills in the wilderness, usually in the Appalachians, and distilled whiskey at night. Hence the name «moonshine.”
In fact, in the TV shows I watched as a kid, moonshine was the running joke. Remember Granny Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies? She was excellent at touting her “medicine” in a jug marked XXX. Granny joked that her Rheumatism Medicine didn’t actually cure the aches and pains, “but it sure makes you happy you got it.” I loved it when she took a swig and started doing backflips!
I was looking for more information on Granny’s recipes and found out that Granny wrote a cookbook in the 1960s. Unfortunately, her moonshine recipe was not included.
Another favorite show, the Walton’s, had the Baldwin Sisters touting their Papa’s “recipe” in nearly every episode. Of course, all the men were anxious to drink the moonshine, and all the women were horrified that the Baldwins were making “the recipe.” This show took time in our history that wasn’t really funny and brought it to life.
Whenever my family went camping when I was young my brother and I would start the goodnight “John Boy,” “Goodnight Mary Ellen” round robin at bedtime. You have to be a certain age to even understand this reference.
The recent popularity of moonshine is a legal version, even during prohibition, called Good Girl Moonshine.
The flavors are amazing, and it promotes the drinking of apple cider vinegar. It is now a trend that apple cider vinegar is excellent for your health, but I have to warn you, do not attempt to drink this straight from the bottle. It is strong, and it will burn your throat almost as bad as real moonshine from a still!
I started experimenting with these recipes, and I have come to love them. I do feel a whole lot better. See Granny Clampett was right!
80 Beverly Hillbillies Trivia Questions, Answers, and Fun Facts
Fun Trivia » Television » Television A-C » Beverly Hillbillies
How much do you know about Beverly Hillbillies? This category is for trivia questions and answers related to Beverly Hillbillies (Television). Each one is filled with fun facts and interesting information.
1 In the first episode, “The Clampetts Strike Oil”, how far away is Jed's bathroom from their cabin according to Pearl?
Answer:
50ft
When Jed is trying to figure out whether he should move after selling his swamp, Pearl tries to give him some points such as being over run with skunks and bob cats, cooking on a wood stove summer and winter, drinking homemade moonshine, and having their bathroom fiffy feet from their door.
From Quiz: “The Beverly Hillbillies” Season 1 Random Mixture
2 Which actor played the part of Elly May Clampett in “The Beverly Hillbillies” television series?
Answer:
Donna Douglas
The part of Elly May Clampett was played by actor Donna Douglas.
“The Beverly Hillbillies” made the cover of “TV Guide” nine times (1962-1970) during its original nine year broadcast (1962-1971) in the USA, and Donna Douglas was the only member of “The Beverly Hillbillies” cast to be pictured on every “TV Guide” cover.
Elly May appeared in all of the 274 episodes of “The Beverly Hillbillies.” In 1971 Donna married her second husband, Robert M. Leeds, who was the director of “The Beverly Hillbillies.” However, Donna Douglas and Robert Leeds divorced in 1980.
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Your options: [ Bea Benaderet ] [ Irene Ryan ] [ Donna Douglas ] [ Nancy Kulp ]
From Quiz: Hillbilly Views
4 What was the name of the bank where Jed kept his money?
Answer:
The Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills
The Commerce Bank of Beverly Hills was run by Milburn Drysdale with his trusty secretary Jane Hathaway.
From Quiz: “Beverly Hillbillies” Mania I
6 What was the address of the Clampett mansion?
Answer:
518 Crestview Drive
They lived at 518 Crestview Drive, Beverly Hills.
From Quiz: The Clampetts
7 What kind of table do the Clampetts call 'The fancy eating table'?
Answer:
pool/billiards table
They think that the rhinoceros head above the table is an animal called the billiard.
From Quiz: 'Beverly Hillbillies' Test
9 In the episode “Getting Settled”, what kind of chicken does Jethro claims he's found?
Answer:
A pink chicken
Jethro, not being privy to exotic birds, stumbles across a flamingo out near the swimming pool. He tells his uncle that he's found a pink chicken and that the drum sticks from it isn't anything but the person who gets the neck will be eating from now on.
From Quiz: “The Beverly Hillbillies” Season 1 Random Mixture
10 What actor played the role of Jed Clampett in “The Beverly Hillbillies” television series?
Answer:
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen played the role of Jed Clampett in “The Beverly Hillbillies.” The theme song introduced the character of Jed Clampett as a poor mountaineer who had a fortunate hunting incident – Jed shot at game but instead hit oil and became a millionaire. Jed therefore moved his family to Beverly Hills, California because it had “swimmin' pools” and “movie stars.”
From Quiz: Hillbilly Views
11 Irene Ryan played Granny on the show. Granny brewed her jug of medicine and had a special name for it. What did she call it?
Answer:
roomatiz medicine
She also supplied the neighbors and family with her spring tonic. Mrs. Drysdale really loved it and the effect it had on Milburn!
From Quiz: “The Beverly Hillbillies” Quiz
12 Buddy Ebsen was chosen as Jed Clampett after his role in what 1961 film?
Answer:
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Buddy Ebsen portrayed Holly Golightly's husband in this film.
From Quiz: “Beverly Hillbillies” Mania I
14 What was Dash Riprock's real name?
Answer:
Homer Noodleman
Dash Riprock was played by Larry Pennell.
From Quiz: The Clampetts
15 What was the name of Elly's Hollywood boyfriend?
Answer:
Dash Riprock
He was a Hollywood playboy who didn't really care about Elly May.
From Quiz: 'Beverly Hillbillies' Test
17 In the episode “The Clampetts meet Mrs. Drysdale”, Mr. Drysdale tries to send them where to avoid meeting his wife?
Answer:
Palm Springs
Mrs. Drysdale is a bit upscale and wants anyone near her to be no less the same. So Mr. Drysdale, being afraid of upsetting his wife and knowing how she'll react to the Clampetts living next door to them, decides to try and persuade them to leave their new home for a few days until he can get his wife to go back to Boston.
From Quiz: “The Beverly Hillbillies” Season 1 Random Mixture
18 Who was the writer and producer of the popular television sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies”?
Answer:
Paul Henning
“The Beverly Hillbillies” was the brainchild of Paul Henning. Additionally, Paul Henning was responsible for “Petticoat Junction,” “The Real McCoy's,” and “Green Acres.”
From Quiz: Hillbilly Views
19 Granny referred to herself as Dr Granny, M.D. on the show. What does the M.D. stand for as it applies to Granny?
Answer:
mountain doctor
Granny had many talents. She was the best road-kill cook ever.
From Quiz: “The Beverly Hillbillies” Quiz
20 Where was the Clampett mansion really located?
Answer:
Bel Air
The outside of the Kireby Mansion was used for the home of the Clampetts. After the fourth season, Mrs. Kireby would not allow Filmways to use the residence due to traffic issues.
From Quiz: “Beverly Hillbillies” Mania I
21 What was Jane Hathaway's middle name?
Answer:
Nancy
Nancy Kulp played the long suffering Jane Hathaway.
From Quiz: More Of The Clampetts!
22 What was the name of Jethro's restaurant?
Answer:
The Happy Gizzard
It wasn't very successful.
From Quiz: The Clampetts
Entry 1: Granny vs. Grant
The Beverly Hillbillies, “The South Rises Again,” Season 6, Episode 13. Directed by Joseph Depew. Written by Paul Henning and Buddy Atkinson.
Release Date: November 29, 1967.
Some of you may think The Beverly Hillbillies is a strange choice for my first review, but it makes perfect sense to me. Watching this episode in afternoon syndication is one of my first memories of the Civil War in popular culture.
Critics generally think Season 6 is when The Beverly Hillbillies “jumped the shark” because it began with a woeful multi-episode trip to England, but it does contain this gem. I call it a gem because most of the jokes are still funny.
What’s more, they’re Civil War jokes—and Civil War jokes (at least good Civil War jokes) are not easy to find.
I typically won’t spend much time here summarizing plots, but I’ll make an exception this time because “The South Rises Again” is a little tough to track down. The climax of a three-episode arc, it focuses on Granny’s (Irene Ryan, hilarious) mistaken belief that the Union Army is invading Los Angeles.
A movie production crew is filming a Civil War battle down the street from the Clampett mansion and Granny thinks the Blue- and Gray-clad actors are the real deal. Of particular concern, Ulysses S. Grant himself (William Mims—who went on to briefly play William H.
Seward in North & South) appears to be leading the army, despite having been dead for almost a century.
Much of the humor comes from two sources, both relevant to this blog: Granny’s status as a thoroughly unreconstructed southerner and Grant’s alcoholism.
Grant, of course, isn’t actually in Beverly Hills, but is being played by a fictional actor who, for maximum joke efficiency, happens to be a full-blown alcoholic with a raging hangover.
This both legitimizes Granny’s view of Grant as a boozer and also opens up the script for numerous drunk jokes.
Of course, Grant’s incompetence and alcoholism are key tenets of the Lost Cause and Granny is a veritable encyclopedia of pro-Confederate rhetoric. Yankees are “bushwhackin’ foreigners” whose military prowess doesn’t approach that of her “boys in gray.
” Indeed, Granny is so thoroughly embedded in this mythology that she’s taken it to its logical conclusion and convinced herself that the Confederacy actually won the Civil War.
Early on, Granny describes Sherman’s “retreat to the sea” and later encourages a group of Confederate soldiers to rally because “we beat ’em once, we can do it again.” Furthermore, Granny is clearly well-schooled in the Lost Cause interpretation of Union occupation policy.
The episode opens with her ordering Jethro (Max Baer, Jr.) and Elly May (the recently deceased Donna Douglas) to gather up all of the animals on the property and hide them from the Yankees—even a bear, which Granny believes are now extinct in Georgia thanks to Sherman.
And yet, although the episode makes heavy use of Lost Cause tropes, it doesn’t endorse that interpretation. Airing in 1967, “The South Rises Again” came on the heels of the Civil War centennial, which was marked, in part, by its tolerance for the Lost Cause.
It would be easy to only see the episode as a reflection of the Lost Cause’s cultural dominance in the 1960s—in many ways it is—and Granny as embodying the image of the fiercely loyal Confederate woman fostered by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the late 19th and early 20th Century.
But here’s the thing: The episode may well speak the language of the Lost Cause but it considers that language ridiculous, even delusional. Granny’s zealotry is always played for laughs and never meant to generate sympathy.
Surely some of this is attributable to the writers looking mainly for laughs with little regard for which historical narrative they were or weren’t promoting—after all the “rural comedies,” of which Hillbillies was the forerunner, derived much of their humor from mocking the rural lower class—but there’s also a general undercutting of bad history and regional boosterism.
Indeed, there’s only one character who seems at all knowledgeable about the Civil War and it’s noteworthy that the writers made him an active USA Army General (and not Granny’s version of the USA: “Undefeated Southern Americans”). In the twentieth century, Hollywood loved the Lost Cause, but I’m not convinced it was ever 100% comfortable with it.
I can already think of a few additional examples of Hollywood using the Lost Cause, but maintaining a counter-narrative; sometimes subtly, sometimes not. I’ll be testing this theory as we move forward.
Additional Dispatches (with apologies to the AVClub for ripping off their “Stray observations” concept):
- Granny assesses Yankee martial skill after seeing Elly’s monkey wearing a Union uniform: “With his brains, the Yankees will promote him to major by sundown.” After the monkey grabs a pig, she attacks Yankee morality: “See, the minute they put on a blue uniform, they go to pilferin’.”
- Granny even uses Confederate superiority to explain Grant’s remarkable longevity: “The only way I can explain it, is if he was smokin’ Virginny tobaccy and drinkin’ Tennessee whiskey.”
- In an attempt to ingratiate himself to Granny, the Clampett’s banker Mr. Drysdale poses as a Confederate general and calls himself “General Milburn Beauregard Nathan Bedford Stonewall Drysdale.” Again, the Lost Cause is something the writers understand but clearly don’t take seriously.
- There’s also an interesting gender dynamic going on between Granny, Jed, and Drysdale. Granny is the UDC ideal: motivating her men to fight even when they refuse (as Jed does) or carrying on when they lose their nerve (as Drysdale does). Drysdale also revels in his role as a patriarchal protector of the Clampett homestead, declaring: “My body shall provide a human shield to protect the flower of southern womanhood.”
- The episode ends on a reconciliationist note. Once Granny captures Grant on the battlefield, she attempts to nurse his light wounds by giving him moonshine. They bond over their love of hard liquor, get drunk, and finish the episode singing “Dixie.” Grant also promises Granny he’ll shoot Phil Sheridan for burning the Shenandoah Valley.
- Unsurprisingly, the episode makes no mention of slavery. Indeed, there isn’t even a single African American on camera. I think I might keep a tally of how many other items I review here ignore slavery.
- You can watch many of the best jokes from this three episode arc here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_2eHbbGV2s
- Thanks to my parents way up in Canada for tracking down a copy of this episode.
Top Comments: Beverly Hillbillies Cure for the Common Cold Edition
I feel crappy. A few days ago, I got the early signs: that old familiar tickle in the throat, the runny nose. By now, I'm in the middle of a full-blown cold with the classic symptoms.
Fatigue, no appetite, coughing, sinuses clogged, general lack of energy. You know the rest. They say adults get this, on average, twice year.
Somebody else must be picking up some of my share, because I usually get it about once a year. My Partner, even less than that.
When I realized a short time ago that today is my day here at Top Comments, I needed to come up with something quick and easy. Not to slack off, but hey, I'm sick.
Anyway, I'm old enough to have seen The Beverly Hillbillies in first run. I became a teenager during its final years. And I started to think about Granny having a cure for the common cold. My memory was correct. Season 4, Episode 15 of the show, titled The Common Cold, first aired on December 29, 1965.
The show begins with Granny giving Elly May, Jethro, and Jed their semi-annual examinations. Dr. Granny, of course, is only a doctor in the backwoods sense. But you don't argue with her. Miss Jane arrives at the Clampett mansion during the examinations, and lets slip that her boss, Mr. Drysdale, is sick with a cold.
Miss Jane: …it's just a cold, Granny, and that's one thing you doctors haven't conquered yet.
- Granny: What do you mean?
- Miss Jane: Well, there's no known cure for the common cold.
- Granny: You mean to tell me that city doctors ain't got no cure for a cold?
- Miss Jane: Well, they can alleviate the symptoms, but no-one has a cure.
Jed: Well, Granny has. She's been making it long as I can 'member.
Miss Jane: A cold cure?
Jed: One spoonful's all it takes.
I'll take some. Send it over!
The scene shifts to the office of Mr. Drysdale's physician, Dr. Roy Clyburn. Dr. Clyburn and Granny have been adversaries since at least Season 2, Episode 1, Jed Gets the Misery.
Clyburn: You have a cold.
Drysdale: I knew that when I came in. Now what are you going to do for it?
Clyburn: I'm going to recommend that you eat sensibly, drink lots of fluids, get plenty of rest. And, in a week or ten days, you'll be alright.
We see Granny in the kitchen, mixing up a batch of her cold cure medicine. Sort of. Granny is hiding under a blanket, mixing in secrecy, while Elly May hands her the requested ingredients. One of them seems to be an extra-potent batch of Granny's moonshine. Granny took a good swig from the jug under the blanket; it's not clear if any of that made it into the medicine.
Meanwhile, at Dr. Clyburn's office, a travelling pharmaceutical salesman is trying to get a meeting with the Dr., with no luck. After being basically kidnapped by Jethro, the salesman hears about Granny's wonder cold cure and proudly announces that he is now the exclusive West Coast distributor for “the first cold cure in medical history”. The final scene:
Miss Jane: Granny, I apologize. This morning I didn't believe you. Your cold cure really works.
- Granny: Positively, if you follow directions.
- Salesman: By the way, what are the directions?
- Granny: Take one spoonful of cold cure, eat sensible, get lots of rest, and drink plenty of water.
- Jed: And in a week or ten days, your cold will be gone.
- Miss Jane: A week or ten days.
- Granny: That's all it takes.
- Jed: Ain't failed in 45 years!
Salesman: Can we go back in your office? I think I'm gonna be sick.
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