A broke salesman buys a doll for his daughter with Olivia's down payment on a set of books.A broke salesman buys a doll for his daughter with Olivia's down payment on a set of books.A broke salesman buys a doll for his daughter with Olivia's down payment on a set of books.
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- Olivia Walton
- (as Miss Michael Learned)
- Erin Walton
- (as Mary Elizabeth McDonough)
- The Narrator
- (voice)
- (as Earl Hamner)
- Little Girl
- (as Anne Elizabeth Beesley)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe title of this episode "The Five Foot Shelf" refers to a set of Harvard Classics that Olivia decides to buy from a traveling peddler/con-man. The collection that he was selling was real enough. Harvard professor Charles Elliot created the five-foot shelf of books: "to afford a good substitute for a liberal education to anyone who would read them with devotion."
- Quotes
Narrator: [narration as John 'John Boy' Walton, Jr. reading from his journal] Looking back down the years to the Great Depression, I realise now that our family was much more fortunate than most. Many things were in short supply, but we had the advantage of being able to live on the bounty of the rich Virginia country. And even more important than the gifts of the land, our family remained intact. We stayed together under one roof and were never deprived of the comfort and closeness of our mother and father. Those feelings easily made up for what we often lacked in material things.
Our family had an "encyclopedia set" - it was our form of Goggle in the 70's & 80's. That's all we had to "look up" information other than what you learned from your parents, elders and teachers.
They were great. It must've cost a fortune for my parents, but they probably knew how beneficial they would be. We had many sales persons doing door to door. It came to a point where we just didn't answer the door if we knew it was a "seller" But man, when my dad answered the door, he had no problems shutting the door before the salesperson finished talking lol!
John Walton is so much like my dad, who just turned 98. The demeanour, how he answers questions, his attitude toward morals and ethics, and essentially living his life the way he wants without regrets. He has a big heart, but rarely shows you. He is a powerful presence. I don't think I've ever seen him rush or panic, unless it was an emergency. Very controlled.
The folks in that era lived hard and worked hard. My paternal grandparents immigrated to Canada in the late 1890's. They travelled on ships and were displaced and uprooted during WWII. Manual labour for everything living low-middle class, and just making sure everyone is fed, has presentable clothes for school, making sure everyone is treated fairly, and have everyone eat together for dinner.
The directors and producers bring you into Reed's head. The tone, mood, and words provide a subdued and complex atmosphere.
Now I want to re-watch all of the episodes that Ralph Waite directed.
- jhamaura-30321
- Jun 13, 2024
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