SPLAININ TO DO: FOREVER FEBRUARY FOR FLOYD

Sharp-eyed viewers of ‘The Andy Griffiith Show’ may have noticed that the calendar in Floyd’s barbershop was always on the February page, no matter the time of year.

I’ve written about Floyd Lawson in the past, exploring his parentage, his life in New York City, and two half-brothers (or “Identical Cousins” in polite society). 

LINK FLOYD

THINK FLOYD

THINK FLOYD II

But televisiology is fluidic, always changing, either due to scriptwriters contradicting what had been presented in the past on their shows or because my own research has uncovered something new.

So let me present my revisions to the life of Floyd Lawson:

There were two Floyd Lawsons.  The original Floyd Lawson worked as a barber in Mayberry at Colby’s Tonsorial Parlor until his retirement at the end of 1960.

Earlier in life, Floyd Sr. was on the road selling tonsorial supplies from town to town.  Because of this and his penchant for feminine pulchritude, he fathered two other boys who grew up to look like their half-brother Floyd Jr.

One of these men was Mitchell Lawson in nearby Pitchfield Flats, North Carolina, while the other was Andy Lawson (also a barber) in Mayfield.

With his wife, Floyd Sr. had a son, Floyd Jr., and a daughter who married a man named Ferguson and who gave birth to a son named Warren.

When Floyd Jr. discovered the truth about his father’s philandering ways, he left rather town rather than having it out with the elder Lawson – probably to spare his mother finding out. 

In New York City, Floyd established his own barbershop in the late 1920s.

Eventually Floyd Jr. returned to Mayberry, and reconciled with his father… probably due to the death of his mother.

The two Floyds eventually bought out Old Man Colby with plans to rename the barbershop as “Floyds’ Barbershop” rather than “Floyd’s Barbershop” to acknowledge the existence of two Floyds.

But the elder Lawson wouldn’t live to see that happen.

After Floyd Sr. retired as 1960 came to a close, he was planning to spend his days fishing (or romancing a few local widder women.)  But a day came in February of 1961 when Floyd Jr. needed time away from the barbershop.  I’m thinking he was answering a call for help from his sister.

While he was gone, Floyd Sr. offered to return to work in order to cover for his son.  (It would have given him the chance to palaver with his old friends besides.)

But as he worked that day, Floyd Sr. suffered a massive coronary and dropped dead on the spot behind the barber chair.

Floyd Jr. was so beside himself with grief and guilt because he wasn’t there when it happened that he found it impossible to take down that page of the calendar when March rolled around.  In his mind he wanted that dark moment to be forever memorialized.

And that’s my splainin for that…….

Of course, it’s all conjecture.  Maybe…..

SHOWS CITED:

• ‘THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW’
• ‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’
• ‘STAR TREK’
• ‘LEAVE IT TO BEAVER’

BCnU!