As Mayberry Days returns to Mt. Airy, North Carolina, here’s a chance to decide between what is there and what was in Mayberry.
It’s been 61 years since “The Andy Griffith Show” made its TV debut—October 3, 1960 to be exact. While the show has been out of production for decades, it lives on in frequently aired reruns showcasing Andy Griffith as the calm, clever sheriff of Mayberry, his son, Opie, his Aunt Bee, his bumbling sidekick Deputy Barney Fife, along with an eclectic group of townspeople that the world has come to love.
The show came to life on a movie set at Desilu Studios in Culver City, California, but the episodes closely resemble the charm of Andy’s boyhood home in Mount Airy, North Carolina.
The lines are definitely blurred with a lot of Mount Airy in Mayberry, and the town itself has evolved over the years to include a lot of Mayberry in Mount Airy. There’s a fun photo of Andy Griffith on set reading a newspaper. Zoom in and you see it’s the Mount Airy paper. He was keeping up with happenings at home even while he was in California.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or someone who has newly discovered the reruns, we have a quick quiz to test your Mount Airy/Mayberry knowledge. Don’t click the link at the end until you’ve taken a stab at the answers!
Q1. What is the only existing business in Mount Airy that was mentioned by name on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show?
Q2. Which member of the original cast makes their home in Mount Airy today?
Q3. What type of squad car did Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife drive in the show?
Q4. Andy’s boyhood home in Mount Airy has a unique distinction for fans. What is it?
Q5. What real life places in and around Mount Airy were mentioned on the show?
Q6. What’s the name of Andy Griffith’s boyhood pal who saved volumes of memorabilia that led to the creation of the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy?
Q7. What is Mayberry Days and when did it start?
All done? Check your answers here.
The story above first appeared in our September / October 2021 issue.
