How did the Brady family afford Alice?

[Anonymous]

I have two theories. First one, Mike was an architect, and by all accounts, a very good one. Perhaps he was even better than the show let on and more money than viewers thought he did, considering their rather conservative lifestyle. My second theory revolves around Carol. It is possible that Alice was paid using the money she got from Child Support and Alimony from her ex. It is merely a theory, considering the fact that, A) Divorce was not near as common as it is today, and B) Throughout the run of the show, they never mentioned their ex-spouses.

[Anonymous]

Carol was not divorced. I once read that the original script portrayed Carol as a divorced mom, but the network executives nixed that. She was a widow.

No idea how they afforded Alice, but Carol did not work outside the home. Alice had lived with the Bradys before Carol came along.

[Anonymous]

It always annoyed me that Alice and Sam called the Bradys Mr. Brady and Mrs. Brady. I get why they did but it was so subservient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

first poster here--I know the maid's quarters were downstairs. My point was that they ONLY has 3 bedrooms in such a huge house. How does one have room for maids quarters, but only 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom for 6 kids?

Actually I knew a lot of real actual (not sitcom) families during the Brady Bunch era where the kids shared bedrooms and bathrooms. In fact, in most families I knew, everybody used the same bathroom, including the parents. Though these families did not have live-in housekeepers who wore uniforms.

I actually grew up in a house with (gasp!) ONE BATHROOM.

Perhaps that should be a new thread. "I grew up in a one-bathroom house. Ask me anything."

Grew up in a family of seven with one bathroom and three bedrooms. We lived.

My dad was one of 18 with one outhouse. No indoor plumbing until 1986. Woo hoo, Appalachia! 3 kids per bed, slept head to foot.

When I was growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, my shared room with my brother was so cold a glass of water would freeze. On really cold nights we would bury in old Army sleeping bags, the kind with a hole for your face and that’s all. On the floor by the coal stove. We got the coal from a seam on our land, we dug it with a pickax.

I don’t want an Alice. I am so thankful for what I do have and it would make me uncomfortable. I cannot see someone working without pitching in. That is just how it was for poor people and I am not willing to change. I will never be too good for any menial task or except someone to do a job I wouldn’t do.

[Anonymous]

Those share bedrooms had 1 dresser and a tiny closet. Where did they supposedly keep all their clothes? Those kids never wore anything twice and polyester takes up space.
Also, why on earth did they let cousin Oliver move in? 7 children? I don't think so!

[Anonymous]

If Marsha hadn’t gotten hit in the nose with the football, she would’ve gotten pregnant that night on her date. And there would’ve been even more kids under the roof.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no minimum wage laws, we lived like kings over seas but here the lowest paid has a lot of upward mobility. On the opposite end the higher you are paid the less you are able to move up.

There were minimum wage laws in the 1970's. There has been a federal minimum wage since 1938.
https://www.hrdirect.com/federal-minimum-wage-history-infographic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep. He was an architect, which was a big deal back in the day. That's how he afforded to raise 6 kids in a huge house in California (No. Cal right?) with a wife who didn't work until long after the last kid was gone (then she became a real estate agent) and a live in housekeeper. And since he likely designed the house -he built it to have a room downstairs behind the laundry room (and likely a bathroom bc you rarely saw her go upstairs) for Alice.

The house was in southern California, near Los Angeles. HGTV recently bought it.
https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/real-estate/g22501368/brady-bunch-house-sale/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question is how did they have that big house with maids quarters, yet only 3 bedrooms upstairs.

I just thought this same thing. I was originally thinking it was a modest house with only 3 bedrooms, but then I remembered Alice's quarters, the den, the attic space...the LARGE family room, dining room, eat-in kitchen AND tv-watching room; oh and large foyer area...so it wasn't so modest maybe.

Don't architects make a lot of money?

No, we don't usually. Not unless we are partner at a really, really big firm. The pay doesn't approach doctors or big law. But architects tend to have nice houses for obvious reasons.

[Anonymous]

My Grandfather of that era was an engineer that owned a firm and they had housekeeper, Nanny, etc. So not a far stretch an architect could too. My Dad also was an engineer and owned a firm, he had nothing like that. My generation- HA - HA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

first poster here--I know the maid's quarters were downstairs. My point was that they ONLY has 3 bedrooms in such a huge house. How does one have room for maids quarters, but only 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom for 6 kids?

Actually I knew a lot of real actual (not sitcom) families during the Brady Bunch era where the kids shared bedrooms and bathrooms. In fact, in most families I knew, everybody used the same bathroom, including the parents. Though these families did not have live-in housekeepers who wore uniforms.

Yeah, I'm wondering how young all the posters marvelling at the kids sharing rooms and bathrooms are. My dad designed and built our house, and we had 8 kids in 4 bedrooms, and all shared one bathroom. (My parents did have their own, but it had to be a MAJOR emergency for us to be able to use theirs! There was a half-bath downstairs for regular emergencies --- or you just barged in on your siblings and told them to hurry the hell up.).

We did not have a maid, nor did anyone I knew. But I think that live-in help was just a lot cheaper because there weren't that many work options for women. Alice would have been born in the 1920's or so, right? So if she did not become a teacher or go to secretarial school, and didn't get married.....her options were pretty limited. Room, board, some spending money, and an employer that wasn't a total a-hole were probably enough to keep her. I'm seeing a great TV special with Alice's back story:

Alice dropped out of school early to work in the factories during WWII. She fell in love with the boy next door, who then went off to the Korean War to fight and die (M.A.S.H. tie-in). Alice always stayed close to her true love's family, particularly his little brother Mike, who she always treated like her own little brother. After Mike's wife (Roberta) had Peter, her health suffered due to problems with a difficult delivery. Alice was sick of factory work (particularly he sexist idiot of a boss--Laverne and Shirly tie-in), She saw Mike and Roberta were struggling --- they all agreed Alice would move in and help Roberta with the new baby and little Greg. Sadly, because adequate birth control wasn't available in many states in the '60s, Roberta got pregnant again and did not survive childbirth when Bobby was born. And that's the story, till the one day that that lady met this fellow....

Is this fan fiction or her real backstory??

[Anonymous]

In most countries and previously in the us, labor was cheaper, hopefully with robots we can cut the cost of labor so we can live with more hire help

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

first poster here--I know the maid's quarters were downstairs. My point was that they ONLY has 3 bedrooms in such a huge house. How does one have room for maids quarters, but only 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom for 6 kids?

Actually I knew a lot of real actual (not sitcom) families during the Brady Bunch era where the kids shared bedrooms and bathrooms. In fact, in most families I knew, everybody used the same bathroom, including the parents. Though these families did not have live-in housekeepers who wore uniforms.

Yeah, I'm wondering how young all the posters marvelling at the kids sharing rooms and bathrooms are. My dad designed and built our house, and we had 8 kids in 4 bedrooms, and all shared one bathroom. (My parents did have their own, but it had to be a MAJOR emergency for us to be able to use theirs! There was a half-bath downstairs for regular emergencies --- or you just barged in on your siblings and told them to hurry the hell up.).

We did not have a maid, nor did anyone I knew. But I think that live-in help was just a lot cheaper because there weren't that many work options for women. Alice would have been born in the 1920's or so, right? So if she did not become a teacher or go to secretarial school, and didn't get married.....her options were pretty limited. Room, board, some spending money, and an employer that wasn't a total a-hole were probably enough to keep her. I'm seeing a great TV special with Alice's back story:

Alice dropped out of school early to work in the factories during WWII. She fell in love with the boy next door, who then went off to the Korean War to fight and die (M.A.S.H. tie-in). Alice always stayed close to her true love's family, particularly his little brother Mike, who she always treated like her own little brother. After Mike's wife (Roberta) had Peter, her health suffered due to problems with a difficult delivery. Alice was sick of factory work (particularly he sexist idiot of a boss--Laverne and Shirly tie-in), She saw Mike and Roberta were struggling --- they all agreed Alice would move in and help Roberta with the new baby and little Greg. Sadly, because adequate birth control wasn't available in many states in the '60s, Roberta got pregnant again and did not survive childbirth when Bobby was born. And that's the story, till the one day that that lady met this fellow....

Is this fan fiction or her real backstory??

Love it. Bring this to me in show form.
Also must understand the source of her many quips. How did that become her personality? Close to her quippy dad? Legacy of outspoken women on her mother’s side?

Her bf can join in for a ‘will they won’t they’ plot

[Anonymous]

The mom cashed in on life insurance from husband number one. More people had life insurance back then than today and policies were more generous. Not that there’s ever a good time, but it was a better time to be widowed early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Houses did not cost $800,000 and college was not $240,000 per kid. When all the Mrs. Brady's of the world got in the workforce, that drove up the cost of housing and education.

That's true. That's exactly what happened.

When a few of you women decided to hit the workforce, then more, then the economy adapted and it caused the inflation of 1970s and early 80s....Exactly when the boomers women were at peak in the workforce.

As a dad though, I consider Full time mom a very real job, and DW is employee of the month, for 12 years straight!