Show115
I noticed several people pronouncing the name of the city as [PIN-yon] — as if it were spelled “Piñon.” But there is no tilde (~) above the ‘N’ on any of the signs. Don’t know if it’s really a goof or if a it’s a California thing to keep a quasi-Spanish pronunciation but drop the diacritical marks. Any comments? Submitted by New York GraceP, 11/5/2010.
+ I think this not a goof. It’s just the way it was. I grew up in SoCal in the 1950s, and I don’t remember seeing many tildes yet we pronounced things the Spanish way. One I recall was the city of La Canada. Now joined with Flintridge, their website can’t seem to decide about the tilde. Submitted by daveb, 3/10/2011.
+ Before word-processors, tildes in Spanish words were routinely left as plain 'n' as there is no "enye" (?sp?) on the English language typewriter. Californians generally learn when to add the 'y' sound by hearing the applicable words pronounced by others. As 'Pinon' comes from Spanish, the proper pronounciation is 'Pin-yon'. Native and life-long Californian OLEF641, 12/15/16.
The scene described where Drake is arrested for not wearing a beard is NOT in the syndication print, so the whole thing does not make any sense when Paul references it later. Submitted by gracep, 11/5/2010.
Some find it tedious and repetitive but I love the music in this one, and how it accents the hospitably rural landscapes that once made CA so enchanting
Note the sign about 7:20 into the episode on the DVD. Behind Adam West and Iris at the Pinon City train depot the sign reads “Unbearded Men Will Be Pinched.” Submitted by Eric Cooper, 3/10/2011.
+ The same sign is behind W. L. Picard’s secretary’s desk. Added by gracenote, 7/7/2011.
+ "Pioneer Days" Beards are a Real Thing! In the 1950 film-noir Where Danger Lives, Dr Jeff Cameron (Robert Mitchum) is pinched in Postville AZ (fictional) during the town's Wild West "Whiskers Week". He is charged for "wearing no beard, no costume driving through Postville without due respect to or observance of the customs of said city" and fined "25 bucks for the Postville Cottage Hospital" (DVD 53:28).
This is not to say that TCOT Barefaced Witness borrowed from the movie. Rather, the movie and this episode were both echoing a real event which originated as "Senior Day" in Chico, CA in 1915. Mandatory Whiskers & Western clothes were added to the original event in 1925. Offenders could be thrown into Big Chico Creek. Read a comprehensive history with photos here. Added by Gary Woloski, 3/25/15.
This "frontier days" show aired in March 1961, and was preceded by another about a year earlier (TCOT Bashful Burro). I wonder if this was a popular thing to celebrate in California; many towns likely were passing the century mark then. Or maybe PM's writers just needed a plot hook for the out-of-town location (and in this case to find a suspect). At about the same time, the eastern Pennsylvania town where my family lived marked its sesquicentennial (150 year anniversary) and my grandfather grew a beard for the occasion. JohnK, 8 October 2015
Barbara Hale noted in TCOTBW intro that Perry sometimes left LA to try a case in more RURAL areas: "a pattern established in the novels of ESG" (50th Anniversary DVD set). Producer Arthur Marks commented that the VENUE changed from The City to other locales about every 6th episode. Mike Bedard 2.17.15.
Some may find it tedious and repetitive, but I love the music in this one and how it accents the hospitably rural landscapes that once made CA so enchanting, before all the down zoning made it so grossly overpopulated. 8/13/23 Greg