Carolyn Stoddard: The High School Years

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Hey, gang,

I was watching the very early episodes of DS and Mrs. Stoddard was apologizing to Carolyn for the apparently tough time Carolyn had as a student at Collinsport High School. This got me to thinking, what was Carolyn’s life like when she was a high school kid? The other kids must have either been in awe of her or resented her wealth and privilege. I can’t decide which scenario it might have been.

Do you think Carolyn participated in many (or any) extracurricular activities at Collinsport High School? Do you think Carolyn wrote articles for the school paper? Did Carolyn participate in sports like tennis or softball at Collinsport High? Was Carolyn a cheerleader like the slightly older Maggie Evans apparently was? Did Carolyn develop a crush on Joe Haskell, when Joe was the starting quarterback for an admittedly so-so Collinsport High School football team?

I could see Carolyn being driven to and from Collinsport High School everyday by that old softie, Matthew Morgan.  No doubt, the other kids thought that was “slightly” weird. And, did Carolyn ever invite the other kids up to Collinwood for a party? With Mrs. Stoddard so concerned that someone might discover that her “beloved” husband was taking a permanent “dirt nap” under the floor of one of the locked rooms in the basement of Collinwood, I kind of doubt if Carolyn was ever allowed to bring friends from school up to the great house.

And, do you think that Carolyn was ever embarrassed when the other kids would gossip about why her mother never left that spooky old mansion?

Oh, what we might have seen if they had done a flashback of the early 1960 years at Collinwood. Anyway, you know in high school yearbooks how they sometimes make predictions about members of the graduating class? Well, maybe the 1965 Collinsport High School Yearbook had these predictions:

Most Likely to Switch Careers: Maggie Evans.

Most Likely to Succeed: Chris Jennings (future architect).

Most Likely to be Incarcerated: Harry Johnson.

Most Likely to Snag a Gig on WGBH’s “This Old House”: Tom Jennings (handyman extraordinaire).

Most Likely to Drive a Top-of-the-Line BMW and STILL be Unhappy: Carolyn Stoddard.

Most Likely to Enter Local or State Politics: Susie (Hoffenmuller?) (current Collinsport Inn Waitress).

Most Likely to be Featured in “Field and Stream Magazine”: Joe Haskell.

Most Likely to Finally Find Jesus: Irwin (?) “Buzz” Hackett.

[Gerard]

In an interview, Nancy Barrett sums up what she thought of the character of Carolyn.  She said she initially read for the part of Vicki, but found her to be dull and prissy.  So when she saw the roll of Carolyn, she stated that this was the girl for her, summing her up as "having too much money and too much hair."  That's how I picture Carolyn as a high school student from the class of 1965.  She was both popular and resented.  Being one of the "pretty girls," she hung around with them, especially those who came from families where they could afford color television sets.  And there were those of the more lower class (both in looks and finances) who looked at her longing for having her status.  However, there would be those who had the opposite feelings, whether resentment or jealousy.  Even among the pretty girls there would be the mean girls, some amongst her supposed friends, who wouldn't miss an opportunity to take a subtle shot.  In the ranks of the forlorn, especially the "Carrie" variety, there would be negative perceptions.  Was Carolyn a bully, even if just an occasional one?

I wouldn't think she was much involved in extracurricular activity.  Maybe helping out with stuff like prom, but that's it.  Her grades were not solid A's, even though they could be, but being a "prisoner," she didn't see any point at perfect scholastic achievement.  She preferred weekend nights out with her friends, even the backstabbers, expecting not to get carded at the Blue Whale or any other libation establishments.  There would be an occasional party at someone's house, but never any at Collinwood, not so much because her mother protested, but because she just didn't want her dark secrets of living in that dysfunctional mansion obvious.  Once she graduated (no party, again because she'd have to have it at home which her mother never left), she just fell into the life of the rich girl who had no reason to have any ambitions and spent more time at the Blue Whale, showing what all the money and hair can do.

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Gerard,

You almost make me feel sorry for Carolyn, “almost” being the optimal word.

While Vicky had to get up every day to try to teach and discipline David Collins (Collinsport’s possible “answer” to Rhoda Penmark) and Maggie had to get up each day well before dawn in order to brew coffee and sling hash and eggs for all of those “generous” tippers (like the “slightly” parsimonious Sarah Johnson) at the Collinsport Inn Coffee Shop, Carolyn could roll out of bed, at say, 11:30 AM or so, and then decide if she wanted to watch “All My Children” at 1:00 PM or to drive into town to check out what was on sale at Brewster’s Department Store. Talk about a “tough” life! 

In many ways, Carolyn Stoddard reminded me of the spoiled and entitled Meadow Soprano on “The Sopranos,” who, while pontificating on all of the alleged social injustices in life,
she just loved to shop at Bloomingdales or to spend weekends with her equally entitled friends in either
upscale Southampton, NY or in tony Spring Lake, NJ. 

Heck, the one and only job Carolyn ever held was at the Todds’s antique store in town and that lasted for “all” of about two weeks before Barnabas torched the place, a la Artie Bucco’s four star Italian restaurant, Vesuvio’s, in Essex County, NJ, which Tony Soprano set the place on fire in order to prevent a gangland hit in Artie’s
fine eatery.

So, when you think about it, the spoiled and pampered Carolyn Stoddard had absolutely nothing to kvetch about. 

[Annie]

Bob, I think that Carolyn was a spoiled rich girl, she always wanted to party or stay out late.

She was out of that old stale mansion more than any other teenager.Then Maggie whom the
Kids always scared her with the ghost of Quentin as well.
That’s just my opinion for now.
Anne 

[dom]

One of my favorite lines in the early/pre-Barn years (as there were many) was Liz saying the school kids teased Carolyn about her mother being a witch. And though I came away with the impression that it was when she was in elementary school, in a small town those 'things' stick. I also remember Carolyn telling Vicky something to the effect that she was the only friend she had and begging her not to leave Collinwood for to return to NY. And I'd guess that Carolyn's rebellious nature towards decorum lends itself to the theory that she was probably not popular, at least among her female contemporaries and mostly probably due to jealousy. Not to mention having the desirable Joe Haskell chasing after her and not them. AND probably being the most fashionable gal in school. I don't think there were any other 'rich' families in town. She could afford the latest and greatest fashions money could buy. Though I don't see her being a snob and rubbing it in anyone's face. The poor dear, lol.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

families where they could afford color television sets.

Please, owning a color TV might seem like an indication of a well to do family but that's not necessarily the case. As I've mentioned before, my family got a color TV in 1966, but both my parents were strictly blue collar. My mom worked as a sewing machine operator, and my dad worked construction as a water proofer (someone who made sure windows and such were water tight), people on whom Roger would have definitely looked down his nose. So... 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Anne,

I couldn’t agree with you more about Carolyn being a spoiled, rich girl, who never wanted to leave a bar or a party at a reasonable hour, like how she would drag poor and decent Joe Haskel to the Blue Whale so that she
could dance with other guys or look for Burke Devlin specifically. I had girlfriends like her in the long-ago past,
who didn’t know when it was time to go home, the “drinking Irish,” being the worst. Ah, yes, the things you
have to experience and put up with, when you’re a young and callow fellow like Joe Haskell was in 1966.


As to having a color television set back during the 1960s, I bet that Roger insisted on having the largest color console at Collinwood, so that he could see Dame Diana Rigg’s lustrous, Titian curls every week on the latest
episode of “The Avengers.” Roger probably secretly wished that the beautiful Mrs. Emma Peel would someday
relocate to Collinsport, Maine. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm all for owning a color TV back in the day just to watch Diana Rigg on The Avengers. I love her on that show to the point that I own The Complete Emma Peel Megaset and I'll frequently pop in a disc to watch an ep or two or three or ... whenever the mood strikes me.

I do have to say, though, that back in 1966 I was most happy to have a color TV because it meant I could watch the second season of Lost In Space in color because that's the season it switched to color...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

MB,

Yes, I agree, that Diana Rigg - Mrs. Peel Avengers DVD set is terrific!

I wish ABC had done a crossover DS/Avengers episode, where John Steed and Mrs. Emma Perl called in noted parapsychologist Professor T. Elliott Stokes to assist them in their investigations involving ghosts in “The Living Dead” Avengers episode. It would have been great fun to have seen the eminent Professor Stokes looking for clues in that creepy British cemetery along with John Steed and Emma Peel.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I wish ABC had done a crossover DS/Avengers episode, where John Steed and Mrs. Emma Perl called in noted parapsychologist Professor T. Elliott Stokes to assist them in their investigations involving ghosts in “The Living Dead” Avengers episode. It would have been great fun to have seen the eminent Professor Stokes looking for clues in that creepy British cemetery along with John Steed and Emma Peel.

Your mention of that ep got to wanting to see it again because I have't watched it in ages, so I did. I remembered the beginning to be quite DS-like and it is Though as much as I love the esteemed Prof. T. Eliot Stokes and as much as I would have also loved to have seen him traipsing through that cemetery (and what a great cemetery it is), I found myself picturing Dr. Peter Guthrie helping Steed and Mrs. Peel (before he was summoned to Collinwood, of course). It could have been perfect preparation for investigating the returned Mrs. Collins. Though while he would have debunked what happened involving the resurrected Duke of Benedict, he would ultimately come to discover he'd sadly bitten off much more than he could chew when it would come to Mrs. Collins...

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I wish ABC had done a crossover DS/Avengers episode, where John Steed and Mrs. Emma Perl called in noted parapsychologist Professor T. Elliott Stokes to assist them in their investigations involving ghosts in “The Living Dead” Avengers episode. It would have been great fun to have seen the eminent Professor Stokes looking for clues in that creepy British cemetery along with John Steed and Emma Peel.

Your mention of that ep got to wanting to see it again because I have't watched it in ages, so I did. I remembered the beginning to be quite DS-like and it is Though as much as I love the esteemed Prof. T. Eliot Stokes and as much as I would have also loved to have seen him traipsing through that cemetery (and what a
great cemetery it is), I found myself picturing Dr. Peter Guthrie helping Steed and Mrs. Peel (before he was
summoned to Collinwood, of course). It could have been perfect preparation for investigating the returned Mrs. Collins. Though while he would have debunked what happened involving the resurrected Duke of Benedict, he would ultimately come to discover he'd sadly bitten off much more than he could chew when it would come to Mrs. Collins...

It’s very interesting that you mention psychic investigator Dr. Peter Guthrie and his possible involvement with John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel. I remember longtime DSF poster/cousin Joeytrom speculating here about a comment that Dr. Guthrie had made to someone (possibly Roger or Carolyn) that, along with his investigation
involving the mysterious Laura Collins, he had discovered other strange “things” in the great house of
Collinwood.

Joeytrom suggested that Dr. Guthrie had possibly come upon Quentin I’s stairway-through-time or the Parallel Time Room in the East Wing of Collinwood. Perhaps the most unsettling, if not downright terrifying, discovery for Dr. Gutherie, would have been if he had happened to look into the PT Room when the wandering ghost of
Dameon Edwards just happened to be schlepping through PT Angelique’s bedroom, wearing that extremely loud
and ugly-@ss leisure suit of his!  I think that horrible sight would have very understandably
freaked out Karl Kolchak, Dr. Van Helsing and even the redoubtable Professor T. Elliott Stokes!!! 

PS Writer David Hofstede, in his excellent review of the DS vhs tapes, wrote that actor John Lassell, who portrayed Dr. Peter Guthrie on DS, looked more like a mundane tax attorney than some almost ethereal psychic investigator. Sorry, Mr. Lassell, who I believe is still alive at age 95.

[Uncle Roger]

My family did not get a color TV until I was out in the working world and bought one at the local Caldor's.

As for Carolyn, I don't know if she ever had sufficient reason to apply herself in school. Even though she was older, it seems that David was the one being groomed to eventually run the business. College does not seem to have an option for her. While she could have gone out on her own somewhere else, she didn't. Perhaps Carolyn realized that the Collins name and money would give a certain amount of prestige in Maine. In NYC social circles, she might not have been so unique. And there was always the possibility that there would be someone with more money.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

My family did not get a color TV until I was out in the working world and bought one at the local Caldor's.

As for Carolyn, I don't know if she ever had sufficient reason to apply herself in school. Even though she was older, it seems that David was the one being groomed to eventually run the business. College does not seem to have an option for her. While she could have gone out on her own somewhere else, she didn't. Perhaps Carolyn realized that the Collins name and money would give a certain amount of prestige in Maine. In NYC social circles, she might not have been so unique. And there was always the possibility that there would be someone with more money.

Caldor’s, now that’s a great name from the past along with K-Mart’s, Jamesway, Crazy Eddie’s and apparently, Dan Curtis’s personal favorite department store, Ohrbach’s! 

I wonder if Mrs. Stoddard, Carolyn, Vicky, Maggie and Barnabas shopped regularly at those great stores?
Although, I doubt if the “slightly” stuffy Roger Collins would deign to frequent those popular stores of the past. 

[Gerard]

I might've told this tale here, so bear with me if I did.  The first in our neighborhood - I believe it was in '66, give or take a year - to get a color TV were our next door neighbors.  Now, in our gathering of folk on Polish Hill, only the kind of people who lived "on da nor't side," particularly the part of Waldo Boulevard close to Lake Michigan, had the price and prestige to own one.  It was simply unheard of in our community with things like Pulaski Park and Polish Phil's Bar.  As my dad would say, stuff like color TV's, dishwashers, automatic clothes washers (not to mention dryers), power lawn-mowers, snow-blowers and any type of air-conditioning was for "da fancy people."  So when our neighbors: grandpa; grandma; son; daughter-in-law; their daughter, and their son (my best friend at that time, also a lover of spooky movies and shows) purchased one, it was the most talked-about news until the moon landing about three years later.

There was a reason for the purchase.  As expected in a neighborhood comprised primarily of people of Polish, Galician, and Czech ("Bohemian") people with last names that looked like a line on an eye chart, the vast majority were of the Catholic religion.  The massive, two-steepled-with-onion-dome-tops church along with its campus of school, convent and rectory dominated half-a-block.  On TV that year, it was announced that the classic film, The Song of Bernadette, would be aired for the first time.  The older, pre-boomer generation all remembered seeing it in the theater 20-or-so-years earlier and recalled with pride that Jennifer Jones, who played the visionary, won the Oscar.  In the mid-seventies, she would be remember for dancing with Fred Astaire before plunging over 1,000 feet to her death in The Towering Inferno.  Now it was going to be on TV in all its 20th-Century-Fox glory.  Even a visit by the pope wouldn't have caused such an uproar.  So, just because of that occasion, the neighbors bought a set and invited everyone within a multi-block radius to come over (everyone brought something - that potluck thing, you know), and the party began.  The time of the airing arrived, everyone settled down to watch this ultimate Catholic classic on color television until it started...

...and all the original viewers had forgot that it was filmed in black-and-white.  Well, a good time was had by all.  Being an epic, it took three hours for it to air and we kids who had to be in bed long before nine on a school night got to stay up until ten. 

That set did get good use, though.  We'd be invited over to watch something in color and I even got to see - are you ready for this, MB? - Lost In Space in color in the second and third seasons.  The big thing to watch was Disney's Wonderful World of Color. One that stood out was Pablo and the Dancing Chihuahua.  After awhile, the novelty wore off.  It would be another ten years before my dad capitulated even to the demands of my mom and we became one of "da fancy people" and got our first set in 1976.  The reason why (and my mom's primary insistence)?  Gone With the Wind was going to air for the first time on TV. 

And this time we knew it was in color.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

... Jennifer Jones ...  In the mid-seventies, she would be remember for dancing with Fred Astaire before plunging over 1,000 feet to her death in The Towering Inferno.

And to this day I still have't gotten over that happening to her character in the movie! 

... The time of the airing arrived, everyone settled down to watch this ultimate Catholic classic on color television until it started...

...and all the original viewers had forgot that it was filmed in black-and-white.

As I was reading your story I said to myself, "Wasn't that movie in B&W? Wow, do they have a surprise coming their way!" 

We'd be invited over to watch something in color and I even got to see - are you ready for this, MB? - Lost In Space in color in the second and third seasons.

It pays to have a best friend with a color TV!