The Collins and the Conners

[Gerard]

On Reddit, there is a "community" concerning the sitcom Roseanne.  On a thread, a poster stated what some already know:  that the afghan on the Conners' living room couch is the same one from the back of the drawing room sofa in Collinwood.  What's amazing is so many knew exactly what the topic was all about, causing a flurry of responses referencing DS (and the afghan).  But it hasn't stopped in just that thread.  It has become a rather common reference in other threads when it appears in a still shot or video capture, with tongue-in-cheeks comments regarding such things as the Conners going to a lawn sale conducted by the Collins or the two families somehow being related. 

But posters do note that while many items from various TV shows were discarded or destroyed, others went into storage for reuse down the road, and obviously when the stage sets were being constructed for Roseanne, some decorator was rummaging through an ABC backlot props structure and came across it.  It's just nice to know that there are, indeed, many other fans of DS who show up everywhere, including on a discussion board for a completely different type of television show.

Gerard

[Annie]

Hi Gerard , that’s pretty cool I used to watch the show but t never noticed the quilt .
Thank you for sharing this it was very nice of you.
God Bless you and hope you have a Blessed New Year.
Love, Anne

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I remember seeing that seemingly ubiquitous DS quilt very frequently in the Evans cottage. Maybe Maggie or her late mother sewed that particular quilt?

And, could Mrs. Johnson have also been an avid quilter? I remember reading that former NFL defensive lineman Rosey Grier (who also starred in one of my all-time favorite 1970s films, the classic, “The Thing with Two Heads”) and the late game show host, Gene Rayburn, were both enthusiastic needlepoint sewers.

Who knows, maybe another alpha-male like Barnabas Collins was also an avid quilter, who sewed at night as a means to cope with the boredom he must have experienced during all of those seemingly unending evenings in the Old House?

Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many “closet quilters” in Collinsport, including Joe Haskell, George Patterson, T. Elliot Stokes and the always uber-cool Buzz Hackett? 



 

[Gerard]

Isn't it neat, Annie!

And, Bob, I'm just wondering how that quilt made it all the way from Collinsport, Maine to Lanford, Illinois.

Gerard

[Gerard]

If one wants to see it, google "Roseanne afghan" images and "Dark Shadows afghan" images and there it is.  For the DS pics, it's been all over the place, from the drawing room to - as Bob said - the Evans' cottage, as well as being in 1795/96 and 1897.  Also, among the "Dark Shadows afghan" images there will be pics of the Conners' couch as well.

Gerard

[Josette]

I always wondered if it were some sort of "standard" afghan.  One of the friends I watched DS with in college had one like that, and then there was the DS one, so I figured it was probably a common one.

[patrickm]

I came up with doing a Dark Shadows time traveling Afghan theme for our club meeting a couple years ago. When I looked, there is a Dark Shadows Fandom Wiki that has a separate page just for the afghan with every episode the afghan appeared in. I was amazed..

[Mysterious Benefactor]

there is a Dark Shadows Fandom Wiki that has a separate page just for the afghan with every episode the afghan appeared in. I was amazed..

   Now THAT is dedication!!