Those Gossipin' Men

When a group of females gossip and that gossip leads to word of Barney having accidentally killed himself (the undertaker even shows up), Andy chastises the women for their verbosity. Aunt Bee is upset and rallies the troops to do the same thing to the men. Caught in the middle is a traveling shoe salesman named Finch, who becomes the unwitting object of the male gossips. Lots of fun watching the men, who think he is a talent agent, bring their sons and daughters to the hotel for auditions.

... from Aunt Bea of all people!

Aunt Bea and two of her female friends are gossiping at the drugstore when Andy comes in and asks for some medicine to put on a cut Barnie got on his finger while he was cleaning his gun. In just a few hours, the three women turn that small cut into Barnie having accidentally shot himself in the chest and passed away in the process. Barnie hears about this himself when somebody calls asking about it, and then the town mortician shows up, complete with hearse to take away the body!

Andy teases Aunt Bea about this when she comes to the courthouse, having heard the product of her own exaggeration and gossip. But she assures him that men are equally capable of gossip and exaggeration. This is an assertion that has Andy laughing.

But Aunt Bea gets the last laugh when she plants a doubt in Andy's mind about a traveling shoe salesman that has come to town. She asks - What would a traveling shoe salesman from New York City be doing in the tiny town of Mayberry 900 miles away? The imagination of the town's men take it from there.

Later in the series, the show goes more in depth about the healing power of Mayberry and the influence it has on visitors. But this time, we only get the sentiment of the fellow as he pulls away from the curb on his way out of town.

Also note the appearance of Floyd's son and Floyd's mention of his wife. They disappear from mention afterwards, leading to the belief that Floyd had never been married.

In the episode Quiet Sam, in a phone conversation with Barney, Floyd mentioned his wife Mabel's walking stick.

Emma Brand (Cheerio Meredith) & Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) are really funny together. Great casting of Wilbur Finch (Jack Finch) the shoe salesman who needs his pulse taken to see if he's breathing he's so laid back. When classic TV does the talent audition bit it's usually hilarious like here. All the auditions were classic comedy. The comic looks on Floyd's (Howard McNear) face when his son hits sour notes on the saxophone are priceless. Jason the hotel clerk (Phil Chambers) is miscast and will be replaced by better funnier options soon. Howard McNear is making a tremendous positive impact with the comedic magic he's adding.

Never did get to see any of Floyd's family. Inquiring minds want to know -- who played his saxophone playing son? I don't see his name anywhere in the credits (credited or not).