If there was one recurring prop in The Beverly Hillbillies that stole the spotlight almost as often as the cast, it was Granny’s “rheumatiz medicine.” Audiences loved the running gag of Granny jealously guarding her mysterious concoction, which she claimed cured everything from arthritis to broken hearts. But behind the scenes, the story of this prop is almost as entertaining as the show itself.
Producers knew they wanted Granny, played by Irene Ryan, to embody both the wisdom and eccentricity of backwoods folk culture. Moonshine was an obvious inspiration, but CBS executives worried about broadcasting something too close to outright liquor in prime-time comedy. The compromise? A clear liquid in a mason jar, labeled vaguely as “medicine,” so it could be both family-friendly and cheekily subversive.
On set, the jar was often filled with water or a weak tea, though Ryan frequently joked in interviews that she “wouldn’t mind the real thing.” Fellow castmates would laugh about how Ryan had to sip it straight-faced during takes, even though the lukewarm water sometimes had a funny taste after sitting under hot studio lights. Buddy Ebsen once admitted in an interview that the crew occasionally swapped the water with ginger ale just to see if Ryan could keep a straight face while calling it her miracle cure.
The gag became so popular that fans began writing to CBS asking for “Granny’s recipe,” convinced there was a real tonic behind it. Some moonshiners even claimed they could replicate it, though of course, nothing official was ever released. To this day, “rheumatiz medicine” stands as one of the cleverest ways network TV smuggled rural humor—and a wink toward moonshine—into millions of American living rooms.
