John Boy's writing style is very reminiscent of Thomas Wolfe's, who wrote such novels as the Web and The Rock, Look Homeward, Angel, and You Can't Go Home Again. This is because the show's creator Earl Hamner, Jr. idolized Wolfe in his youth and modeled his own writing style after the famous author.
Actress Alvira Drummond tells the Waltons that she was asked to open a new theater in Atlanta by recreating Gertie Lawrence's role in the Noël Coward play "Private Lives", referring to real-life stage and screen star Gertrude Lawrence who performed as character Amanda Prynne when the play premiered on Broadway in 1931.
When John-Boy tells Alvira he is 17, she replies that she thought he was older. The actor playing John-Boy was 21 when it was filmed and aired.
The car that Alvira Drummond is riding in is the same car that John Walton's friend Tip drives in the legend .
The theater personalities Alvira name-drops at dinner are actress Gertrude Lawrence (1898-1952), playwright Noel Coward (1899-1973), actor/director Alfred Lunt (1892-1977), and his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983). All were household names in the 1930s.