Andy and Opie - Bachelors - S3-E4
Revealing mistake: After Andy and Opie choose between chicken and pot roast using a nickle, when Opie gives the nickle back to Andy the window over the sink is missing - the fake window wasn't put up on the set wall for this shot, but when the food burns the window and curtains are up there as usual.
Andy and the New Mayor - S3-E3
Visible crew/equipment: While Jess is up in the tree, the new mayor is attacked so he also starts climbing up the tree, then in the shot of the bear rushing toward the camera we can see the animal trainer who's behind the tree, as he releases the bear. (00:23:00)
Continuity mistake: In the closeup of Barney's yearbook picture his name is listed as "Bernard Milton Fife," and Andy even reads it aloud, but in the previous episode from season 1, "A Plaque for Mayberry" Andy says that Barney's middle name is Oliver.
Deliberate mistake: After Barney buys the car from Mrs. Lesh, he and Andy are standing at the steps as he tells her not to look back at the car, and the next shot of Andy and Barney at the front door is the same shot from a few moments prior, but it's been flipped so they would be looking in the opposite direction. (00:09:30)
Character mistake: When Andy and Barney are looking through the yearbook, Barny's middle name is Milton. But Barney says many times throughout the series that his name is Bernard P. Fife.
Revealing mistake: During the holdup at the bank, while the bank robber's holding Asa's broken gun, when Andy motions to Asa to duck out of the way in the closeup we can see the two thin wires to the left and right pulling the gun apart.
Barney Mends a Broken Heart - S3-E6
Visible crew/equipment: While Andy and Barney are with Daphne and Skippy at the Tip-Top Cafe in Mount Pilot, when Daphne's boyfriend walks in we can see the actor's chalk T-mark on the floor.
Barney and the Governor - S3-E15
Visible crew/equipment: After Barney has given the governor's chauffeur a parking ticket and the chauffeur drives off, just as Barney starts to say that he's not wearing the uniform to win friends, we can see the reflection of the boom mic at the top left corner of the screen.
Floyd, the Gay Deceiver - S3-E9
Continuity mistake: At the start, when Floyd and Andy walk into the barbershop, in the exterior shot Floyd's white barber jacket is on a hanger hanging from the coat tree that has a finial at the top of its pole, but in the next interior shot that jacket is hanging directly on the coat tree's hook, the hanger has vanished, and that finial has disappeared as well.
The Darlings Are Coming - S3-E25
Visible crew/equipment: During the scene where the Darling's truck has overheated, Andy walks up from the back of the truck. As he comes into view you can see what appears to be a microphone cord hanging out from under his pants leg.
Continuity mistake: At the end, when Andy walks in on Barney showing Gomer how to draw his gun, Gomer draws his gun out of the holster which sends it flying behind him, and in the closeup the bookcase glass shatters, but in the wideshot when they all turn to look the glass is still perfectly intact.
Visible crew/equipment: When the partners of the two men locked up in the jail drive up to the courthouse and park, the reflections of two crew members are visible on the car's vent window.
Continuity mistake: When Gomer drops the gun from the roof it lands on the ground directly in front of Andy and Barney, who are standing on the sidewalk beside the courthouse, but the area where they're standing looks different between the overhead shots and closeups, and their shadows change as well. Additionally, the gun lands with its handle to the left, but in the wideshot the gun is lying the opposite way, with its handle to the right.
Visible crew/equipment: While Andy and Barney are hiding behind the car, when Mrs. Lesh hits Jake in the stomach with her umbrella, we can see two curved chalk actor's marks and two chalk T-marks on the floor. (00:22:10)
Visible crew/equipment: After Andy and Barney have asked Otis if he's seen the billy goat, when it cuts to Opie on his bike we can see the two white tape marks on the ground where Andy and Barney stand.
Barney and the Governor - S3-E15
Deliberate mistake: In the closeup of the license plate on the governor's car, the words over and under the plate number are deliberately taped to be unrecognizable. The original words are "drive safely" and "North Carolina."
Andy's Rich Girlfriend - S3-E2
Visible crew/equipment: After Andy explains to Barney why he's taking Peggy to a nice restaurant 55 miles away, when Barney walks away from the cell we can see the leg and shadow of the tall wood ladder (presumably the crew's) at the right side of the screen, but when Barney and Andy are by the front door there's no such ladder behind Barney in his closeups.
High Noon in Mayberry - S3-E17
Deliberate mistake: While Luke and Andy are in the house, Barney, Gomer, and Otis are hiding on the porch, and Barney has the idea to turn off the lights in the house, so he goes to the circuit box located beside the windows on the front porch and switches the lights off. The problem is that this circuit box is located on the porch only for this episode as a plot point.
Continuity mistake: While Peggy's waiting in front of the drugstore she's splashed by a car driving through a puddle, and when she shows up at Andy's house the stains on her dress are different.
Visible crew/equipment: While the fake band members begin to practice before the mayor shows up, in Andy's closeup right before he tries to stop Phil's flamboyant playing, the reflection of filming equipment is visible on the surface of Andy's tuba.
Answer: Those "boxes" are valences that used to be very common, before air conditioning. They allow for windows to be open during rain storms. They permit air circulation, without letting the rain in.