In 1961, National Potato Day (not Week) fell on October 27.
This is the only episode in which Otis both pays a fine ($2) and stays 24 hours in jail. In all other episodes, he is given the option of paying a fine or the 24 hours in jail. Of course, Otis always chooses the 24 hours.
This is the first appearance of Jack Prince playing 'Ben Sewell.' He would go on to play the trigger-happy 'Luke Rainier' in "The Inspector" and most famously, the operatic 'Rafe Hollister' in three episodes.
Clarabelle (Gladys Hurlbut) and Jennifer (Charity Grace) Morrison mention to Andy (Andy Griffith) they can tell he just got a haircut because they can smell the witch hazel. One of the uses of witch hazel, a flowering plant, is that the extract from the plant is used in aftershave, which barbers, in their tonsorial practice, commonly put on customers after their haircut.
The title is a nod to the 1939 play, "Arsenic and Old Lace," by Joseph Kesselring, which was made into a 1944 movie by Frank Capra, starring Cary Grant and a few of the actors from the original Broadway production. The title "Arsenic and Old Lace" was, itself, a nod to the 1902 Victorian romance novel, "Lavender and Old Lace," by Myrtle Reed.