Balcony Barnacles
As one of my science teachers once said, it's almost impossible to prove a negative. In other words, you could prove that you DIDN'T do something, but you cannot prove that you NEVER WILL.
As so many have stated in so many different and differing ways, since we were never told either way on the subject, Statler and Waldorf COULD BE brothers-in-law, COULD BE brothers (if their mother remarried or if one of them changed his name) or COULD BE just two old coots with the same nasty sense of humor. In others words, argue away--there's no way to prove either side of this argument, so nobody gets to claim "winsies."
The two balcony barnacles were named after two famous New York hotels, the Waldorf and the Statler. The Waldorf Astoria is a renowned New York luxury hotel in midtown Manhattan which offers elegant accommodations and many, many amenities. At one time, I believe it was the largest hotel in the world. Since the men were named after hotels, it must have seemed funny to our muppeteers to turn the luxury hotel the Waldorf-Astoria (now known as the Waldorf=Astoria) into Waldorf's wife, Astoria Waldorf. (All I can say is thank goodness she didn't hyphenate her name!)
Affectionately, Ru
(who is sometimes obsessive about things and actually researched this for "Kermie's Girl," since Statler, Waldorf, Astoria and the as yet un-named Mrs. Statler appear in that story.) By-the-by--anyone want to make a suggestion for Mrs. Statler's first name? I'm open-minded.