NICHOLS AND MAY AND THE RHODE ISLAND ACCENT. Back in the sixties, when I was watching Boston Red Sox games, Naragansett Beer, brewed in Cranston, Rhode Island, had wonderful animated commercials between innings which were voiced by Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Some of them are on Youtube, but I was unable to find my favorite. Two other people remembered it fondly, here (item 3) and here. In the the latter post, “Gringo” describes the ad:
A little old lady walks into the bar, and orders a ‘Gansett. The bartender imitates her voice. “Burtender, you’re not making fun of me, are you?” “No, ma’am, I wouldn’t make fun of you.”
The proverbial Blond Bombshell walks into the bar, and also orders a ‘Gansett. The bartender replies in a most enthusiastic tone.
The little old lady replies, “Burtender, you said you weren’t making fun of me.You were too making fun of me.”
The bartender replies in the little old lady voice. “I was not, ma’am. I was making fun of HER.”
I would add that the little old lady speaks in what I now recognize as a Rhode Island accent and the Blond Bombshell speaks in a sultry announcer’s voice.
If there was talk about re-uniting the Beatles,
why not Nichols and May? Really, why not?