Stricly American

About half of all the American weather books start out with “that famous Mark Twain saying” that “everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Actually this was not a Twainism at all, but was said by a man named C.D. Warner. Twain quoted Warner in a speech, and the saying became known as one of mark Twain’s form the time on. Twain did, however, say, “If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes,” and that proverb is most typical of American weather talk. Benjamin Franklin, who said, “some are weatherwise, some are otherwise,” also said, “Know the signs of the sky and you will for the happier be.” There seems to be something typically rural American about weather observation: here, instead of hello, one most often nods and says, “Nice day today.” It has been said that the average American can’t start a conversation without referring to the weather first. It is natural, then , that there should also be a good store of American weather folklore.

Being aware that most early-American customs were brought intact from overseas, a student of folklore might wonder how much genuine American folklore there can be. To answer this, I quote from a letter written in 1762 from a father to his son wo was preparing a trip to these shores.

“The greatest differences here,” he wrote, “ you shall find in the weather. You shall need the stoutest of clothing. The sky and its signs are the seasonal changes are most unlike those to which we are accustomed.”

Folklore of American Weather by Eric Sloane