Comments on: It always has stopped raining (Apr, 1935)

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:01:20 +0000

Just a guess, but this was during the Depression and he may be encouraging her, telling her that no matter how bad things are now, better times are on the way.

By: elron6900

elron6900 — Sun, 13 May 2007 10:11:46 +0000

I wonder what future folks might think of some of today’s pharmaceutical or car ads … strikes me a lot of them might seem just as incomprehensible. I definitely get the sense of “dirty old man” (or maybe lecherous old cout … not quite as negative, lol) and a tired old pick-up line as well … I think I agree with Caya …

By: galessa

galessa — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:06:54 +0000

we must always consider the possibility of a long forgoten slang or joke or expression or song title… I have seen other incomprehensible ads; sometimes we cannot recover their context.

By: Caya

Caya — Sun, 06 May 2007 15:06:57 +0000

Yes, that’s true- there’s no sign of rain. I didn’t notice that before. I think it is deliberate, just more evidence of the dustiness of the old guy’s pickup line. However in older books I am often seeing characters duck next to a store window or under a store awning to escape a sudden shower- I am pretty sure it is a literary cliche of the time. Nowadays we are too much in a hurry to do that- either we’d already be in the car/taxi/bus, or like in NYC, nobody would stop for a little rain shower I don’t think.

By: Blurgle

Blurgle — Sun, 06 May 2007 14:33:44 +0000

This ad makes absolutely no sense.

1. There is NO overhang, therefore it couldn’t have been raining recently. Also, the sidewalk is completely dry. Yet the man has a barely-furled umbrella.

2. “It always has stopped raining” sound like a copyright-free way of saying “the sun’ll come out tomorrow”.

3. “Life begins at sixty” – although in 1935 nobody knew that smoking aged the skin (worse than anything but sun), that guy looks about 85 in 2007 years.

4. “They satisfy” – Chesterfield’s trademark.

By: Caya

Caya — Sun, 06 May 2007 13:01:24 +0000

I think the emphasis is supposed to be on the word “always”. So, it *always* has stopped raining. The two people dove under the awning to escape a sudden shower, and picked up a book to pass the time. The old codger sees his opportunity to flirt, because “life begins at 60″, and he seems to have no problem flirting with someone the age of his daughter or granddaughter. Evidently his tired old pickup line is “It has stopped raining. Care for a cigarette?” So, the ad is, basically, rolling it’s eyes and saying “it ALWAYS has stopped raining.”