RE: Don't like weather? Wait five minutes (1934)

[Baker, John]

        This is frequently misattributed to Mark Twain.  According to an article on the Internet, it was shown that this did not come from Twain in Kim A. McDonald, "Many of Mark Twain's Famed Humorous Sayings Are Found to Have Been Misattributed to Him," Chronicle of Higher Education (Sept. 4, 1991), A8.  I haven't seen McDonald's piece and don't know if it has any useful information.  As for the cites below, 1969 clearly is much too late, while the 1934 quote does not have the usual wording.

John Baker


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Subject: Don't like weather?  Wait five minutes  (1934)


   People keep saying a cliche like this (as I posted yesterday), but no one records it.  Tour guides have used this line the world over.  It's not just Chicago.


1.
      Provincetown Is Eroding, Like Cape Cod and the Haddock
       One of a series by the author of "The Strawberry Statement."By James S. Kunen.       The Washington Post, Times Herald  (1959-1973).       Washington, D.C.: Jul 27, 1969.                   p. 36 (1 page)
   Provincetown is trying not to think about it, girding itself instead for "the season."  "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes," they say, referring to how the winds from the Atlantic bring in clouds only to sweep them away to rain on people who have not seen the sun.
(Sun? Sea?  I can't read the last word--ed.)


2.
      IN WASHINGTON
       By KATHERINE SMITH..       The Washington Post  (1877-1954).       Washington, D.C.: Mar 4, 1934.                   p. SM2 (1 page)
      _5. Typical._
The out-of-towners visiting
   Are often prone to criticize
Our weather.  Will it rain or snow,
   Or sleet or shine?  We realize
Their indignation, and attempt
   To pacify--we smile and coo,
"Just wait five minutes for a change--
   That's what the weather here will do."