We Will Sell No Wine Before Its/It's Time

Those of us of a certain age first encountered Orson Welles not as the Hollywood wunderkind behind Citizen Kane, but as the Paul Masson guy that said "We will sell no wine before its time," which spawned a million imitations of fill-in-the-blank near rhymes. We didn't know who Orson Welles was, aside from the guy that scared the wits out of Americans on radio when our parents were kids, and it was complicated even more by his last name, which sounded like the guy that wrote the book behind the play that scared the wits out of Americans when our parents were kids.

Actually, those about my age (40's) had a wonderful opportunity that few others have - we were introduced to wonderful fading actors and actresses (yes, they once used that word) who were appearing on TV shows like The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

I met many stars first on The Love Boat, like Bob Cummings, Gopher's father stiffened by a stroke (I presume Mr Cummings was really suffering from a stroke); later I found him again on Love that Bob, with, of all people, Ann B Davis, the Brady Bunch maid Alice, who was as real to me as any family member. Some I was meeting again, but because so much time had passed, I didn't know I was being re-introduced - like Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz; many times I had a delightful moment where I thought to myself "I know that person," and spent the hour wondering where I'd seen him before.


There are far too many to recount, they are as near and dear as other innocent memories from my youth, a time when we believed passengers could fall in love on a 3-day cruise to Puerto Vallarta, or seven strangers shipwrecked during a 3-hour tour could recreate a believable microcosm of society for three seasons.

It doesn't matter how incredible and outlandish the stories were, it matters that they entertained us and staid with us; they may not pass on to future generations intact, but they are inextricably woven into our weltanschauung; they are a product of their time and a matrix for future times, as are all things, but we connect with some things so deeply, they punctuate our lives for generations.

(Even if we don't know it, and often we don't; I recall a college friend, Rob Scheur (sp?), comment that a girl in one of his English classes, upon reading Alexander Pope, remarked "He writes all in cliches." If you don't understand why that's both funny and sad, read a little Pope and you'll understand. Quotes Yeah, that was him. Surprised?)


The breathy Welles had a way of being genuine while acting at the same time. He was stagey, but pleasant to listen to all the same.

Click here to Listen to Orson Welles in "The Bed-Sheet," in Black Museum (unknown date)



Paul Masson Commercial - We Will Sell No Wine Before Its Time




(Which makes me ask, is this read "We will sell no wine before it is time," or "We will sell no wine before it's ready to drink"? Either one works, though I've always assumed it was the second one.)

(Note to Jim Jonker - I wrote this before you expressed a fondness for wunderkind :-)