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Bert & I is the name given to numerous collections ofhumor stories set in the "Down East" culture of traditionalMaine. These stories were made famous and mostly written by thehumorist storytelling team ofMarshall Dodge (1935–1982) and Bob Bryan (1931–2018) in the 1950s and the 1960s and in later years through retellings by Allen Wicken.
The stories communicate the quirkiness of ruralNew England and Maine culture, told in the traditional folksy New England storytelling vein with a dry wit that inspired theLake Wobegon stories[1] that would begin appearing in 1974.[2]
The title characters arefishermen by trade, operating a motor vessel namedBluebird (and laterBluebird II), based out ofKennebunkport. Many of the longer stories of Bert & I collections involve incidents during a day's work, with careful detail given to the intricacies of the trade (especially through sound effects vocalized by Dodge).
One story,Which Way toMillinocket?, adapts the "You can't get there from here" trope of the 19th-century "Arkansas Traveler" tradition to aNew England accent. The similarly titledWhich Way toEast Vassalboro? has a different, anti-urbanite theme.[relevant?]
The stories spread beyond New England during the 1970s and 1980s and introduced many parts of the country and world to the regionally distinct Maine (or "Yankee") accent. In 1982, Bryan released aBert & I mock language tape,How to Talk Yankee, with fellow Maine humoristTim Sample.
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