Charlie John...I mean Jolly John

Jolly John sitting on the floor posing for a picture...uhh, what?!

We've established by now that it's a little difficult for me to understand the accents of some Mainers. Take for instance the car dealer Jolly John. I first heard his commercial on the radio and thought his name was Charlie John. It wasn't until I saw a city bus with a banner on the side saying Jolly John that I realized I'd been overcompensating the pronunciation. But really, this is one of the funniest accents I've heard in a while.

Last Saturday, Spike and I were in the car and one of Jolly John's commercials came on. I'd explained to him before that I made this discovery of a local car dealer whose accent totally threw me for a loop. But the best was yet to come. It was an ad for bringing in your old car and any other junk you didn't want and getting at least $2,000 for the trade. I wish I could convey his accent, but here's my interpretation

"Hi Ho, Jawly Jawn he-ah fuh Jawly Jawn Auto Groop in Sock-o. Bring in yah old cah and anything else as lawng as it doesn't eat and I'll give you two-thousand dollahs. That's right, two thousand dollahs fuh ya JUNK or my name isn't Jawly Jawn!"

Why try to explain, just watch a few of his commercials here and and one from the 80s here! This one is him on his soapbox, but you get a good idea of his accent. Enjoy!