My father had a little ritual that he did almost without fail. Folks would be talking about anything, and someone would say, “I like xyz.” Of course folks being folks someone else would say, “I like abc,” or perhaps, “I like xyz too.” And so it would go around the room. At some point my father would pipe up with, “I like Maude Adams.” He always thought this extremely hilarious, but it did have the effect of causing a lull in the conversation.
I have found myself doing this from time to time, much to the consternation of my bride who has a tendency to reply, “No you don’t.”
I came across a quote the other day from Maude Adams. So I went looking for a picture of her. Turns out she is stage actress who lived from 1872 to 1953. She appeared in numerous Broadway productions. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on Maude Adams. She was also a very beautiful woman and from that perspective there is much to like about her. Having found that, I began to wonder about the origin of the phrase, “I like Maude Adams.” I found a couple difference references. One was in a 1950 movie, The Happy Years, based on a book by Owen Johnson. I found the following posted on an online movie board:
“Back in the 60s I saw a black and white movie on TV a couple of times about a young kid who goes to a boy’s school. It may have been made in the 40s. Initially, he’s an outcast, but becomes a leader of the pack. My main recollection of the film is a scene where the boys play a prank on a young girl. First, one kid comes calling on a Sunday afternoon. A few minutes later, another kid shows up. And then another. And so on. They’re all sitting around with perfectly straight faces, giving the same speech. At one point, each kid in turn is saying “I like Maude Adams” while new kids start showing up so fast the girl doesn’t even have time to sit down before someone else is at the door. Eventually, she breaks into tears and goes running from the room.”
I could see something like that tickling my father’s funny bony enough that he used for next 55 years.
Owen Johnson wrote a book, Complete Humorous Romance Mystery that has the following passage in it:
“I’m just crazy about Maude Adams, I went three times,” said Miss Connie, who found the five teacups choked up the table in the most disconcerting way. “You like Maude Adams, don’t you—er—Mr. Mather?”
“I like Maude Adams.”
“And you, Mr. Brooker?”
“I like Maude Adams.”
So there you have it, everyone likes Maude Adams. Perhaps a family mystery has been resolved.