My dad, in the late-'60s (I think) and through the '70s would greet certain visitors by saying ‘The wind blew, the shit flew, and in walked [visitor’s name].’
What is the origin of this phrase?
This sounds a lot like a ribald version of Along Came Jones. originally performed by the Coasters and later Ray Stevens.
Stevens’ version was released in 1969 and reached the top 30, so it would have been the right time.
The phrase I heard, around maybe 1980 and from Pat Paulsen, was “The wind blew and the shit flew and you’re only here for a day or two.”
Funny guy, Pat. He owned a town near where I lived, once upon a time.
ETA: I think the old man in Christine used a variation of the phrase talking about his battle time at Belleau Wood.
Is that a metaphor of some sort?
No, he actually bought the Sonoma town of Asti, which IIRC was founded in the 1880s as a Chinese village, like the more famous Locke. It was about eight buildings when he bought it and proclaimed himself mayor. Only way he was ever going to win one of those elections…
The phrase is certainly from before 1963. I first heard it (in amusingly “censored” form) on one of my mom’s old folk records. It appeared on The Limeliters’ 1963 live album, “Our Men in San Francisco” during a spoken bit toward the end of the song “Max Goolis”:
“I’m certain that nobody expects us to include the very next verse [audience laughter]. Certainly not [unintelligible, perhaps a name] [laughter]. Suffice it to say that … the wind blew, [laughter; you can tell that the audience knows what’s coming] and … quite a few objects were airborne …”
I remember that I didn’t get what was so funny, so my dad grinned and said, “The wind blew, and the shit flew!”
ETA: I got to see The Limeliters in person when they reunited in the 1980s. I really didn’t know the songs, but it was a fun show 