Burma Shave Signs

[maxschnell]

Remember these? For those who never saw any of the
Burma Shave signs, here is a quick lesson in our history
of the 1930's and '40's. Before there were interstates,
when everyone drove the old 2 lane roads, Burma Shave
signs would be posted all over the countryside in farmers'
fields. They were small red signs with white letters. Five
signs, about 100 feet apart, each containing 1 line of a
4 line couplet......and the obligatory 5th sign advertising
Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream.

TRAINS DON'T WANDER
ALL OVER THE MAP
'CAUSE NOBODY SITS
IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP
Burma Shave

SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH
BY MISTAKE
SHE THOUGHT IT WAS
HER HUSBAND JAKE
Burma Shave

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
Burma Shave

DROVE TOO LONG
DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED
NEXT IS NOT AMUSING
Burma Shave

BROTHER SPEEDER
LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING, NURSE
Burma Shave

CAUTIOUS RIDER
TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND MORE STEER
Burma Shave

SPEED WAS HIGH
WEATHER WAS NOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT
Burma Shave

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A WARMER
HEMISPHERE
Burma Shave

AROUND THE CURVE
LICKETY-SPLIT
BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?
Burma Shave

NO MATTER THE PRICE
NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOU
Burma Shave

A GUY WHO DRIVES
A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPIN'
Burma Shave

AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY
Burma Shave

BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL
DRIVER'S CODE
Burma Shave

THE ONE WHO DRIVES
WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING
Burma Shave

CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
Burma Shave

And my all time favorite:
PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW
Burma Shave

 

[Rick Snyder]

Thank you so very much for that as it brought back so many wonderful happy memories.

Rick

 

[paddy]

on my way to new orleans in 1959...good memory. they say that they still have these signs up in parts of the usa...??

 

[Rick Snyder]

Those long trips from DC to upper state NY each summer to visit relatives as a young boy in the early 50's. The memories of reading those signs and anxiously awaiting the next one. Yes, those were the days. An educational and humoristic era that died out due to the super highway. Makes me wonder if those old lonely now hardly used roads might still have those signs.

 

[Hillbilly]

We used to drive from West Virginia to Florida, and then to up-state NY (Norwich area), then from New York.New Jersey to Florida.
Those signs along the road were part of the deal to keep children alert.
I do hope there are more of these saved somewhere.

"Thanks for the memories!!"

HB, wistfully

 

[Hillbilly]

You'll love this. Reminded me of just how great the information age really is;

Way back in 1925 young Allan Odell pitched this great sales idea to his father, Clinton. Use small, wooden roadside signs to pitch their product, Burma-Shave, a brushless shaving cream. Dad wasn't wild about the idea but eventually gave Allan $200 to give it a try.

Didn't take long for sales to soar. Soon Allan and his brother Leonard were putting up signs all over the dang place. At first the signs were pure sales pitch but as the years passed they found their sense of humor extending to safety tips and pure fun. And some good old-fashioned down home wisdom.

At their height of popularity there were 7,000 Burma-Shave signs stretching across America. The familiar white on red signs, grouped by four, fives and sixes, were as much a part of a family trip as irritating your kid brother in the back seat of the car. You'd read first one, then another, anticpating the punch line on number five and the familiar Burma-Shave on the sixth.

The signs cheered us during the Depression and the dark days of World War II. But things began to change in the late Fifties. Cars got faster and superhighways got built to accomodate them. The fun little signs were being replaced by huge, unsightly billboards.

1963 was the last year for new Burma Shave signs. No more red and white nuggets of roadside wisdom to ease the journey.

A visitor to The Fifties Web contributed this story of a set of signs found in the Oregon wine country as late as 1986. She wrote me that "...two of the five signs were lying on the ground, and one was face down. I hoped the bull guarding them would be friendly as I reached through the fence to turn it over. (He was.)" The signs said, "Farewell O verse, Along the road. How sad to see, You're out of mode."

As befits such an important part of American culture, one set is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution. It reads:

Shaving brushes
You'll soon see 'em
On a shelf
In some museum
Burma-Shave

You'll find more at www.fiftiesage.com/burma.htm

HB