When I was a kid and my folks would take us on a trip, one thing my sisters and I would always look for along the highway was the Burma Shave signs!
You remember those? I know that some of the older folks know what I'm talking about! It was a great advertising ploy that got the message across without the use of those big, ugly bill boards!
These little slogans made the trip more interesting and earned a permanent place in the folk lore of the 50's. Much like so many other things from that era, they are now gone for ever! I thought you might like to know a little Burma Shave history, just in case you don't already know it!
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 accommodate 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.
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 soon see 'em
On a shelf
In some museum
Burma-Shave
One more grand old thing from the past that amused and entertained us. I spent many a long trip looking for those red and white signs with the cute little jingle! Like finding treasure, it made me and my sisters very happy...and I can still remember many of those jingles to this day!
Now, my friends, let's get some fresh coffee and sit in the kitchen for a bit! We can swap some Burma Shave jingles!
