The company was sold to philip morris in 1963, and all the signs were removed soon thereafter. In texas, however, burmashave signs could be found along all the main preinterstate highways, as common as bluebonnets in early spring. Brother speeders, lets rehearse, all together, good morning, nurse. Some of burmashaves primary brushless shaving cream competitors were barbasol and noxema. Burmashave is an overly sentimental look at the history of burmashave. Of course, a good brand name does not afford immunity from the law. Theyre handmade ron stencils the letter outlines and then fills them in with paint and a brush. The year 1963 brought the end to new burma shave signs. Article after article mourned the passing of the burmashave signs. The complete list of the 600 or so known sets of signs is listed in sunday drives and in the last part of the verse by the side of the road. Burmashave sign series appeared from 1925 to 1963 in most of the contiguous united states. Examples of vintage burmashave road signs, including a blue.
Jan 15, 2012 explore jipsys board burma shave signs, followed by 1597. These signs used to appear alonside the highway, each sign containing one sentence of a longer slogan. Burma shave did these roadside signs all around the country. Burma shave sales rose to about 6 million by 1947, at which time sales stagnated for the next seven years, and then gradually began to fall. Burma shave was an american brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small sequential highway roadside signs. Let me walk is a hyperbolic song on a top 40 playlist, and the bed a fast car im driving down a highway where television commercials are burma shave road signs. The burmashave signs were retired under the pressure of large billboards, radio, and tv. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. The period of time im talking about here is the period between about 1945 and 1956, when i was age 7 to 18. Burma shave s sales had plummeted to the point that in 1966 the line was discontinued altogether. Jun 17, 20 dont dam the skykomish river burma shave style signs made for ferc site visit. Love book this book roadside signs side road print. I saw two books on amazon, the verse by the side of the road and sunday drives, nostalgic reminiscing with the best of burma shave. Ive got a set of the burma shave signs in my garage that i bought a few years ago.
Burmashave was an american brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising. Burma shave a collection of signs, videos, and jingles. This is a good, and concise listing along with lots of photos that you cannot find on the internet. Burmashave sign series appeared from 1925 to 1963 in all of the lower 48 states except for new mexico, arizona, massachusetts, and nevada.
As a kid, i remember the burma shave signs along the roadside. Three decades laterin 1997the burma shave product line was reintroduced through a division of the american safety razor company. Jan 21, 2002 the burma shave sign they turned the heads of american drivers for nearly four decades. And if you read to the end of this blog post, youll understand the createyourownburmashavesign contest. Way back in 1925 young allan odell pitched this great sales idea to his father, clinton. A company representative once had his own kind of close shave when he found himself facing two texas rangers with guns drawn. Two lane roads quarterly magazine visits offbeat tourist attractions, and other roadside delights, on americas backroads, recalling simpler days, when burma shave signs and steel diners lined our highways. The companys original product was a liniment made of ingredients described as coming from the malay peninsula and burma. Remember those old burma shave signs along the highways we traveled as children, typically with our parents on a summer vacation. Four or five consecutive billboards would line highways, so they could be read sequentially by motorists driving by. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. The story of the burma shave signs and jingles by g. So you would drive by and the kids would all read aloud each of the signs.
May 15, 2012 some of burma shave s primary brushless shaving cream competitors were barbasol and noxema. Burma shave is a child of the parent company burma vita from minnesota launched in 1925. The shaving company was created due to their original liniment product not having enough sales. This use of the billboards was a highly successful advertising gimmick, drawing attention.
Create your own burmashave sign support4change blog. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. The shaving company was created due to their original liniment product not having enough sa. The new owners of the brand apparently did not have much of a sense of humor and the burma shave sign campaign ended. Article after article mourned the passing of the burma shave signs. Road story burma shave signs by bookandpapershop love book, this book, roadside. His cheek twinkle, twinkle on curves ahead when his brush is gone the place to pass a whiskery kiss burmashave these signs if your peach a guy to kiss the whale violets are blue candidate says my job is doesnt no use he tried her chariot she will use burmashave it. The exceptions were new mexico, arizona, and nevada deemed to have insufficient road traffic, and massachusetts eliminated due to that states high land rentals and roadside foliage. Pamphlet, burmashave jingle book, 1936 the henry ford. They were all over the rural roads of the midwest when i was growing up. His cheek twinkle, twinkle on curves ahead when his brush is gone the place to pass a whiskery kiss burma shave these signs if your peach a guy to kiss the whale violets are blue candidate says my job is doesnt no use he tried her chariot she will use burma shave it has a tingle bracing as for early the ladies his face. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of trips i would take with my parents and brothers and sister, in our old family car. Traditionally there were six signs in a sequence, but ron often uses more, especially if he wrote the saying.
Burma shave signs by bookandpapershop love book, this book, roadside. Jun 01, 1997 burmashave is an overly sentimental look at the history of burmashave. Burma shave signs a collection of signs, videos, and jingles. Burmashave was introduced in 1925 by the burma vita company in minneapolis.
The book organizes by topicsubject, and the internet by year, so this is a little more convenient. In the days before the interstate highway system, you were likely to encounter a series of signs like this, somewhere in the backwoods between the large and small towns connected by the u. In 1963, the burma vita company was sold to philip morris, inc. Burmashave was an american brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small sequential highway roadside signs. From the mid1920s to the mid1960s, drivers and passengers would keep a lookout for the sequential road signs with burmashave ads.
The burmashave sign they turned the heads of american drivers for nearly four decades. Typically, burma shave signs were posted on rural highways and higher speed limits caused the signs to be ignored. Dont dam the skykomish river burma shave style signs made for ferc site visit. Philip morris did not send teams across the nation to pull down every old burma shave sign. Free illustrated jingle book in every package burmashave. May 21, 2006 ive got a set of the burma shave signs in my garage that i bought a few years ago. By 1966, virtually all 7,000 sets of signs had disappeared from our blue highways. Various reasons caused sales to fall, the primary one being urban growth. Burmashave was a brand of brushless shaving cream with lackluster sales in 1925 when the son of the companys owner suggested a campaign of highway signs. Mar 27, 20 what shaving cream can teach you about text fonts. That would have been 19361938, but im sure they were in existence several years before that.
Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Burma shave signs his cheek was rough his chick vamoosed and now she wont come home to roost burma shave the place to pass on curves you know is only at a beauty show burma shave on curves ahead remember, sonny that rabbits foot didnt save the bunny burma shave twinkle, twinkle oneeyed car we all wonder where you are. The book contains a lot of fascinating information about americana history, especially that pertaining to the rise of the automobile and successful business marketing through the depression. Burma shave was introduced in 1925 by the burma vita company in minneapolis. Burma shave signs page 1 these colorful signs dotted the roadways, with a funny sayings spread out over 4, 5 or 6 signs. What shaving cream can teach you about text fonts webinar. The story of the burmashave signs and jingles rowsome jr. Burmashave sales rose to about 6 million by 1947, at which time sales stagnated for the next seven years, and then gradually began to fall. The story of the burma shave signs and jingles rowsome jr.
Burmashave article about burmashave by the free dictionary. I make and display signs along the side of my farm. Unlike the crisp factorymade markers used by corporate giants like burma shave, mom and pop signs were painted in garages, basements and barns. Let me walk is a hyperbolic song on a top 40 playlist, and the bed a fast car im driving down a highway where television commercials are burmashave road signs. These signs once appeared alongside the highway, each sign containing one sentence of a longer slogan. Editor loren eyrich enjoys the rv lifestyle in a recreation vehicle, avoiding turnpikes and. Apr 06, 2002 for that is where, today, you have your best chance of seeing an old set of burma shave signs. This page was last edited on 11 february 2019, at 02.
In 1963 the last signs were taken down, ending the most. From 1927 to 1963, american travelers were captivated by burmashave signs, which featured humorous jingles spread out over five roadside signs. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. For that is where, today, you have your best chance of seeing an old set of burmashave signs. Burma shave signs american roadway history news bubblews bubblews is new they say arvins vision is the way he wants to lead all social sites i think hell do it by all rights bubblews signs of a bygone era burma shave we have all waxed nostalgic for burma shave signs. I have never seen any, but i think its because i grew up in maine and the signs were more popular out in the midwest.
I believe the collection on the internet is larger than in this book. Signs are digitally printed onto durable coroplast with colors and copy of your. Burma shave roadside signs signs appeared in but sadly began. But the feet make it not quite right for billboards and slides. Custom burma shave signs slogan and logo marketline. Typically, burmashave signs were posted on rural highways and higher speed limits caused the signs to be ignored. The burma shave signs on the roads, in arizona i remember in the early still exist in seligman,az i know the burma shave signs were big in the but my stepfather told us kids about them and i always kept an eye out for them. At their height of popularity there were 7,000 burmashave signs stretching across america.
Buy a cheap copy of the verse by the side of the road. Let your clients know what amenities your development has to offer before they even reach your sales center with these custom burma shave signs. Use small, wooden roadside signs to pitch their product, burma shave, a brushless shaving cream. If youve never seen a burma shave sign, heres a quick lesson in u. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. In the latest segment of present at the creation, npr explores the. Burmashave is a child of the parent company burmavita from minnesota launched in 1925. Three decades laterin 1997the burmashave product line was reintroduced through a division of the american safety razor company. Americas back roads were once forested with colorful homemade signs hawking everything from farm produce to lodgings, local sights to cheap cafes and gasoline. 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.
Remember how we wanted to be the first one in the car to see what the punch line would be. In the latest segment of present at the creation, npr explores the roots of the onceubiquitous roadside. Burmashaves sales had plummeted to the point that in 1966 the line was discontinued altogether. At one time there were over 7,000 signs across the u. Here you will find the complete text of the original burmashave jingles, as archived in frank rowsome jr. Burma shave signs his cheek was rough his chick vamoosed and now she wont come home to roost burmashave the place to pass on curves you know is only at a beauty show burmashave on curves ahead remember, sonny that rabbits foot didnt save the bunny burmashave twinkle, twinkle oneeyed car we all wonder where you are. In 1963, the burmavita company was sold to philip morris, inc.
Sep 19, 2017 burma shave signs a collection of signs, videos, and jingles. If you recall such signs that you dont see below, send them in and well post them for all to recall with joy. I saw two books on amazon, the verse by the side of the road and sunday drives, nostalgic reminiscing with the best of burmashave. Youd read first one, then another, anticpating the punch line on number five and the. I first became acquainted with burma shave signs when i was about 10 or 12. Its well known advertising signs were removed at that time.
Burma shave sign series appeared from 1925 to 1963 in most of the contiguous united states. See more ideas about shaving, signs and roadside signs. Burmashave was introduced in 1925 by the burmavita company, owned by clinton odell. By the early 1960s, the rising costs of road sign maintenance as well as new and more effective ways of advertising sounded the death knell for the burma shave signs. The story of the burmashave signs and jingles, by frank rowsom and carl rose. Spring is here the grass has riz where last years careless driver is burma shave jim winter the hot rod grille garage. Besides, television ads could reach a lot more people than road signs. The fonts in this series are based on the typefaces used on u. The burma shave signs were retired under the pressure of large billboards, radio, and tv.
665 635 867 662 444 1096 1590 1259 628 109 1102 862 510 205 241 1255 882 966 740 774 1301 594 580 800 703 1248 1018 1376 807 636 1413 1490 1166 233 211 1442 61 773 61 987