Light Relief
Burma-Shave roadside signs:
Capture American drivers' imagination

In 1925 Allan Odell suggested to his father that they use small roadside signs to promote their Burma-Shave product, one of the first-ever 'brushless shaving creams' in the US. Allan bought second-hand boards, painted them red and placed four consecutive boards down the highway, each with a line of verse, always ending with a final Burma-Shave sign.

For example:

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

Between 1925 and 1963 there were as many as 7,000 of these Burma-Shave signs around America. They were tremendously popular with drivers and passengers alike, and helped make Burma-Shave America's leading shaving brand.

A quick search on Google will reveal just how popular this old campaign still is, with dozens of sites dedicated to the memory of Burma-Shave, and its simple roadside signs.

Here are a few more favorites:

Riot in a drug store Calling all cars 100 customers 99 jars Burma-Shave School ahead Take it slow Let the little Shavers grow Burma-Shave Don't stick Your elbow Out too far It might go home In another car Burma-Shave A peach looks good With lots of fuzz But man's no peach And never was Burma-Shave If U don't know Whose signs these are U can't have Driven very far Burma-Shave

It still stands up as an innovative, quirky, and effective campaign.

If you'd like to see a whole lot more,
visit http://seniors-site.com/funstuff/burma.htm