Once, long ago, cars went slow and “super” highways were two lanes. One of the joys of driving back in those good ol’ days was reading the Burma-Shave signs by the side of the road. One after another, they told a little upbeat story, all with the punch line “Burma-Shave.” For those too young to remember Burma-Shave, it was a brushless shaving cream. Today, anyone older than 55 fondly remembers the red and white signs that advertised the product along America’s rural highways and byways. On a nondescript stretch of road, where the best scenery might be a pasture with cows, the sight of Burma-Shave signs ahead was reason for celebration – the monotony broken. Special Seats Reserved in Hades For Whiskered Guys Who Scratch Their Ladies Burma-Shave The first Burma-Shave signs debuted along the American roadside in 1926 in Minnesota, home of the Burma-Vita factory. They were hardly impressive. “We lettered them rather crudely, and tested them on two highways,” said Leonard Odell, the younger brother of Allan Odell, who conceived the signs as a way to advertise the then-little-known shaving cream. “The first batch didn’t even rhyme.” Shave The Modern Way Fine For The Skin Druggists Have It Burma-Shave These first signs were simply wood planks. Allan Odell had talked his father and company founder Clinton Odell into investing $200 into building them. “But, by golly, it wasn’t long until we were getting orders from those signs, so we concluded that their placement had value,” Allan Odell recalled years later. “In a few months, we switched to folk humor and verse.” And so began one of the most successful “guerrilla” advertising campaigns in history. In 1926, Allan and Leonard set up their first sign shop, painting each sign with a slogan they had composed with their father. Alan hit the road to find locations for the signs, paying farmers $5 to $25 a year to place and maintain them in their fields. Later, the company held contests, offering cash prizes for winning jingles. Entries poured in from across the nation. Your Shaving Brush Has Had its Day So Why Not Shave the Modern Way With Burma-Shave At first, the signs were purely a sales pitch. But soon they found their sense of humor, sometimes including a safety message. Signs were most often clustered in a set of six, placed 100 feet apart, each offering a single line of a jingle. At 35 miles per hour, it would take a motorist about 18 seconds to read a message from start to finish. At the height of the signs’ popularity, about 7,000 stretched across 45 U.S. states. Families who drove past would often read them aloud, soon developing favorites. The signs’ upbeat messages cheered travelers during the otherwise bleak Depression years and then again later during World War II. From New York Town To Pumpkin Holler It’s Half a Pound For Half a Dollar Burma-Shave The signs catapulted the tiny Burma-Vita Corporation into a household word. Little known even today is that the company never had more than 35 employees, yet it was perceived as a corporate giant. Employees either worked in production at the Minneapolis factory or in the field erecting signs. Yet even the road crews, thought to be numerous, never exceeded more than eight vehicles. Crew members were called PhDs, short for “post hole diggers.” If Your Hubby Trumps Your Ace Here’s Something That Will Save His Face Burma-Shave But as cars got faster and roads evolved into wide superhighways, Burma-Shave signs lost their effectiveness and ultimately their popularity. In 1963, the Phillip Morris Company bought Burma-Vita. The last sign was pulled from its stakes three years later. And, as you might expect, as the signs went down so did sales of Burma-Shave. And like the signs, they never went back up. (C) Copyright 2004 by Chuck Woodbury, Editor of RVtravel.com. Reprinted with permission. Don’t Stick Your Elbow Out So Far, It Might Go Home In Another Car Burma-Shave The popular Burma-Shave signs will be the feature of our next meeting’s program. Bill Vossler has published 2,500 articles in 175 magazines, authored 10 books, taught more than 100 writing workshops, and will present his informative and entertaining look at these enduring symbols of pop culture. You’re invited to join us at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at Kimball’s historic City Hall. Always-enjoyable fellowship and refreshments will follow. You do not need to be a historical society member to attend. For more information, membership or comments, contact the Kimball Area Historical Society, P.O. Box 100, Kimball MN 55353, tel. (320) 398-5250 or 398-5743, or (800) 252-2521 from out of the Kimball area.
