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  Burma-Shave was an American brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small, sequential highway billboard signs.
[edit] HistoryBurma-Shave was introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita company, owned by Clinton Odell. The company's original product was a liniment made of ingredients described as coming "from the Malay Peninsula and Burma."[1] Demand was sparse, and the company sought to expand sales by introducing a product with wider appeal. The result was the famous Burma-Shave advertising sign program, and sales took off. At its peak, Burma-Shave was the second-highest selling brushless shaving cream in the United States. Sales declined in the 1950s, and in 1963 the company was sold to Phillip Morris. The signs were removed at that time. The brand decreased in visibility and eventually became the property of the American Safety Razor Company. In 1997, the American Safety Razor Company reintroduced the Burma-Shave brand, including a nostalgic shaving soap and brush kit. In fact, the original Burma-Shave was a brushless shaving cream, and Burma-Shave's own roadside signs frequently ridiculed "Grandpa's old-fashioned shaving brush." [edit] Roadside billboards Burma-Shave sign series appeared from 1925 to 1963 in most of the contiguous United States. The exceptions were New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada (deemed to have insufficient road traffic), and Massachusetts (eliminated due to that state's high land rentals and roadside foliage). Typically, six consecutive small signs would be posted along the edge of highways, spaced for sequential reading by passing motorists. The last sign was almost always the name of the product. The signs were originally produced in two color combinations: red-and-white and orange-and-black, though the latter was eliminated after a few years. A special white-on-blue set of signs was developed for South Dakota, which restricted the color red on roadside signs to official warning notices. This use of the billboard was a successful advertising gimmick during the early years of the automobile, drawing attention and passers-by who were curious to discover the punchline. As the Interstate system expanded in the late 1950s and vehicle speeds increased, it became more difficult to attract motorists' attention with small signs. When the company was acquired by Phillip Morris, the signs were discontinued on advice of counsel.[2] Some of the signs, instead of directly advertising the shaving cream, featured public safety messages (usually about speeding). Examples of Burma-Shave advertisements are at The House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Re-creations of Burma-Shave sign sets also appear on Arizona Highway 66, part of the original U.S. Route 66, between Seligman and Kingman, Arizona (though they weren't installed there by Burma-Shave during its original campaigns) and on Old U.S. Highway 30 near Ogden, Iowa. [edit] Examples
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.[3] The content of the earliest signs is lost, but it is believed that the first recorded signs, for 1927 and soon after, are close to the originals. The first ones were prosaic advertisements. Generally the signs were printed with all capital letters. The style shown below is for readability:
As early as 1928, the writers were displaying a puckish sense of humor:
In 1929, the prosaic ads began to be replaced by actual verses on four signs, with the fifth sign merely a filler for the sixth:
Previously there were only two to four sets of signs per year. 1930 saw major growth in the company, and 19 sets of signs were produced. The writers recycled a previous joke. They continued to ridicule the "old" style of shaving. And they began to appeal to the wives as well:
In 1931, the writers began to reveal a "cringe factor" side to their creativity, which would increase over time:
In 1932, the company recognized the popularity of the signs with a self-referencing gimmick:
Along with the usual jokes, a regional contest spawned several signs in 1933, held during football season:
In 1935, the first known appearance of a road safety message appeared, combined with a punning sales pitch:
A punning reference to another well-known drug store product 1936:
Self-referencing signs continued in 1937, along with puns:
Another safety message from 1938:
Safety messages began to increase in 1939, as these examples show. (The first of the three is a parody of Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.)
1939 also saw more puns for the product:
In 1939 and subsequent years, demise of the signs was foreshadowed, as busy roadways approaching larger cities featured shortened versions of the slogans on one, two, or three signs — the exact count is not recorded. The puns include a play on the Maxwell House Coffee slogan, standard puns, and yet another reference to the "H" joke:
1940 saw an early reference to the idea of a designated driver:
More safety slogans in 1941, along with ads:
Possibly the ultimate in self-referencing signs, leaving out the product name. This one also adorns the cover of the book:
The war years found the company recycling a lot of their old signs, with new ones mostly focusing on World War II "propaganda":
1947:
1950:
1951:
1952:
1953:
1955
1959's ads included perhaps the worst of the "cringe-worthy" safety slogans:
1960 saw the last group of original signs until 1963:
1963 was the last year for the signs, most of which were repeats, including the final slogan, which had first appeared in 1953:
One sign considered, but never used:[4]
[edit] Special promotional messages
[edit] Political Burma-ShavingIn Nova Scotia, Canada, Progressive Conservative premier John Buchanan would stand at the end of a long line of party signs and wave to morning traffic. This took on the name "Burma-Shaving" and continues to this day by candidates of all parties and political causes.[6][7] [edit] Popular cultureMovies and television shows set in the 1950s (either "period pieces" or time-travel plots) have used the Burma-Shave roadside billboards to help set the scene. Examples are Bonnie and Clyde, The World's Fastest Indian, Stand By Me, and the pilot episode ("Genesis") of Quantum Leap. The long-running series Hee Haw borrowed the style for program bumpers, transitioning from one show segment to the next or to commercials. Tom Waits' song "Burma-Shave" (from his 1977 Foreign Affairs album) uses the signs as an allegory for an unknown destination:
Ironically (given the propensity of Burma Shave signs to dispense road-safety messages) both of the song's protagonists die in a car crash. Chuck Suchy's song "Burma Shave Boogie" (from his 2008 Unraveling Heart album) incorporates several of the Burma Shave rhymes into its lyrics. The 1952 animated cartoon Rabbit Seasoning begins with Daffy Duck posting signs luring hunter Elmer Fudd to Bugs Bunny's hole in the ground. A series of signs is written in Burma-Shave style verse:
The billboard rhymes were an occasional talk topic among the characters of M*A*S*H, particularly Hawkeye Pierce and B. J. Hunnicutt. In "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" (the show's final episode) there is a scene where Hawkeye returns to the camp, greeted by a series of road signs:
Saga of the Swamp Thing #26 ends with a drunk man crashing his car into a tree near a Burma Shave billboard.
The pedestrian passageway between the Times Square and Port Authority Bus Terminalstations in the New York City subway system contains a piece of public art inspired by the Burma-Shave ads; Norman B. Colp's The Commuter's Lament, or A Close Shave consists of a series of signs attached to the roof of the passageway, displaying the following text:[8]
In 1994 and 1995, nostalgia magazine Reminisce used Burma-Shave style advertising signs on two-lane, non-interstate highways to promote their magazine. Two of the jingles read:
The 1997 computer game Exile III: Ruined World contains two references to the Burma-Shave signs. By pressing a combination of keys one can obtain the message "If Valorim… / You want to save… / Back up your save files… / Burma Shave." There are also four road signs to be found, which read "Before they send us / To a grave / Alien Beasts use / Burma Shave." Some highways in the state of Florida use a similar technique for public service announcements and to advertise SunPass. [11] [edit] BooksThe Verse by the Side of the Road: The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles by Frank Rowsome Jr. gives a full history of the Burma-Shave sign campaign, and its impact on popular culture. The book also lists all 600 of the campaign's signs. In the book, the author laments the passing of the Burma-Shave signs using a self-referential jingle from 1940:
The book's illustrator, Carl Rose, has his own lament:
In Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse, Hell advertises using Burma Shave-style ads, such as a picture of a seductively dressed woman with the text:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman contains a scene where the main character "Shadow" visits the famous House on the Rock roadside attraction in Wisconsin; inside the warehouses Shadow notices and remarks on the Burma-Shave signs on display.
as well as
In The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003) the protagonist, Clare (age 17), is doing a crossword puzzle with her grandmother and gives the clue: "Don't stick your elbow out so far." to which her grandmother replies "Burma Shave. Before your time." Page 797 in the first-edition paperback of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest contains the sentence "Even Hal's late father was too young really to remember Burma-Shave signs." Though James Incandeza, the character in question, would certainly have been alive during the heyday of the Burma-Shave roadside campaigns. [edit] References
[edit] External links
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