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Joy of Roadside Signs

Some folks save stamps, art glass or 1950stores.Father Odell was skeptical but finally
Chevys; but I cotton to roadside signs -consented. In 1926, he gave his son $200 for
particularly Mail Pouch barns and Burma Shavelumber with which to build a dozen sets of
ditties.My yard and bank account are much toosigns for two roads into Minneapolis.Allan
small for the real things. However, my memoryhurried to install them before winter froze
and computer files have ample capacity.Backthe ground. The first series-signs were
when two-lane highways and 50 MPH cars werestraightforward:Save Modern WayFine For The
the norm, motorists had time to enjoy theSkinDruggists Have ItBurma Shave
scenery.Welcome diversions were Mail PouchDruggists sent rush-orders for the cream. On
Barns to count, and Burma Shave signs tothis basis, Clinton Odell sold 49 percent of
read.Speed limits in the second quarter ofthe company's stock to raise money for a sign
the twentieth-century - my formative years --shop.Sites for series-signs along straight,
were leisurely. Free-standing "bill boards"country roads were rented from farmers. There
were not yet cost effective forhad to be enough space between signs to allow
advertisers.Bridging the advertising gap waseasy reading at 50 miles per hour - then
the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Co. of Wheeling,considered the top, safe speed.Burma Shave
W.Va.Aaron and Samuel Bloch were grocers whoexpanded, and expanded again, to meet
also made cigars. They retrieved tobaccodemand.No one remembers who conceived the
cuttings, flavored them with licorice andstyle of catchy witticisms. The earliest
introduced it in 1884 as chewing tobacco.Theyremembered was:With In This ValeOf Toil And
also had advertising instincts. They namedSinHead Grows BaldBut Not Your ChinBurma
and packaged their product in a softShave The resulting fervor over the
container styled after the familiar androadside verses is considered the most
respected U.S. mail pouch.As competitionsuccessful advertising campaign of all
increased, the Bloch brothers in 1910 begantime.It was the right technique for the roads
painting their brand name and slogan in largeof that day. They continued popular until
letters on rural barns along well-traveleddiscontinued in 1963. By then, increased
roads.Farmers were a segment of consumersdriving speeds and proliferation of out-door
partial to chewing tobacco inasmuch assignage by others made Burma Shave verses
fire-lit tobacco was a hazard aroundless effective.Prior to World War II, Burma
barns.Bloch "field agents" solicitedShave signs were cultural icons. People
advertising rights on strategic farm routes -collected the verses. On family trips, my
mostly in the Midwest.Farmers readily signedmother read them aloud to entertain father
up in return for a choice of about $5and we youngsters.When the company's
annually -- depending upon location andadvertising department ran out of ideas, it
bargaining skills -- free tobacco, magazineconducted a contest to obtain new verses.
subscriptions or a pocket watch.After companyMore than 50,000 entries were submitted.The
reps had lined up a dozen or so barns in anverses featured safe driving and romantic
area, two-man painting crews known as "walladvice as well as whisker wisdom.Odell was
dogs" moved in.If the barns were closecareful not to offend, but some of the
together, and in good repair, a crew couldromantic ones occasionally raised an eyebrow
paint two signs a day.The crew leader viewedor two.I still remember one that made Mother
the barn surface from the road to gauge thepause, Dad laugh, and we kids giggle:Dinah
size of letters needed. These he lined in byDoesn'tTreat Him RightIf He'd
eye and spotted with a dab of paint in theShaveDinah-might!Burma Shave The
color desired.His helper followed to latherhidden meaning probably would have been
on a thick mixture of white-lead pastemissed if the exclamation point hadn't made
thinned with linseed oil and gasoline andit explicit.One year the American countryside
colored with appropriate dyes.Painters earnedwas flooded for a year with this series:Free
from $50 to $125 a week. They furnished theirOfferRip A FenderOff Your CarMail It InWin A
own paint, brushes, ladders truck andJarBurma Shave. To the company's
lodging. They were assigned territories theysurprise, it was flooded with fenders
could maintain.At the peak of chewing tobaccoscavenged from junkyards and toys. However,
use in 1930, Mail Pouch had 20,000 barnsOdell was pleased to pay off.Odell took great
under contract and enjoyed 65 percent of thepride in the commendations he received from
product market.Under the impact of "eyehighway safety officials for Burma Shave
pollution," Congress in 1965 enacted thesafety tips like this:Past SchoolsTake It
Highway Beautification Act. This banned allSlowLet The LittleShavers GrowBurma Shave
commercial signs within 660 feet of aThe sale of shaving cream, of course was
federally funded highway.Barns with Mailthe primary objective. Whisker witticisms
Pouch signs were classified as commercialdominated the verses:Whale Put JonahDown The
advertisements. Many thousands wereHatchCoughed Him UpCause He ScratchedBurma
demolished. In their places are eyesoreShave No one knows how many
billboards readable from across a proscribeddifferent verses were put on sign sets - one
strip of featureless ground.It is estimatedcollector has catalogued 600.Certainly this
that there are only 2,000 original Mail Pouchis only a fraction of the 60-year history of
barns remaining - objects of pilgrimages bythe campaign. My own collection consists of
history buffs and photographers. Smileabout 150.At the peak, there were 35,000
While DrivingAnother roadside advertiser,Burma Shave signs throughout the United
pre-billboard days, was Burma Shave. This wasStates.After World War II, electric razors
a soothing, pleasant smelling whiskerbecame popular. Highway speeds increased to
lubricant that replaced shaving mugs, soapthe point that leased space for wider-spaced
and brushes.According to the Eisner Museum ofsigns was prohibitive and distracting.The
Advertising and Design, the product began insigns were taken down in 1963. Sales of Burma
1925 as Burma-Vitae liniment. This allegedlyShave plummeted and the product was
was concocted by the father of Clinton Odelldiscontinued.The company was sold to the
from a recipe sent by a sailor-friend in theAmerican Safety Razor Company in 1997. It
Orient.Clinton Odell was a lawyer atreintroduced the wonderful shaving cream for
Minneapolis, Min. The liniment did not sellold-timers who still like to shave with it
well so he asked a chemist friend, Carland recall favorite Burma Shave
Noren, to improve the patent medicine. Hissallies.Sorry, aficionados, I use
formula 143 turned the medicine into a slushyelectric.Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist
cream ideal for use with the new "safetywho can be contacted at:Website: with
razors."Odell's sons, Leonard and Allan, setseveral hundred of Lin's Editorial & At Large
about selling the new product re-named Burmaarticles written over 40 years.Also featured
Shave. However, it also did not sellin its entirety is Lin's groundbreaking book
well.Young Allan suggested they advertise"Boldly Onward," that critically analyzes and
with a series of small, related signs. He haddevelops theories about the original Spanish
seen them along a road while peddling theexplorers of America.
"brushless" shaving cream to drug



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