Saturday, February 13, 2010

Burma Shave


I really need to laugh today.  Maybe you could use a smile.  Here are some memories that take me back to a simpler time.  
 
For some of us, this brings back great memories.  For you younger ones, you don't know what you missed!

For those who never saw any of the Burma Shave signs, here is a quick lesson in our history of the 1930's and '40's. Before there were interstates, when everyone drove the old 2 lane roads, Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the countryside in farmers' fields. 
They were small red signs with white letters. Five signs,  about 100 feet apart, each containing 1 line of a 4 line couplet......and the obligatory 5th sign advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream.
 
Here are more of the actual signs:

DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW
OUT SO FAR
IT MAY GO HOME
IN ANOTHER CAR.
BURMA SHAVE

 

TRAINS DON'T WANDER
ALL OVER THE MAP
'CAUSE NOBODY SITS
IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP
Burma Shave

SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH
BY MISTAKE
SHE THOUGHT IT WAS
HER HUSBAND JAKE
Burma Shave


 
DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
Burma Shave

DROVE TOO LONG
DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
IS NOT AMUSING

Burma Shave


BROTHER SPEEDER
LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING, NURSE

Burma Shave
CAUTIOUS RIDER
TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND A LITTLE MORE STEER
Burma Shave
SPEED WAS HIGH
WEATHER WAS NOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT

Burma Shave
THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A WARMER
HEMISPHERE
Burma Shave
AROUND THE CURVE
LICKETY-SPLIT
BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?
Burma Shave
NO MATTER THE PRICE
NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOU

Burma Shave
A GUY WHO DRIVES
A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPIN'
Burma Shave
AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY

Burma
Shave
BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL
DRIVER'S CODE
Burma Shave
THE ONE WHO DRIVES
WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING
Burma Shave
CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
Burma Shave


PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW

Burma Shave

Do these bring back any old memories?
If not, you're merely a child.
If they do - then you're old as dirt...
LIKE ME!

11 comments:

Baino said...

Never heard of them but I think it might be a good idea to revive them .. better than the horror commercials that we have here that just don't seem to work. Then wouldn't a funnysign be a little 'distracting'? Sorry for being such an infrequent visitor Darlene. Hope you recovered from your surgery and are feeling well.

Betty said...

I'll admit I remember these signs. I used to watch for them on long road trips with my parents.

Darlene said...

*Baino - Don't apologize for not visiting oftener. You are a bisy working lady and I appreciate it any time you have a few minutes to stop by. I still have the remnants of the shiner, but am okay otherwise. The signs were very far apart and the message so short on each one that it didn't distract the driver. Se the picture at the head.

*Betty - I looked forward to them when we drove to Washington state. It was the highlight of the trip for me.

Looking to the Stars said...

I never got to see these signs but I sure got a hoot out of them now. Thanks for sharing :)

They were very creative, too bad we don't see more of that around now. Commercials suck now.

kenju said...

They bring back lots of memories. Every time my parents and I would set out on a trip, I looked for Burma Shave signs all the way.

Leslie Parsley said...

Your images didn't load!

Of course I remember Burma Shave signs. If it hadn't been for them I would have gone nuts on those long car trips.

Darlene said...

*Looking to the Stars - Your such a kid. ;-)

*Kenju - They really broke up a boring ride, didn't they?

*tnlib - I apologize for the missing images. This is a problem that I have been trying to solve since I started blogging. I discovered that I had to transfer them to my hard drive and I didn't do that with these.

Xtreme English said...

loved these! thanks, darlene. they brought back happy memories of our trips to the lake along highway 10 in minnesota.

Darlene said...

*Xtreme English - I'm happy I wass able to oblige.

Anonymous said...

Never heard of these before - the Burma Shave - but I like them. They remind me of a friend - now an old friend - who I met thanks to the witticisms he would write on a placard - something different and often topical each day. He was living on the streets of London back then, and his observations were what first prompted me to stop and chat to him.

Darlene said...

*blackwatertown - Thank you for your visit. Your friend must be a fun person to be able to start the day with a laugh for all.

I do hope you will return.