90 BRILLIANT BURMA SHAVE SIGNS

Poetry can be very moving. It can also be poetry in motion—literally. The best examples of that are the old Burma-Shave signs from the mid-20^th century. I’m too young to have seen any in person, but I would have loved them while cruising along a blue highway in a house on wheels—in part for the smile, but also for the writing skills.

Here’s a brief history: In the 1920s, a fellow named Alan Odell was selling Burma-Shave, a shaving cream produced by his father.  He came up with an idea: He posted a series of signs (usually four or five) set about 100 feet apart, that were welcome eye-openers for weary drivers. The first signs arose on rural highways in Minnesota, and those didn’t even rhyme. Eventually, there were some 7,000 sets of signs in 45 states, punny little verses that touted the shaving product, of course, but often also romance and safe driving. For example:

Given that I shave once a week, I may not agree with the premise. But I applaud the playful sense of humor. Burma-Shave never advertised on radio or TV. And eventually, the company’s famous signs fell victim to the emergence of the Interstate Highway System (sign placement was calibrated to achieve maximum effect at about 35 miles per hour). When Philip Morris purchased Burma-Shave in 1963, the new owners put an end to the sign campaign.

So a half-century later, and after a bit of research, we at the Why Not 100 would like to pay homage to the roadside laughs and the scribes who created them by offering our 90 favorite Burma-Shave sequences, beyond the first one above:

TREAT HIM RIGHT

BUT IF HE’D SHAVE

DINAH-MITE!

REMEMBER, SONNY

THAT RABBIT’S FOOT

DIDN’T SAVE THE BUNNY

THAT’S LIKE A CACTUS

TAKES MORE NERVE

THAN IT DOES PRACTICE

49. THE ANSWER TO

A MAIDEN PRAYER

IS NOT A CHIN

OF STUBBY HAIR