The Verse by the Side of the Road: the Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles

by Frank Rowsome Jr., Carl Rose (Illustrator)

The story of the Burma-Shave signs and jingles. After decades of enlivening motor travel, the Burma-Shave highway signs and rhymes are one with Nineveh and Tyre. They have gone the way of the ice wagon, the steam locomotive whistle, and other vanished sights and sounds whose memory sets American heart strings vibrating with more than ordinary nostalgia. Beginning with a few sets of signs along Highway 65 in Minnesota, this fabulous and funny "commercial Mother Goose" grew into a national institution numbering over 7,000 sets in 43 states. Motorists could quote "Oh Louise" and "the ten-ounce jar" after a trip to almost anywhere. It was that miracle of advertising, a campaign, that made everybody happy. Not "hard sell" nor "soft sell," rather it was a "friendly sell" that kept the cash registers ringing with coin while the customers rang with laughter.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, History, Poetry, Business, Americana, Design

121 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[GoldGato]

In the 1920s, the United States of America began the big transition to an automobile-centric culture. The cars were cheap and people wanted to travel to places, which meant new industries grew up alongside the cars, such as roadside motels and diners. One company took advantage of this new way of life and began one of the most original forms of marketing in an effort to boost their brushless shaving cream, called Burma-Shave. Sticking red signs into the ground with catchy verses, they made road-trips fun for everyone, as children and adults alike tried to be the first to spy the signs along the increasingly well-maintained highway system. The Verse By The Side Of The Road had begun.

PITY ALL
THE MIGHTY CAESARS
THEY PULLED
EACH WHISKER OUT
WITH TWEEZERS

The family company began planting their signs in 1925 and never looked back, eventually expanding to 43 states and over 7,000 signs. That’s a lot of advertising. It was a cheap way of promoting a product without having to rely upon huge billboards or expensive neon signs. To get the use of the land for the sign placement, the Burma-Shave company would send a team of travelling salesmen who would negotiate terms with local farmers. As the people in the cars saw the signs, one-by-one, until the last sign showed the Burma-Shave name, they would then roll into towns and head to the pharmacy to ask about the product the signs were advertising. The company learned to adapt to horses who loved to scratch their backs against the posts and to hail and wind and rain that would damage the posts. Eventually, the company was sold and by the early 1960s, the signs were permanently removed forever.

DON’T PASS CARS
ON CURVE OR HILL
IF THE COPS
DON’T GET YOU
MORTICIANS WILL

Although Burma-Shave is now history, one can still see their influence when driving throughout rural routes. Local farmers will use the same system of signage to attract drivers to pull over to the upcoming fruit stand, with each sign focusing on a different product (avocadoes, jam, hot bread, tacos, apples, pecans, etc.). To understand where this form of advertising began was enlightening, as I had never heard of Burma-Shave. However, when I told an elderly neighbour about the book I was reading, she smiled and told me how her family used to enjoy finding the signs on their Sunday drives in Minnesota, back in the days of the Depression. It made her happy to know that a book had been written about something so identifiable with her youth.



I certainly enjoyed reading this book and learning about the nascent marketing to the occupants of cars. It is relatively brief but full of facts and history, with an appendix full of all the Burma-Shave signs installed through the decades. In this day and age of constant social media push marketing and data mining, the innocence of the Burma-Shave process recalls a world now long gone.

Book Season = Summer (peaches and cream)

[KennyO]

You younger people, i.e. too young to retire, will not "get" what this little book is about nor what a big deal it was to kids to be out for a family drive and see the Burma Shave signs appearing on the roadside ahead. From the twenties into the sixties on the well traveled two lane roads "out in the country" the Burma Shave Company posted these signs in lieu of billboards and through the years they evolved from straightforward advertising to clever verse. It's a small story of one company that had a great cultural effect due more to its advertising method than to its product. Rowsome tells it well.

[Mary]

Fun!

[Dave Greene]

These signs were still around when I was a kid, and we would eagerly anticipate them during our family travels. This short book gives the history of the Burma Shave company and its 600 or so different iconic signs along America’s highways from 1927 through 1963 and how it came to its demise, a great nostalgia trip. The last part of the book has the text of all the signs by year of implementation.

I had not realized how many challenges they faced putting up and maintaining their signs: from warding off animal damage, both wild and domestic, college students, both wild and domestic, sign ordinances, signage taxes, to prudish parish people objecting to such as “THE WHALE / PUT JONAH / DOWN THE HATCH / BUT COUGHED HIM UP / BECAUSE HE SCRATCHED / BURMA-SHAVE.”

Also interesting is how this marketing strategy was developed and why it was successful and how it sometimes backfired in humorous ways.

[Kirsti]

"Cheer Up, Face, the War Is Over"
--Slogan painted on the side of the Burma-Shave truck

Delightful (and thorough) history of a classic series of advertisements that had no connection to professional advertising execs. The makers of Burma-Shave sponsored jingle-writing contests, with the winning entries posted on roadsides, with each word or phrase about 50 feet from the last. To wit:

PITY ALL
THE MIGHTY CAESARS
THEY PULLED
EACH WHISKER OUT
WITH TWEEZERS
Burma-Shave


CARELESS DRIVING
SOON WE HOPE
WILL GO THE WAY
OF BRUSH AND SOAP
Burma-Shave


WITH GLAMOUR GIRLS
YOU'LL NEVER CLICK
BEWHISKERED
LIKE A
BOLSHEVIK
Burma-Shave


THE ANSWER TO
A MAIDEN'S PRAYER
IS NOT A CHIN
OF STUBBY HAIR
Burma-Shave


IF YOU DON'T KNOW
WHOSE SIGNS THESE ARE
YOU CAN'T HAVE DRIVEN
VERY FAR
Burma-Shave

[Paul]

In 1950 my family moved across the country from Los Angeles to New Jersey. In the back seat of the car as a 12-year-old before the advent of portable electronics, I overcame my boredom by reading and writing down the jingles I spotted on Burma-Shave signs. So, I was now fascinated to now read the history of Burma-Shave and their iconic advertising signs as well as the jingles as they were set out, listed by year.

[Daniel Quinn]

SHAVING BRUSHES
YOU’LL SOON SEE ‘EM
ON THE SHELF
IN SOME
MUSEUM
BURMA-SHAVE

The tale of effective roadside product advertising in the early days of the automobile in the united states. signs that brought humor, folk witticisms, and poetic jingles with the delivery of a carnival barker to the masses coast to coast.

[Mary Lamb]

Downsizing, taking books to Little Free Libraries, and came across this book. Great memories of reading Berma Shave signs as a child....using their verses for the "alphabet game" we frequently played while traveling in the car.....and an easy, fun, bringing back frun memories read.

[Summer Reading]

This was a fun, quick read. Although the signs were long gone by the time I arrived on the scene, they figured frequently in Dad's stories, and so there was a ring of nostalgia in this book, even for me.

[David Ward]

The Verse By the Side of the Road: The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles by Frank Rowsome Jr. (Stephen Greene Press 1965) (659.1) (3896).

Burma-Shave was a new men’s hygiene product in Minnesota in the 1920s from the Burma-Vita Company. The Burma-Vita company’s masterstroke was the creation of a brilliant advertising campaign for its shaving lotion. The company would pay a few bucks to a farmer to allow the company to place a series of four or five small signs in a set sequence on the farmer’s fence posts beside a highway. Each sign in a series contained a line of an often-humorous quatrain of rhyming verse about the benefits of Burma Shave.

Motorists were obviously either easily amused or were bored stiff in those days.

This book compiles every single Burma-Shave jingle from the 1920s through the early 1960s. Many of them are cute. Here are some representative examples:

Ruddy cheeks
And face of tan,
Neatly shaven
What a man!
Burma Shave

You’ll love your wife
You’ll love her Paw
You’ll even love
Your mother-in-law.
Burma Shave

Lawyers, doctors, sheiks and bakers,
Mountaineers and undertakers,
Make their bristly beards behave
By using brushless Burma Shave.

Bristly beard
Or silky fuzz
Just shave ‘em back
To where they was.
Burma Shave

No lady likes
To dance or dine
Accompanied by
A porcupine.
Burma Shave

Said Juliet
To Romeo
If you won’t shave
Go homeo.
Burma Shave

Riot at the drug store!
Calling all cars.
100 customers.
99 jars.
Burma Shave

You’ve laughed at our signs
For many a mile.
Be a sport
Give us a trial.
Burma Shaves

Hinky dinky
Parley voo
Cheer up face!
The war is through.
Burma Shave

The whale put Jonah
Down the hatch
But coughed him up
Because he scratched
Burma Shave

I’d heard it praised
By drug store clerks
I tried the stuff
Hot dog! It works!
Burma Shave

A beard that’s rough
And overgrown
Is better than
A chaperone
Burma Shave

The wolf is shaved
So neat and trim
Red Riding Hood
Is chasing him
Burma Shave

Dinah doesn’t
Treat him right
But if he’d shave
Dyna-Mite!
Burma Shave

Use our cream
And we betcha
Girls won’t wait
They’ll come and getcha
Burma Shave

If our road signs
Catch your eye
Smile
But don’t forget to buy
Burma Shave

My rating: 7/10, finished 12/12/23 (3896).

[Lucretia]

Less than half of this book was texts of the Burma Shave signs that dotted most of our country between 1927 and 1963. In the days before everyone owned a radio or TV, businesses had to get creative about how to advertise. Mail Pouch tobacco chose to paint barn sides with their signs which pleased many farmers who appreciated the additional help with upkeep. Burma Shave signs appeared first along the highways between Minneapolis and Red Wing, Minnesota. Not permitted on highway right-of-ways, land had to be rented from farmers and signs on post which were dug deep into the soil began to crop up. They were arranged in series with space appropriate for drivers to be able to read the text. Many messages were simple advertising, but some were tips on safe driving and good behavior. Example:
EVERY SHAVER
NOW CAN SNSORE
SIX MORE MINUTES
THAN BEFORE
BY USING
BURMA SHAVE
I enjoyed it because I remember them!

[Leslie]

Fun book with history of clever road side signs.

[Kaleb Horton]

Necessary American history book.

[Khris Sellin]

Fun nostalgic read about the Burma Shave jingles.

[Gregg Puluka]

Great read the truly explains the whole fascination with this ad campaign. As one who never saw it really paints a comprehensive picture

[Julie Beeman Cfmg]

Enjoyed the story, wished there was a little more information on the routes it took. No real map of placement.

[TrumanCoyote]

"CARELESS BRIDEGROOM/ DAINTY BRIDE/ SCRATCHY WHISKERS/ HOMICIDE"

[Linda]

A fun walk down memory lane! This is the story of the Burma Shave road signs. An added bonus is an appendix with all of the sayings that could be found.

[Caleb]

Delightful history and funny poetry

[Thejessicaness]

The sign lyrics are the majority of this short story that lasted 38 years.

[Wetdryvac Wetdryvac]

Solid writing, excellent history, and nifty signage.

[Sheryl]

From my dad’s bookshelf❤️ 1960s. Early advertising. History of road side jingles. Clever!

[Archie O'Connell]

just darling

[Kurt Fox]

I enjoyed the backstory and the verses, but I really didn't care for the "mood-setting" first 8 pages. I am glad the story changed after that first chapter to one about the company's history.

[Michael Walker]

Funny, nostalgic look back at the Burma Shave signs that dotted the old Route 66 roadside.....

[Michael Smith]

I know I enjoyed this book in part because Burma Shave jingles drench me in nostalgia. Driving in the 1950s (my parents were driving, my brother and I were riding) from Michigan to my mother's parents' home in Utah we sometimes went south around Chicago and sometimes we went north and took the ferry across the Straits of Mackinac and came down through the Dakotas. But it was two-lane most of the way either way. (They didn't even start building Interstate 80 until 1957,I think.) And you passed through every little town along the way and saw every mile of the route up close. I'm sure we got bored sometimes - I know we got hot and dusty, with no car air conditioning and the windows wide open most of the time. But nothing about driving the Interstate can hold a candle to the pleasure of watching a Burma Shave jingle unfold along the side of the road, line by line. Maybe you had to be there. I can't say, because I was there and can't shake it.

[Bill]

This is a great story about American pragmatism and entrepreneurial spirit. It is short, sweet, and well, down to earth. Not only do you get a high level overview of the Burma Vita company and the add campaign that should not have worked, but you also get all the Burma Shave sign texts, too. It is also interesting to note that the Burma Vita Company found it paid to mix in public service messages with their sales messages..
Some favorites are: MY JOB IS / KEEPING FACES CLEAN / AND NOBODY KNOWS / THE STUBLE / I’VE SEEN. And, WITHIN THIS VALE / OF TOIL / AND SIN / YOUR HEAD GROWS BALD / BUT NOT YOUR CHIN. And, THE OTHER WOMAN / IN HIS LIFE / SAID “GO BACK HOME / AND SCRATCH YOUR WIFE”.

[James Swenson]

PRICKLY PEARS

ARE PICKED

FOR PICKLES

NO PEACH PICKS

A FACE THAT PRICKLES

BURMA-SHAVE

It's ridiculous, but I have to say that the Burma-Shave poems always remind me of Don Quixote's love poetry. [He wrote these carefully-scanned paeans to Dulcinea, then undermined them by taking on "del Toboso", her surname, as a sort of coda to each stanza.]

DON'T LOSE

YOUR HEAD

TO GAIN A MINUTE

YOU NEED YOUR HEAD

YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT

BURMA-SHAVE

[Christopher Roth]

What more could you possibly want from a book about Burma-Shave? It even has ALL of the Burma-Shave jingles. ALL of them.

Actually, there is one more thing I could ask for. There is a reference here to the fact that, especially when a jingle contest was opened to the public, Burma-Shave received lots and lots of obscene jingles, which of course they could never use but which people sent in just for fun. Someone MUST have saved these. I think these need to be published as a public service, no matter how thick the book needs to be.

[Teresa]

I'm not exactly old, but because I love old time stuff, people might think so.

This book is fantastic. It is amazing how many people have absolutely no idea of the history of these road signs.

Out on I-55 (South), in Illinois, en route to Missouri, one can read road signs. Not as cute as the Burma Shave's but still. We need to bring back some of the old fashioned fun.