Most people of today's generation have never heard of Burma shave, but ask anyone who lived in America from the 1920s into the early sixties, and you will bring up an extraordinary fixture of their past.

Burma Shave was one of the world's first brushless shaving cream manufacturers and spawned heavy competition for their product, but this certain company had an upper hand in winning over customers. Burma Shave signs were the precursor to modern billboard signs on America's earliest roads. They were an interesting diversion from long drives and began to spring up all over the country throughout the mid-twentieth century. The signs were often humorous jingles that were placed at intervals along the road, each sign showing one line of the four-part rhyme until the last sign which concluded the clever advertising scheme with "Burma-Shave".

Some examples of Burma Shave rhymes:

OUR FORTUNE IS YOUR SHAVEN FACE IT'S OUR BEST ADVERTISING SPACE BURMA-SHAVE	BEN MET ANNA MADE A HIT NEGLECTED BEARD BEN-ANNA SPLIT BURMA-SHAVE	THIS CREAM MAKES THE GARDENER'S DAUGHTER PLANT HER TU-LIPS WHERE SHE OUGHTER BURMA-SHAVE
IF YOUR PEACH KEEPS OUT OF REACH BETTER PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH BURMA-SHAVE	THE BIG BLUE TUBE'S JUST LIKE LOUISE YOU GET A THRILL FROM EVERY SQUEEZE BURMA-SHAVE	SAID FARMER BROWN WHO'S BALD ON TOP "WISH I COULD ROTATE THE CROP" BURMA-SHAVE
SHE PUT A BULLET THROUGH HIS HAT BUT HE'S HAD CLOSER SHAVES THAN THAT WITH BURMA-SHAVE	IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHOSE SIGNS THESE ARE YOU CAN'T HAVE DRIVEN VERY FAR BURMA-SHAVE	HENRY THE EIGHTH SURE HAD TROUBLE SHORT-TERM WIVES LONG-TERM STUBBLE BURMA-SHAVE

Train Approaching                      If Hugging On Highways
Whistles Squealing                     Is Your Sport
Pause And Avoid                        Trade In Your Car
That Rundown Feeling                   For A Davenport

He Had the Ring                        There’s Hardly A Man
He Had A Flat                          That’s Now Alive
She felt His Chin                      Who Passed On A  Hill
And That Was That                      At Seventy-Five

Don’t Stick Your  Elbow                Within This Vale
Out Too Far                            Of Toil And Sin
It May Go Home                         Your Head Grows Bald
In Another Car.                        But Not Your Chin

Slow Down, Pa                          Listen,  Bird
Sakes Alive                            These Signs Cost Money
Ma Missed Signs                        So Sit A Spell
Four And Five                          But Don’t Get Funny

She Kissed The Hairbrush               It would Be More Fun
By Mistake                             To Go By Air
She Thought It Was                     But We Can’t Hang
Her Husband Jake                       These Signs Up There

Doesn’t Kiss You                       Missin’ Kissin’?
Like She Usedter                       Perhaps Your  Thrush
Perhaps She’s Seen                     Can’t Get Thru
A Smoother Rooster.                    The Underbrush

If You Drive                           Riot in Drugstore
While You’re Drunk                     Calling All Cars
Carry Your Coffin                      100 Customers
In Your Trunk                          99 Jars

The history...

     It all began during the Roaring Twenties when the Odell family conjured up the formula after looking for a more profitable product that would be used daily by customers. Their previous product, the Burma Vita could only benefit the ill, so the family decided to persue a wider market. After repeated experimentation on the new brushless shaving cream, the product was finally born and ready for sale.
     Several poor marketing ploys were used at first which forced the family business try new alternatives. Alan Odell came up with the idea of the signs, which would relieve him of his tiring travel duties, but his father did not accept the idea immediately. After some persuasion, the first signs were put up in 1925, and remained as American landmarks until about 1963.
     The original signs did not rhyme, but were usually a series of four signs, each having something to say about the product. Travelers began requesting for the product after seeing the funny lines on the road and Burma Shave began to expand production for the demanding druggists. Sales were going through the roof, and signs spread from Minnesota to the surrounding states. Here was a company that was virtually unaffected by the Great Depression due to mass appeal from their uplifting advertisements!

The National Recognition...

     Long journeys became something to look forward to as the catchy sign sprang up all over roads the of the U.S.A. Audiences began to include more than just farmers, who had been the ones receiving the most exposure to the signs. The jingles were short and cute, and attracted more attention than other ads. Youths were big fans of the ad campaign, as many of the jokes catered to them. It was somewhat of an addiction, as people loved to see the new signs and collect the rhymes. These jingles were a nice departure from the other hygienic ads that became commonplace.
     Burma Shave stood out in American marketing, and it even seemed to have its own individual personality. Careful never to offend anyone, the signs quickly became a part of the popular culture. The slogans included safety and moral messages, and weren't restricted to male wallets:

A CHRISTMAS HUG A BIRTHDAY KISS AWAITS THE WOMAN WHO GIVES THIS BURMA SHAVE	IF DAISIES ARE YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER KEEP PUSHIN' UP THOSE MILES-PER-HOUR BURMA-SHAVE	LISTEN BIRDS THESE SIGNS COST MONEY SO ROOST AWHILE BUT DON'T GET FUNNY BURMA-SHAVE
MANY A FOREST USED TO STAND WHERE A LIGHTED MATCH GOT OUT OF HAND BURMA-SHAVE	THIRTY DAYS HATH SEPTEMBER APRIL, JUNE AND THE SPEED OFFENDER BURMA-SHAVE	THE ONE WHO DRIVES WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING DEPENDS ON YOU TO DO HIS THINKING BURMA-SHAVE

     While Madison Ave. was the hub of the industry, Burma Shave was doing rather well independently. It was even molding shaping the industry itself quite a bit. From the success of the signs, there was no need at this point in time for any other advertising media.
     Burma Shave was even known to be ingrained so much in the heads of Americans that when one went off to fight, homesick GIs posted burma shave signs all around the world wherever they went. This was similar to the similar to the "Kilroy was here" grafitti sprouting up all over the place during the war.
     Ordinary folk could even interact, as contests for the most creative jingle were held to allow for a more continuous supply of verses. Thousands of high quality entries poured in. Promotional Burma Shaves bottles at sporting events made news when emotions stirred. Sometimes signs disapeared near college towns for room decorations. Burma Shave made absurd claims to mock coupon consumers for humor, and some took them quite seriously, leading to even more publicity for the company.

You can just imagine the outcomes of these rhymes! But Burma Shave was quick to fulfill a promise or atleast get as close to fulfillment as possible.

FREE OFFER! FREE OFFER! RIP A FENDER OFF YOUR CAR MAIL IT IN FOR A HALF-POUND JAR BURMA-SHAVE

FREE - FREE A TRIP TO MARS FOR 900 EMPTY JARS BURMA SHAVE

     All types of fenders were sent in to the company, so the company company completed its part of the bargain. Now the trip to Mars was a harder promise to fulfill, and an enterprising supermarket manager acheived his end of the bargain. The company's first reply: If a trip to Mars you's earn, remember, friend, there's no return. So the manager continued and turned it into a big promotion for the shaving company. The man won, and was sent to Mars...Mars, (spelled Moers, but pronounced Mars) Germany, that is. Publicity was enormous, and the company's little gag paid off.

The End of an Era...

     With the diminishing countryside and the expansion of America, Burma Shave could no longer keep up. Faster automobiles, huge billboards, superhighways, decreasing sales, and increasing costs to keep up the signs led the Odell family to sell business to Phillip Morris, Inc. a division of the conglomerate American Safety Razor Products who no longer viewed the ad campaign to be a smart business venture.
     Similar to the craze of the unconventionally practical Volkswagen Beetle, Burma Shave had set itself apart and became commaonplace. Burma Shave also set precedence for other advertisers to follow with similar serial ads. The small family business was well known. Everyone knew Burma Shave. Approximately seven thousand verses had been made on signs outstretching 45 states. It had become a part of the culture, and made one feel at home.

Burma-Shave™ is a registered trademark of American Safety Razor Company. Neither this page nor the creator/maintainer of this page is associated with Burma-Shave™, Volkswagen, American Safety Razor Company. This page is intended for entertainment, nostalgic, informational, and non-profit purposes only.