The "Burma Shave" signs, road ads that rhyme...

[Dien Rice]

We've mentioned these before on the forum...

I just stumbled across this great article about those old "Burma Shave" road signs... "Burma Shave" was a pre-aerosol, brushless shaving cream for men.

These were humorous ads along the highways, that were on America's roads from 1927 to 1963...

The way they worked was a bit like a limerick... There were usually 5 or 6 "lines" and the last line was always "Burma Shave".

Each "line" was placed a little further along the road than the last one...

So the motorist would see the first line as one sign, then drive a little bit further, and see the second line as another sign, and so on...

Here are a few of the Burma Shave rhymes...

###

GRANDPA'S BEARD
WAS STIFF AND COARSE
AND THAT'S WHAT
CAUSED HIS FIFTH DIVORCE
BURMA SHAVE

###

THE CREAM
PRESERVES
PA'S RAZOR BLADE
THE JAR PRESERVES
MA'S MARMALADE
BURMA SHAVE

###

THE CANNIBALS
TOOK JUST ONE VIEW
AND SAID
HE LOOKS TOO NICE
TO STEW
BURMA SHAVE

###

I JUST JOINED
THE YOUNG MAN SAID
A NUDIST CAMP
IS MY FACE RED?
NO! I USE
BURMA SHAVE

###

You can read the article I saw - with ALL the Burma Shave rhymes - here...

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/15/americas_road_sign_legends/singleton/

Even though these are ads, I find these kind of charming... :)

- Dien