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Signs of the Times - Burma Shave

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"Oh My Goodness! Look At That Burma Shave!"

"A Man A Miss
A Kiss A Curve
He Kissed The Miss
And Missed The Curve"
 
That's the first BURMA SHAVE sign my mother saw as a little girl.  She decided that a car accident was called a Burma-shave.  She was teased quite a bit about that, especially after we heard about it. 
Burma-Shave was an American brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small, consecutive highway billboard signs

Here's what they would say:

  • Big Mistake; Many Make; Rely On Horn; Instead of Brake;
    Burma-Shave
  • His Cheek Was Rough; His Chick Vamoosed; And Now She Won't;
    Come Home To Roost; Burma-Shave
  • Twinkle, Twinkle; One-Eyed Car; We All Wonder; WHERE You Are;
    Burma-Shave
  • A Whiskery Kiss; For The One You Adore; May Not Make Her Mad;
    But Her Face Will Be Sore; Burma-Shave
  • When Super-Shaved; Remember, Pard; You'll Still Get Slapped;
    But Not So Hard; Burma-Shave
  • The Whale; Put Jonah; Down The Hatch; But Coughed Him Up;
    Because He Scratched; Burma-Shave
  • She Eyed His Beard; And Said No Dice; The Wedding's Off; I'll Cook The Rice;
    Burma-Shave
  • The Bearded Lady; Tried A Jar; She's Now; A Famous Movie Star;
    Burma-Shave

Here's The Signs

Here are a few more ...

  • Famous words
    About lights that shine
    If he won't dim his
    I won't dim mine
    Burma-Shave
  • Are your whiskers
    When you wake
    Tougher than
    A two bit steak?
    Burma-Shave
  • The one who
    Drives when
    He's been drinking
    Depends on you
    To do his thinking
    Burma-Shave
  • Don't stick your elbow
    Out too far
    Or it may
    Go home
    In another car!
    Burma-Shave
  • The wife
    Who keeps on
    Being kissed
    Always heads
    Her shopping list
    Burma-Shave
  • Drinking drivers
    Don't you know
    Great bangs
    From little
    Binges grow?
    Burma-Shave

Burma Shave Video

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Notes:

  • The Burma-Shave signs dotted the road of America from 1925-1963.
  • There were 7,000 of the sign sets.
  • Burma-Vita, a liniment and Burma-Shave's predecessor product, was not doing well. The Odell family wanted to change to something more people used everyday - like the original brushless shaving cream "Lloyd's Euxesis from England.
  • After 300 mixtures were tried, Burma Shave was born.

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Reader Feedback

  • Jack2205 Sep 29, 2009 @ 9:16 pm | delete
    I remember some of these signs. Great lens.
  • worldbuilder Aug 19, 2009 @ 9:09 am | delete
    Very cool lens! Wonderful Americana, weren't they?
  • OhMe Jun 30, 2009 @ 7:57 am | delete
    Oh I used to love seeing the Burma Shave signs. I enjoyed this lens. They were so clever.
  • ajgodinho Jun 26, 2009 @ 9:43 am | delete
    Hey, great lens...I was cracking up reading it! I never heard of it - I guess because I grew up in a different part of the world. I like the choice of the proverb below. Thanks for visiting my lens too! God bless ya!
  • Jun 9, 2009 @ 8:56 am | delete
    Great lens, thank you for taking the time to build it!
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Proverbs 19:20

The Message

Take good counsel and accept correction - that's the way to live wisely and well.

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