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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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OP
veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
To jog the memories of the old-timers, and inform the younger brethren and sistren and those in other areas not familiar with the subject:
Back in the 40s, when roads were mostly 2 or 3 lanes and cars were rarely driven faster than 45 m.p.h., and when men shaved with straight or single-edge safety razors with a block of soap and a badger-hair brush, Burma Shave created one of the classic advertising campaigns for its new prepared easy-to-use shaving cream.
It consisted of a series of small red signs posted at intervals of about 300 feet along the roadsides. Each sign had a verse of a short poem; the last read, "BURMA SHAVE". As you drove along, you read the poem and the ad. These became classics. My favorite was:
Car in the ditch
Driver in the tree
The moon was full
And so was he
BURMA SHAVE
Do any of you remember some of these? (and don't tell me you can do a google and find a site with every one listed)
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Being a nalien, I had never come across these, Bob - clever stuff! Of course I had to follow your don't do this advice (I'm a maverick), and I liked this one! Altho insured
Remember, kiddo
They don't pay you
They pay
Your widow
Burma-Shave
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma1.htm
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
I don't really remember "Burma Shave's" I remember my parents reading them-- as we drove places-- but either i didn't know how to read-- or didn't know where to look for the signs-- so i never really "saw" or read one in place.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 36
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 36 |
One of my favorites is----
"Her chariot raced at eighty per,
They found the remains of what had "been her".
(I know, but try rhyming with "been she".)
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Given that all of these are safety plugs, I wonder if Burma paid a nick-el (ugh) for placing them along the median. -- By the way, if the roads were three-laned, where *was* the median?
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 36
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 36 |
The more I think about it the more sure I am that the ending is, of course, Ben Hur, not "been her". Silly mistake.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
3 lanes in each direction-- with a median strip between the opposite directions...
Now that most new interstated are 4 or 5 lanes-- ( even the LIE-- the worlds largest parking lot) is getting a 4th lane , out side of NYC limits, and the NJ turnpike is 12 lanes wide-- (6 in each direction) at least, parts of it are.
(I think inselpeter, like many NY, NYC, NYSer's doesn't drive --or drive much.)
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
The Station Restaurant in Ithaca has one (real thing, I believe) along side its dining car
He who drives
When he's been drinking
Counts on you
To do his thinking
Burma Shave
One I remember from my youth
Free, free
A trip to Mars
For 900
Empty jars
Burma Shave
The first person to collect 900 empty Burma Shave jars and send them in got a free trip to Mars (Marz?), Germany.
There's a book, The Verse by the Side of the Road that not only lists the entire run but relates the story. They used to get local farmers to mount and care for the signs, keeping them clean and painted.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
(I think inselpeter, like many NY, NYC, NYSer's doesn't drive --or drive much.)
Think again. At least I drive to park--most recently at the distance of a one hour subway ride from home. And in the rain.
In my personal lexicon, a road with 12 lanes in either direction (and three perpendicular in each) is a 24 (or 30) lane highway. [obnocticon]
And across the North River from us, 9W, a US route of the Burma Shave era, is a two- four- or five-lane--and was just two until they widened it for commuter traffic. 2x [obnocticon]
Route one, The Boston Post Road is more interesting, but I doubt it ever posted a Burma. [Obn]
But this is getting off topic.
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