February 11, 2007

IF YOU

DON’T KNOW

WHOSE SIGNS

THESE ARE

YOU CAN’T HAVE

DRIVEN VERY FAR

BURMA-SHAVE

(Contents of this column come almost exclusively from the book, "THE VERSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD: The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles", by Frank Rowsome, Jr.)

MUG AND BRUSH

OLD ADAM HAD ‘EM

IS YOUR HUSBAND

LIKE ADAM, MADAM?

BURMA-SHAVE

"The highways, as well as the cars, were different and changing in the Twenties. Once out of town they still narrowed down to two lanes, narrow enough so that you warily surveyed each oncoming car for any tendencies toward road-hogging. Even when a two-lane road wasn’t awkwardly narrow, drivers had to practice a routine now in relative disuse: the complex art of overtaking and passing another car. This was tricky, calling for skill, patience, resolution, and a knowledge of just how briskly Betsy could get out and around. Sometimes a driver misjudged and had to break off and tuck in behind, his face darkening with embarrassment and anger.

"Those years of the Twenties were ones of continuous change. The roads grew steadily better, as did the cars. It was no longer necessary to carry elaborate kits for roadside tire repairs. And where the old car had had a natural cruising speed of about 35 mph and became excited at speeds above 45, displaying a disquieting tendency to lunge, the New Model A Fords or Chevy’s or Overlands were perfectly willing to lope all day long at 50, and had the brakes to suit. As the driving radius extended, it was no longer feasible to brag about a 225-mile day. More and more we took highway vacation trips. Roadside cabins began to appear – one- or two-room doll-houses arranged in an arc, with whitewashed stones outlining the curve of the driveway. They could be rented for two dollars or three dollars a night and were noticeably more convenient than tourist rooms, as well as cheaper than the Hotel Majestic downtown, where it was necessary to put on a necktie to confront the room clerk.

"In times of continuous change, it is difficult to recognize small beginnings. But in the fall of 1925, and again during the following year, one small beginning took place that would later catch the fancy of, and amuse, whole generations of highway-faring Americans.

"‘My grandfather was an attorney in the early days of Minneapolis. In those times lawyers were short on education and long on enterprise, and Grandfather had each of these attributes. For a time he was the U. S. Marshal here, with the duty of apprehending men who sold liquor to the Indians. In his law office he also manufactured a liniment – lawyers were into all kinds of things then, because in those days law practice wasn’t as fruitful as it is now’.

"The speaker was Leonard Odell, a husky, broad-shouldered man in his late fifties, the president of the Burma-Vita Company, a division of Philip Morris, Inc. Odell was recounting the early beginnings of Burma-Shave to a recent visitor to the firm’s plant on the western outskirts of Minneapolis."

Mr. Odell’s son, Clinton was apparently also quite industrious, successfully selling insurance in addition to his legal work, laboring so hard that he developed severe health problems in 1920. He recovered sufficiently about 1923 to begin searching for something to do.

The company was originally called "Burma because most of the essential oils in the liniment came from the Malay peninsula and Burma, and Vita from the Latin for life and vigor - the whole name meaning Life from Burma."

"Well, we sure starved to death on that product for a couple of years." The wholesale drug company from which the ingredients were purchased advised Mr. Odell that "it would be better if we could find something we could sell everybody, all the time, instead of just hunting for people who were sick. They gave Dad some Lloyd’s Euxesis to see what he thought of it.

"Now Lloyd’s Euxesis, made in England, was the original brushless shaving cream on the world market. It was a sticky, gummy substance. Still, as an old traveling man, Dad could se the advantage of a brushless shaving cream. You didn’t have to pack that wet brush in your grip, where it would mildew and get foul-smelling before you got home. (Remember how they used to get green at the base?)"

Mr. Odell had done a kindness for a chemist, Carl Noren. In 1925 Mr. Noren ordered ingredients he believed would be necessary and began experimenting with the English cream, trying to refine it. After a formula was settled on (#141 to be exact), several methods of marketing were tried. A family member out promoting the product noticed "a set of small serial signs advertising a gas station: Gas, Oil, Restrooms, things like that - maybe a dozen of them, and then at the end a sign would point in to the gas station. Al though ‘Every time I see one of these setups, I read every one of the signs. So why can’t you sell a product that way?’"

Advertising firms were consulted, and almost all agreed it would never work. Never-the-less, the Odells decided to give it a try.

"We bought secondhand boards over at the Rose Brothers Wrecking Company. They had plenty of nail-holes in them and some were burned on one side. We sawed them up into thirty-six-inch lengths and painted them up, using a thin brass stencil and brush. They were pretty crude. These signs didn’t have rhymes or jingles – just what you might call prose: SHAVE THE MODERN WAY / FINE FOR THE SKIN / DRUGGISTS HAVE IT / BURMA-SHAVE.

"By the start of the year we were getting the first repeat orders we’d ever had in the history of the company - all from druggists serving people who traveled those roads. Early in 1926 we set up our first sign shop."

Now for what I know most of you have been waiting for - some of those wonderful jingles: (1927) SHAVE THE MODERN WAY / NO BRUSH / NO LATHER / NO RUB-IN / BIG TUBE 35 CENTS DRUG STORES / BURMA-SHAVE, (1928) HOLLER / HALF A POUND FOR / HALF A DOLLAR / OH BOY! SHAVING JOY / COMPLEXION SAVE / BURMA-SHAVE, (1929) EVERY SHAVER / NOW CAN SNORE / SIX MORE MINUTES / THAN BEFORE / BY USING / BURMA-SHAVE, (1930) DOES YOUR HUSBAND / MISBEHAVE / GRUNT AND GRUMBLE / RANT AND RAVE / SHOOT THE BRUTE SOME / BURMA-SHAVE, (1931) NO MATTER HOW / YOU SLICE IT / IT’S STILL YOUR FACE / BE HUMANE / USE / BURMA-SHAVE, (1932) POLITICAL PUL / MAY BE / OF USE / FOR RAZOR PULL / THERE’S NO EXCUSE / BURMA-SHAVE, (1933) THE ANSWER TO / A MAIDEN’S / PRAYER / IS NOT A CHIN / OF STUBBY HAIR / BURMA-SHAVE, (1934) THE BEARDED LADY / TRIED A JAR / SHE’S NOW / A FAMOUS / MOVIE STAR / BURMA-SHAVE, (1935) YOU KNOW / YOUR ONIONS / LETTUCE SUPPOSE / THIS BEETS ‘EM ALL / DON’T TURNIP YOUR NOSE / BURMA-SHAVE.

There are literally hundreds more, but I guess you’ll have to read the book. The last Burma-Shave signs were put up in 1963. About that time, technology was taking over and the trend was to television advertising. People began taking the signs down, often as keepsakes. At the time of the writing of the book referenced at the beginning of this column (printed in 1971) there were still alleged sightings of signs, though the writer was unable to confirm these. Just goes to show what one man with a willingness to work for his dreams can accomplish!

One more, for my mom and grand-dad: PEACHES ARE GREAT / WITH LOTS OF FUZZ / MAN’S NOT A PEACH / AND NEVER WUZ! / BURMA-SHAVE