[QCWA] FW: Burma Shave

[Bob West]

For more Burma Shave signs:
   http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma1.htm

There have been a couple of books about it:

The Verse by the Side of the Road : The Story of the Burma-Shave
Signs and Jingles by Frank Rowsome Jr.

Burma-Shave: The Rhymes, the Signs, the Times (Minnesota)
by Bill Vossler

The only one I recall:

"Dim your lights"
  "Behind a car"
"To let folks see"
  "How bright YOU are!"
--Burma Shave

Walcott, Paul wrote:
> I'm young enough (just turned 56) that I can only remember a few of the
> classic Burma Shave signs, but I do remember that as recently as the
> 1980's there was one on Route 2 in Ohio.    Can't remember exactly what
> it said, but it ended with something about: 
> 
> Jump and Shout
> Burma Shave.
> 
> I used to pass it driving from the Detroit area to Cedar Point in
> Sandusky, Ohio.
> 
> Paul
> WD8H
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: qcwa-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:qcwa-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
> On Behalf Of Dick Thompson
> Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2005 11:49 AM
> To: qcwa at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [QCWA] FW: Burma Shave
> 
> Maybe this will relieve some of the reflector's tension that has been
> going on.  I'm sure all of us old farts remember these signs.
>  
> Dick
> WB0DUL
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> Trains don't wander 
> All over the map 
> 'Cause nobody sits 
> In the engineer's lap 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> She kissed the hairbrush 
> By mistake 
> She thought it was 
> Her husband Jake 
> Use Burma Shave
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Remember these? For those who never saw the Burma shave signs, here is a
> quick lesson in our history of the 1930s and '40's. Before the
> Interstates, when everyone drove the old 2 lane roads, Burma Shave signs
> would be posted all over the countryside in farmers' fields. They were
> small red signs with white letters. Five signs, about 100 feet apart,
> each containing 1 line of a 4 line couplet and the obligatory 5th sign
> advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream. Here are more of the
> actual signs: 
> 
> DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD 
> TO GAIN A MINUTE 
> YOU NEED YOUR HEAD 
> YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> DROVE TOO LONG 
> DRIVER SNOOZING 
> WHAT HAPPENED NEXT 
> IS NOT AMUSING 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> BROTHER SPEEDER 
> LET'S REHEARSE 
> ALL TOGETHER 
> GOOD MORNING NURSE 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> SPEED WAS HIGH 
> WEATHER WAS NOT 
> TIRES WERE THIN 
> X MARKS THE SPOT 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> THE MIDNIGHT RIDE 
> OF PAUL FOR BEER 
> LED TO A WARMER 
> HEMISPHERE 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> AROUND THE CURVE 
> LICKETY-SPLIT 
> ITS A BEAUTIFUL CAR 
> WASN'T IT? 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> NO MATTER THE PRICE 
> NO MATTER HOW NEW 
> THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE 
> IN THE CAR IS YOU 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> A GUY WHO DRIVES 
> A CAR WIDE OPEN 
> IS NOT THINKIN' 
> HE'S JUST HOPIN' 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> AT INTERSECTIONS 
> LOOK EACH WAY 
> A HARP SOUNDS NICE 
> BUT ITS HARD TO PLAY 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL 
> EYES ON THE ROAD 
> THAT'S THE SKILLFUL 
> DRIVER'S CODE 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> THE ONE WHO DRIVES 
> WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING 
> DEPENDS ON THE CAR 
> TO DO HIS THINKING 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> CAR IN DITCH 
> DRIVER IN TREE 
> THE MOON WAS FULL 
> AND SO WAS HE. 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> And the all time favorite: 
> 
> PASSING SCHOOL ZONE 
> TAKE IT SLOW 
> LET OUR LITTLE 
> SHAVERS GROW 
> Burma Shave 
> 
> Do these bring back memories?? 
> If not, you are such a child. 
> If they do, you're older than dirt, like me! 
> 
> Have a great day! Still young at heart! 
> 
> And one I remember:
> 
> Hardly a man
> Is now alive
> That travels on curves
> At seventy-five
> Burma Shave
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 

73,

Bob WA8YCD

Robert L. West Jr WA8YCD * N39°32'25" W79°57'55"  FM09an
rlwest at wa8ycd.net        * Morgantown, WV 26508
                          * Monongalia County WV