Squiddiddler Loc: Phoenix

I'm sure that Burma Shave actually saved some lives. People laughed and then were more careful!
It was a REAL "service" to America, even though it was an advertisement and it was one of the RARE "really useful" ones!

For those who never saw any of the Burma Shave signs, here is a quick lesson in our history of the 1930's and '40's.

Before there were 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.

DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW
OUT SO FAR
IT MAY GO HOME
IN ANOTHER CAR.
Burma Shave

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.
Burma Shave

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

CAUTIOUS RIDER
TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND A LITTLE MORE STEER.
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
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 HOPING
Burma Shave

AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY.
Burma Shave

BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SK**LFUL
DRIVER'S CODE.
Burma Shave

THE ONE WHO DRIVES
WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING.
Burma Shave

CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
Burma Shave

PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW.
Burma Shave

scottsatrucker Loc: southern Oregon

As an 80 year old who has 50 years of truck driving in his history you betcha I remember Burma
Shave.

PaulPisces Loc: San Francisco

I'm not really all that old (61), but I remember Burma Shave signs on the road from Tallahassee to Alligator Point every summer as we drove to the beach on weekends.
See, I really AM a redneck from Northern Florida!

PoppaGringo Loc: Muslim City, Mexifornia, B.R.

I recall seeing them almost on a daily basis as a youngster. I even saw one on a trip to Florida in 2015.

bahmer

Yup we read those every time we went on vacation, it was a challenge to us kids to see who would see the next burma shave signs.

silvereagle

Here is another.Remember the John Burch Society telling us to get out of the UN? It took over 50 years but we did.

pappadeux Loc: Phoenix AZ

I used to live on the Florida Alabama border in the "panhandle" we called it "Florabama".

minoter

if huggin on highways is your favorite sport trade in your car for a davenport Burma shave

PaulPisces Loc: San Francisco

It's spelled Birch, and we are not put of the United Nations.

PoppaGringo Loc: Muslim City, Mexifornia, B.R.

Here in the land of fruits, nuts, weirdos, and pot, we call it Mexifornia.

Squiddiddler Loc: Phoenix

Well I Be Darned

teabag09

Bless you pea pickin heart. I mean that sincerely Paul. Mike

teabag09

Ya'll traveling south on the east coast, how about the South of the Boarder signs for fireworks? And yes, I'm 67 and my Mom was traipsing us all over the Country either to her Mom's(Dad deployed) or new home(Dad stationed) in the early 50's and she too got us into looking out for the signs so she could concentrate on driving. In those days we fought over sitting up front with the other three on the feather tic in the back. No seat belts, no car seat for my baby brother, 7 mos. other than don't roll over on him and smother him. She made multiple trips between Up-State Ny, Mississippi, Mississippi, Detroit, Back to Ny then to Minnesota and back to NY. Finally one last trip when I was 8 from Up-State to Norfolk, Va. The Navy Seal swift boated us to the demarcation line of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean where we interned her ashes according to her wishes to be buried at sea. God Bless the Navy and especially the Seals, many who stayed at her home on and off. She'd be in Jail for life today. Mike

PaulPisces Loc: San Francisco

Ahhhhhh. Home sweet home.
I think I fit into almost all those categories, depending on who you ask.

PoppaGringo Loc: Muslim City, Mexifornia, B.R.

I did not mean it in a denigrating fashion.