August 19, 2010
“Farewell O verse, along the road. How sad to see, you're out of mode," -- Burma Shave.
It is mid-August and that fact alone takes me back to my youth when almost everyone took a vacation in the month of August. School didn't start until after Labor Day; baseball was over for the summer; and swimming lessons were completed.
Time to pack up the woody station wagon and head west.
From Missouri, we traveled the now-storied Route 66 with no idea that it was anything special at all, just another long, hot road to Grandma's house in California.
In the 50s, my parents drove us kids cross-country every August in a car the size of a boat with only an AM radio and no air conditioning. As I recall, when we crossed the desert from Phoenix to San Diego, it was by night with bags of water tied to the car to cool the radiator.
I know some of you baby boomers will remember similar trips, and I will bet you remember Burma Shave signs that dotted the highways as well.
We read them with delight and anticipation on those trips, and when we spotted a row of red signs in the distance, everyone in the car came to full alert lest we miss one.
We read them out loud in unison:
"Use this cream a day or two. Then don't call her. She'll call you," Burma Shave.
Or this one, "These signs we gladly dedicate to men who've had no date of late."
By the time the mid 60's arrived, the Burma Shave signs were about to complete nearly three decades of success.
Antique collectors say that in its prime Burma Shave displayed 7,000 of the bright red signs, usually at least five in a row, to entertain travelers heading west.
But I digress. Back to some Burma Shave jingles I love to remember.
"Past Schoolhouses, take it slow. Let the little shavers grow," Burma Shave.
Or, "When the stork delivers a boy, our whole darn factory jumps for joy."
Eventually, Burma Shave signs spread to almost every state with only Massachusetts receiving no signs at all. Too many trees might obstruct the view of signs there, I am told. A few other states had only a handful.
Besides serving as an ingenious advertising tool, Burma Shave signs also offered guidance on societal issues.
"Many a forest used to stand where a lighted match got out of hand," Burma Shave. And this one, "If daisies are your favorite flower, keep pushin' up those miles-per-hour."
At the end of its glorious run in 1963, Burma Shave offered its final rhyme: "Farewell O verse, along the road. How sad to see, you're out of mode," Burma Shave.
If you have some favorite Burma Shave rhymes, drop me a note and let me know. I would love to remember those, too.
