I’m 71 years old and I remember enjoying these signs (as a kid) as my father drove us on highway 41 through Indiana. This was before interstate highways.
I am only 48 years old but I know all about Burma Shave Signs. I guess not everyone does, anymore. There is a volunteer fire department near me that still uses Burma Shave signs every year to advertise their annual BBQ and other events.
He lit a match to check the tank. That's why they call him skinless Frank. All-time favorite. I'm 72 and grew up in the rural southwest. I loved these signs. Thanks for posting this. I have a copy of the book that I got 20 or 30 years ago.
I miss them ! They were an integral part of rod trips in my childhood. Here's a favourite: Hardly a driver / Is now alive / Who passed / On hills / At 75 / Burma-Shave
Brought back lots of memories traveling US 66 from Arizona to Texas. My brothers and I would watch for these signs and read them out really loud. Probably drove our parents crazy.
I was going through several boxes if model railroad equipment just recently and found my HO scale Burma Shave signs. Someday I plan on using them on a future layout. A truly wonderful video.
American ingenuity in product and marketing. Those signs must have engaged people like nothing else, and spawned mock rhyming competitions. The RUclips before the internet lol. Brilliant.
I'm 72 and remember seeing the Burma Shave signs, "See Ruby Falls" signs, and the "See seven states from Rock City" signs painted on barn roofs on US 231 from Montgomery, Al. to Murfreesboro, Tn. each summer as we traveled to visit family.
Great memories! I remember laughing with these signs on a family road trip up the east coast of Florida to Cape Canaveral in the early 60's. We looked with such anticipation for the next set of sings and laughed until we saw the next ones. They were very clever and did make the trip seem shorter and enjoyable!
I was raised on a farm half a mile south of ST. John Indiana. farm is gone now, and so am I. 81 Yrs. old now living in FL. I remember the Burma shave signs on rt.41 also on rt. 30 and rt. 1 in Illinois. and the real ones on rt. 66 westward from Chicago. days gone by, but not forgotten.
My family moved to Alaska in June of 56 I was 9 months old. We came out August of 60 I was one month short of 5. I remember my older siblings reading the signs as we drove by.
Unfortunately these signs were long gone for me as well. But I do remember a set of six signs leaving Croswell, Michigan heading north that advertised a vintage magazine subscription. Talked about deeply rutted roads, model Ts and getting through... I went to google maps and those signs are gone as well.
Those signs were the US highway system, not the interstate. We also use to drive along between 40 and 50 MPH at the most, all windows rolled down. No Air conditioning to keep you cool at that time. Those signs, the railroad steam locomotives, autos that did not all look like each other, kept us kids busy looking for what is next! Grandpa shaved with a straight edge razor that he sharpened! My dad used a Gillette double edge disposable blade, I started with a single edge. Grandpa used the cup, soap, brush to whip up a lather. Dad used BS which is not a lather. I cheated and used the foamy creme from a can with the new single edge blade
Nostalgia all over the place.for Those of us who are old enough to remember these signs and the memories. The History and Stories behind the Products, Businesses, entertainment of Past Generations is emotional and interesting to those of us who remember them and used them. I thank the Producers and Editors of Recollection Road who have to put a lot of time into each one of their Video Productions so us Older Folks can have so many of our fond memories come back.
A couple of years ago I was tracing the original Route 66 from Kingman AZ coming east. I'm sure there is at least one set of Burma Shave signs on old original Route 66.
I'm fond of the railroad crossing safety jingles. "Crossed tracks, without looking, who will, eat his, widow's cooking?" "Just remember if you be spared, trains don't whistle because they're scared." "Guys with eyes in their backs get halos crossing railroad tracks." "Trains don't wander all over the map, for no one sits in the engineer's lap." Burma Shave.
I remember these from our travels out west in the late '50s and early '60s. A local business along I-275 here in the Detroit area has a set they made up and posted along the road which looks just like the old Burma-Shave signs, same style and color, but with their name in the last sign. Here's a favorite rhyme that I can still recall after so many years: "Listen birds...these signs cost money...so rest awhile....but don't get funny...
I don't remember seeing any of these during my young life in So. California. (1959-1965) And only one original sign at the Smithsonian? I bet somebody has some of these somewhere in America.
"Hee Haw" had its own versions of the signs in early seasons of the show, such as... Hey there, folks We're all in luck It's time for a song From Roy and Buck!
Re-creations of Burma-Shave sign sets also appear on Arizona State Highway 66, part of the original U.S. Route 66, between Ash Fork, Arizona, and Kingman, Arizona, (though they were not installed there by Burma-Shave during its original campaigns) and on Old U.S. Highway 30 near Ogden, Iowa.
"In this vale of toil and sin, Your head grows bald but not your chin. Burma Shave." I saw this sign in southern Virginia on road trips to my parents' families in South Carolina and Georgia too many years ago to count. I've remembered it since. Great trips.
The last Burma Shave sign that I saw in the wild was on Route 101 in California between San Ardo and King City. At the time it was the last part of Route 101 to be a two lane road. The sings read: "Feeling Sleepy, Remember Pard, That Marble Slab, Is Doggone Hard, Burma Shave".
I was a caregiver to an 80 year old and he'd tell me about the Burma Shave signs along the road. I looked up some of the signs and we got a kick out of them. He would have loved this video!
I didn't realize they were gone so long ago. I was a small boy when we went on yearly camping vacation from about 1957 on, so we saw them often, especially since we were often passing through Wisconsin and Minnesota, which seemed to have lots of them.
In the 1940's I used to look forward to the Burma Shave signs on the way to my grandparent's farm. It was the backseat version of today's DVD player. You knew you were good when you could read the signs on the other side of the road, which were backwards to you, and reassemble the verses in your head. Some that I remember are: 😁 When she saw his beard She said no dice I'll call off the wedding And cook the rice and Nothing else will Let you down Faster than A strapless gown
Anyone Remember Nozema Medicated Shaving cream from the early 60s, that had a jingle that went like this....The closer you shave, the more you need Noxzema!..Noxzema the medicated Shaving Cream.
Burma-Shave became a success at simplifying the then dreaded shaving routine -pretty much eliminating brush and mug. Later, razors were also simplified to disposables. These days, people are getting back into vintage shaving razors, techniques, AND the brush and mug...lol.
We traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast in 1966 when we moved out west. I did not see a single Burma-Shave sign. But then we traveled on the interstates, which were then still under construction. Also, the video said that all the signs were removed by 1966.
US 27, north of Decatur IN still has a set of Burma Shave signs up still, but their used to advertise a local restaurant (The Back 40 Junction) which also has several sets of signs hanging up on their ceiling. "Listen bird, these signs cost money, but don't get funny, the way it is, is the way it is, so roast awhile"
While Burma Shave was before my time, my parents had purchased the book shown in this video and the jingle I remember liking the most was... Lit a match, to check gas tank, that's why they call him, skinless Frank.
The signs were spaced so that at the speed limit, you should be passing each sign as you finished saying the line on it, encouraging the driving of the speed limit. One crew was caught cutting the posts off rather than dig through shale to install the signs, and were made to go do it correctly the next day.
I wish they would have been able to continue the signs, maybe place them further apart. I'm a little too young to remember the Burma Shave signs firsthand but I knew about them because there were a lot of references to them and parodies of them still when I was growing up. I think I might have even seen a set of them once that the company forgot to remove, or at least one of the signs, but that just might be a false memory from a dream.
There is an excellent book titled "The Verse By the Side of The Road" and is the history of the Burma Shave signs. I own it and it is VERY entertaining to read :) My mom and dad used to tell me about them but sadly I never saw them, personally. (Apologies as I posted this having missed the fact that it actually showed the book itself in the video)
But a good point to make as the book is well worth reading and occasionally re-reading! I do remember the signs as a small kid from vacation travels in Northwest New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
These signs still exist, along Route 66 between Seligman AZ and Kingman AZ so awesome !
Yes sir see my comment above.
I live near there. I will look for them. But I bet they are reproductions. Great just the same though.
@@azmike1 they probably are they look new
Thanks for the information
Aren't they between Peach Springs & Seligman?
I’m 71 years old and I remember enjoying these signs (as a kid) as my father drove us on highway 41 through Indiana. This was before interstate highways.
I know that area well. I used to be from Indiana.
@@HighSierraDawn where at ? Indiana girls were way cool! even had a song written about them.
@@davidburton612 Life began in Munster and then Crown Point.
@@HighSierraDawn I graduated from Highland High School.
I am only 48 years old but I know all about Burma Shave Signs. I guess not everyone does, anymore.
There is a volunteer fire department near me that still uses Burma Shave signs every year to advertise their annual BBQ and other events.
Before multi-lane highways and speed limits of 70 mph, there was Burma Shave signs which we always were delighted to find and read and share a laugh.
He lit a match to check the tank. That's why they call him skinless Frank. All-time favorite. I'm 72 and grew up in the rural southwest. I loved these signs. Thanks for posting this. I have a copy of the book that I got 20 or 30 years ago.
I have a book of Burma Shave verses too 😄
I wonder if that book is still available?.Would love to get a copy.
This is great. The Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea, Minnesota has on display a series if the signs that were along Hwy 65.
Said a farmer with little hair on top, wish I could rotate the crop! I remember that from 1959 when we moved to Florida. It always cracks me up.
😂
I miss them ! They were an integral part of rod trips in my childhood. Here's a favourite: Hardly a driver / Is now alive / Who passed / On hills / At 75 / Burma-Shave
I love your channel! It must have been so fun to travel by car back then.
In one way it was. But this was before a/c in cars and the trips were hot and long. Love them anyway,
I remember the trips from So Florida to Central Georgia, as a child in the 60s. The scenery was beautiful and Burma Shave for the laughs.
" Don't stick your head out too far, or it will go home in some one else's car, Burma Shave."
ohhh, how horrific.
Lol, funniest one yet. I think this one is my favorite lol.
😂
I thought it was, “Don’t stick you arm out too far…”
Spring is sprung
The grass is riz
Where last year's
Careless driver is
1940's
Loved watching for these signs.
Spring is sprung
Grass is riz
This is where
The movies is.
In front of my favorite outdoor movie theater.
😂
Brought back lots of memories traveling US 66 from Arizona to Texas. My brothers and I would watch for these signs and read them out really loud. Probably drove our parents crazy.
I was going through several boxes if model railroad equipment just recently and found my HO scale Burma Shave signs. Someday I plan on using them on a future layout. A truly wonderful video.
Route 66 rest area on Interstate 44 in Missouri still has a series of Burma shave signs.
Along the tracks on the miniature railroad at Balboa Park here in San Diego there are mini replica Burma Shave signs.
American ingenuity in product and marketing. Those signs must have engaged people like nothing else, and spawned mock rhyming competitions. The RUclips before the internet lol. Brilliant.
I'm 72 and remember seeing the Burma Shave signs, "See Ruby Falls" signs, and the "See seven states from Rock City" signs painted on barn roofs on US 231 from Montgomery, Al. to Murfreesboro, Tn. each summer as we traveled to visit family.
What about Mail Pouch signs?
Great memories! I remember laughing with these signs on a family road trip up the east coast of Florida to Cape Canaveral in the early 60's. We looked with such anticipation for the next set of sings and laughed until we saw the next ones. They were very clever and did make the trip seem shorter and enjoyable!
Yes exactly ha! It was that anticipation for the next group of signs lol.
Another great reminder of years gone by, thank you!
I love American made products
Guess you don’t shop at Walmart lol. Corporations sold you out,
for that there is no doubt.
I have been enjoying alot of your videos, first class all the way.
THANK YOU.
I was raised on a farm half a mile south of ST. John Indiana. farm is gone now, and so am I. 81 Yrs. old now living in FL. I remember the Burma shave signs on rt.41 also on rt. 30 and rt. 1 in Illinois. and the real ones on rt. 66 westward from Chicago. days gone by, but not forgotten.
you just created your own "Burma Shave" saying ....
So iconic that they were even featured in Bugs Bunny cartoons.
My family moved to Alaska in June of 56 I was 9 months old. We came out August of 60 I was one month short of 5. I remember my older siblings reading the signs as we drove by.
I bet that factory always smelled good and fresh 🤠
Burma-Shave and Stinker gas station signs were the delight of every motorist 70 years ago. How I miss them.
Car in ditch
Man in tree
Moon was full
And so was he
Thanks for the memories. 🤣
I remember Burma Shave signs along old Highway 30 in Wyoming back in the mid 1960s.
"Hawk was gone, now he's here. Dance til dawn, give a cheer. Burma-Shave."
-M*A*S*H Final Episode
There’s a reference to Burma-Shave earlier in the series, but I can’t remember which episode it’s in.
😂
😂
Unfortunately these signs were long gone for me as well. But I do remember a set of six signs leaving Croswell, Michigan heading north that advertised a vintage magazine subscription. Talked about deeply rutted roads, model Ts and getting through... I went to google maps and those signs are gone as well.
Excellent video, as usual!! Please keep 'em coming, they're fantastic and well made!
Those signs were the US highway system, not the interstate. We also use to drive along between 40 and 50 MPH at the most, all windows rolled down. No Air conditioning to keep you cool at that time. Those signs, the railroad steam locomotives, autos that did not all look like each other, kept us kids busy looking for what is next!
Grandpa shaved with a straight edge razor that he sharpened! My dad used a Gillette double edge disposable blade, I started with a single edge. Grandpa used the cup, soap, brush to whip up a lather. Dad used BS which is not a lather. I cheated and used the foamy creme from a can with the new single edge blade
WE always left on our vacations while it was still dark to take advantage of the cooler air.
My dad used this in WW ll. It was easy to carry in a tube.
I still shave with a burma shave mug and brush. And I was born in 1971, after the signs were gone.
Nostalgia all over the place.for Those of us who are old enough to remember these signs and the memories. The History and Stories behind the Products, Businesses, entertainment of Past Generations is emotional and interesting to those of us who remember them and used them. I thank the Producers and Editors of Recollection Road who have to put a lot of time into each one of their Video Productions so us Older Folks can have so many of our fond memories come back.
"Do not pass, upon a slope, unless you use, a periscope."
Really loved the Burma shave signs. Thanks
The best part of the long drive to Florida was watching for these signs and reading them. They were everywhere along that route.
A couple of years ago I was tracing the original Route 66 from Kingman AZ coming east. I'm sure there is at least one set of Burma Shave signs on old original Route 66.
I'm fond of the railroad crossing safety jingles. "Crossed tracks, without looking, who will, eat his, widow's cooking?" "Just remember if you be spared, trains don't whistle because they're scared." "Guys with eyes in their backs get halos crossing railroad tracks." "Trains don't wander all over the map, for no one sits in the engineer's lap." Burma Shave.
If you remember watching "Hee Haw", this sign gimick was parodied on that show.
This was before my time, but my parents would bring these signs up sometimes, usually on our annual road trip to Florida.
Near me, as a child: "Men with whiskers neath their noses aught to be made to kiss like eskimoses"
Can't say anything about ethics anymore😡
🤣😂
I remember these from our travels out west in the late '50s and early '60s. A local business along I-275 here in the Detroit area has a set they made up and posted along the road which looks just like the old Burma-Shave signs, same style and color, but with their name in the last sign. Here's a favorite rhyme that I can still recall after so many years: "Listen birds...these signs cost money...so rest awhile....but don't get funny...
Back when America was normal!
👍
I don't remember seeing any of these during my young life in So. California. (1959-1965)
And only one original sign at the Smithsonian? I bet somebody has some of these somewhere in America.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. I saw a message big and brave. It said to all, use Burma Shave.
Born in 63, I missed it, but I remember people talking about it when I was little.
There is still two sets of signs on rt66 between Seligman and Kingman AZ. Both sides of the hwy. I've been driving by them the last 19 years
"Hee Haw" had its own versions of the signs in early seasons of the show, such as...
Hey there, folks
We're all in luck
It's time for a song
From Roy and Buck!
I remember them on Route 7 North to Conneaut OH.
Re-creations of Burma-Shave sign sets also appear on Arizona State Highway 66, part of the original U.S. Route 66, between Ash Fork, Arizona, and Kingman, Arizona, (though they were not installed there by Burma-Shave during its original campaigns) and on Old U.S. Highway 30 near Ogden, Iowa.
ON US Route 66, Near Seligman Arizona, Burma Shave signs still exist.
Yes sir see my comment above.
"In this world of toil and sin, the head grows bald, but not the chin....Burma Shave."
This is my favorite, on a rural road in PA.
😂
"In this vale of toil and sin,
Your head grows bald but not your chin.
Burma Shave."
I saw this sign in southern Virginia on road trips to my parents' families in South Carolina and Georgia too many years ago to count. I've remembered it since. Great trips.
I heard about Burma Shave watching a Popeye cartoon.
There are still some present on Route 66 on the roadway.
On 66 between Peach Springs & Seligman. I've seen them.
A very nice and interesting piece,
Definitely before my time,
However;
This is some really cool stuffs;
Peace out everyone 👍
remember these driving 'cross country in the 60's...only area I still see them is along AZ 66 (old US66) between Ashfork and Kingman AZ
Wow! I remember it smelled so good and fresh
The last Burma Shave sign that I saw in the wild was on Route 101 in California between San Ardo and King City. At the time it was the last part of Route 101 to be a two lane road. The sings read: "Feeling Sleepy, Remember Pard, That Marble Slab, Is Doggone Hard, Burma Shave".
Thanks for the video.
I was a caregiver to an 80 year old and he'd tell me about the Burma Shave signs along the road. I looked up some of the signs and we got a kick out of them. He would have loved this video!
My dad was a brush and mug man as I remember.
Mine too.
I still am, so is my son.
There’s one in Arizona along Old 66 close to Seligman
I am 63.......this is for the OLD boomers
This is for those that make up "the greatest generation," and "the silent generation."
I didn't realize they were gone so long ago. I was a small boy when we went on yearly camping vacation from about 1957 on, so we saw them often, especially since we were often passing through Wisconsin and Minnesota, which seemed to have lots of them.
In the 1940's I used to look forward to the Burma Shave signs on the way to my grandparent's farm. It was the backseat version of today's DVD player. You knew you were good when you could read the signs on the other side of the road, which were backwards to you, and reassemble the verses in your head.
Some that I remember are: 😁
When she saw his beard
She said no dice
I'll call off the wedding
And cook the rice
and
Nothing else will
Let you down
Faster than
A strapless gown
I still one of these on I44 west. Although I can't remember where.
On the road from Ohio to Florida you would see these signs. Interstate highways ended this.
Anyone Remember Nozema Medicated Shaving cream from the early 60s, that had a jingle that went like this....The closer you shave, the more you need Noxzema!..Noxzema the medicated Shaving Cream.
I remember the lusty blonde who said in a husky voice," take it off, take it All off, with noxzema"
Someone please help me to remember this narrator. I remember him from some type of instructional videos. Very soothing, calm voice.
Last week I saw a bunch of iconic Burma Shave signs along Route 66, just before arriving in Seligman, Arizona.
Burma-Shave became a success at simplifying the then dreaded shaving routine -pretty much eliminating brush and mug. Later, razors were also simplified to disposables. These days, people are getting back into vintage shaving razors, techniques, AND the brush and mug...lol.
If daisies are
Your favorite flowers
Keep pushing up
Those miles-per-hours
Burma-Shave
I'm 76 and have Vivid memory of these signs.
I'm in Minneapolis live about 2 miles from first building
I don't really remember this shaving cream but I do remember Schick that came out of the can hot 🤓
There was that! 🪒🔥
We traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast in 1966 when we moved out west. I did not see a single Burma-Shave sign. But then we traveled on the interstates, which were then still under construction. Also, the video said that all the signs were removed by 1966.
US 27, north of Decatur IN still has a set of Burma Shave signs up still, but their used to advertise a local restaurant (The Back 40 Junction) which also has several sets of signs hanging up on their ceiling. "Listen bird, these signs cost money, but don't get funny, the way it is, is the way it is, so roast awhile"
"If daisies are your favorite flower, keep pushing up those miles per hour." -- Burma Shave
Nowadays, you can see a lot of these signs on Route 66 in the vicinity of Seligman, Arizona.
It inspired the Everly Brothers song of the same name!
I'm a bit young for these but I remember that Hee Haw (I think) did a parody of them. 😂
While Burma Shave was before my time, my parents had purchased the book shown in this video and the jingle I remember liking the most was... Lit a match, to check gas tank, that's why they call him, skinless Frank.
This was before my beginnings on earth.
BurmaShave was used in the movie, The World's Fastest Indian movie about Burt Munroe
I'm a Barbasol user myself
It became a hit for them in 1966.
i remember going to my grand parents and we would vary the route so we could see different "Burma shave signs (1949 to 1956)
The signs were spaced so that at the speed limit, you should be passing each sign as you finished saying the line on it, encouraging the driving of the speed limit.
One crew was caught cutting the posts off rather than dig through shale to install the signs, and were made to go do it correctly the next day.
I think Tom Waits even wrote a song about it....
I don't remember the signs but it was a brilliant marketing gimmick.
Yes, I remember this one -- "He was right so right" --- "As he sped along" --- "But he's just as dead" --- "As if he was wrong" --- Burma Shave.
I knew a man who owned a set of unused signs. Something about you can't get a closer shave then a mowing machine Burma Shave.
I wish they would have been able to continue the signs, maybe place them further apart. I'm a little too young to remember the Burma Shave signs firsthand but I knew about them because there were a lot of references to them and parodies of them still when I was growing up. I think I might have even seen a set of them once that the company forgot to remove, or at least one of the signs, but that just might be a false memory from a dream.
Here I Sit
Down and Departed
Paid a Dime
But Only Farted
Burma Shave
Cute. 🙄
"Beer Cans Along The Road/Are Ugly Many Say/But At Night/ Reflecting Bright/Safely Guide The Way/Burma Shave!
MAD Magazine!
There is an excellent book titled "The Verse By the Side of The Road" and is the history of the Burma Shave signs. I own it and it is VERY entertaining to read :) My mom and dad used to tell me about them but sadly I never saw them, personally. (Apologies as I posted this having missed the fact that it actually showed the book itself in the video)
But a good point to make as the book is well worth reading and occasionally re-reading! I do remember the signs as a small kid from vacation travels in Northwest New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
What was the first brushless shaving cream mentioned early in the video? I'm guessing Barbasol ?