Burma Shave

Burma Shave
A lesson in marketing

The following are just a small sampling of the over 600 slogans the Burma Shave company used to line our highways with. The signs were removed in the mid-sixties after the company was sold to Phillip Morris. Still, these should bring out a chuckle or two.

Although to many it would seem as though Burma Shave was just a good-natured company, its sense of humor and rhyme was a unique lesson in marketing that saved the company during the depression and earned Burma Shave posters a spot in American history at the Smithsonian Institute.

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THE BEARDED LADY TRIED A JAR SHE'S NOW A FAMOUS MOVIE STAR BURMA SHAVE	IF YOU THINK SHE LIKES YOUR BRISTLES WALK BARE-FOOTED THROUGH SOME THISTLES BURMA SHAVE
SHE EYED HIS BEARD AND SAID NO DICE THE WEDDING'S OFF I'LL COOK THE RICE BURMA SHAVE	PAST SCHOOLHOUSES TAKE IT SLOW LET THE LITTLE SHAVERS GROW BURMA SHAVE
IS HE LONESOME OR JUST BLIND THIS GUY WHO DRIVES SO CLOSE BEHIND? BURMA SHAVE	MANY A FOREST USED TO STAND WHERE A LIGHTED MATCH GOT OUT OF HAND BURMA SHAVE
THE ONE WHO DRIVES WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING DEPENDS ON YOU TO DO HIS THINKING BURMA SHAVE	ALTHO WE'VE SOLD SIX MILLIONS OTHERS WE STILL CAN'T SELL THOSE COUGH DROP BROTHERS BURMA SHAVE
WE'VE MADE GRANDPA LOOK SO TRIM THE LOCAL DRAFT BOARD'S AFTER HIM BURMA SHAVE	PEDRO WALKED BACK HOME, BY GOLLY HIS BRISTLY CHIN WAS HOT-TO-MOLLY BURMA SHAVE
THIRTY DAYS HATH SEPTEMBER APRIL, JUNE, AND THE SPEED OFFENDER BURMA SHAVE	IF DAISIES ARE YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER KEEP PUSHIN' UP THOSE MILES PER HOUR BURMA SHAVE
UNLESS YOUR FACE IS STINGER FREE YOU'D BETTER LET YOUR HONEY BE BURMA SHAVE	TRAIN APPROACHING WHISTLE SQUEALING PAUSE! AVOID THAT RUNDOWN FEELING BURMA SHAVE

Connie Eccles

The majority of the information comes from: Backwoods Home Magazine
1257 Siskiyou Blvd #213 Ashland, OR 975 20

The entire article that inspired this piece, "Here's the story of Burma Shave." is located in back issue #37 of Backwoods Home magazine's home page at Backwoods Home Magazine