Burma-Shave (for what its worth)

[banana republican]

We've made
Grandpa
Look so trim
The local
Draft board's after him
Burma-Shave
%
5-star
Generals
Privates 1st class
Show equal rank
In the looking-glass
Burma-Shave
%
These signs
Are not
For laughs alone
The face they save
May be your own
Burma-Shave
%
These signs
We gladly
Dedicate
To men who've had
No date of late
Burma-Shave
%
The hero
Was brave and strong
And willin'
She felt his chin--
Then wed the villain
Burma-Shave
%
To kiss
A mug
That's like a cactus
Takes more nerve
Than it does practice
Burma-Shave
%
The whale
Put Jonah
Down the hatch
But coughed him up
Because he scratched
Burma-Shave
%
Proper
Distance
To him was bunk
They pulled him out
Of some guy's trunk
Burma-Shave
%
A beard
That's rough
And overgrown
Is better than
A chaperone
Burma-Shave
%
Heaven's
Latest
Neophyte
Signalled left
Then turned right
Burma-Shave
%

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma1.htm

As an aside I have a beard SWMBO requires it.

[ima_sinnic]

1. ah, the memories those bring back! every summer we drove

from New England to Sandusky, Ohio area to spend a few weeks at my grandparents rambling and kind of funky cottage on Lake Erie. There were no interstates then, it was an interminably long ride (2 days) through town after town. When we crossed the PA-Ohio border, my father always said, "hey, did you feel that? anybody else feel something like a golf ball going down your throat?" (I know, he had a weird sense of humor) After that, we watched for the Burma Shave signs. There was a completely different feel to the air in those parts, where it was rural and flat. I remember curiously peeking out at black sharecroppers working in tomato fields, the little white girl--and know now how clueless I was--but the Burma Shave signs are indelibly etched in my memories of Ohio and Going to The Lake.

Thanks for the memories! I just now rolled out of bed, too early to compose jingles . . .

[banana republican]

2. I also remember those days

going from Ellensburg Washington to Portland Oregon (an 8 hour trip in the 50's & 60's before freeways). The signs were every where on the trip especially south of Yakima along
Satus Pass.

[Divernan]

3. Here's more:

Other shaves
Will let you down
Faster than
A strapless gown.

Burma Shave

******************
Hardy men
Were the Caesars
Instead of
Razors
They used
Tweezers
Burma Shave

*******************
Listen birds
These signs
Cost Money
Rest awhile
But don't get funny!
Burma Shave

*****************

Snake rail fences
Old log houses
Both were built
To keep out the
Cowses
Burma Shave
**************

And finally,

Farewell O verse,
Along the road.
How sad to see,
You're out of mode.

Burma Shave

[ClintonTyree]

4. Every year Mom and Dad would pack us up in the car and head...

for Florida. The Burma Shave signs along the way were a welcome respite from the ennui of those l....o....n....g car rides. That and the "South of the Border" signs. Some of the "Pedro Sez" signs rivaled the Burma Shave signs in humor. Ahhhhhh, the memories! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I'd forgotten all about the Burma Shave humor. :)

[Cooley Hurd]

6. The "South of the Border" billboards were pretty racist...

...and were sanitized about 10 years ago.



Sadly, the Burma Shave signs were gone by the time I was of road-trip age.:(

[ThomWV]

7. Let Me Tell You About That Fucking "South of the Border"

First off I should tell you that as a kid I actually remember when they were building the place. This story comes years later.

After I got out of the Army, sometime around 1971, I was in Miami and had a notion I would go to DC for a couple of weeks and visit my father. So I got on my motorcycle and headed north.

The first day's ride got me up into South Carolina somewhere. I pulled into a rest area and slept on a pick nick table. Early in the morning a bunch of kids piled out of a station wagon that was parked near my table. They, along with their mother, headed to the next table over where they were having their breakfast. My people never had any money either so I was no stranger to the notion of carrying food when traveling. The kids were mostly girls and mostly teens. They invited me to join them, which I did. My people might have had biscuits, maybe with ham, some with jelly for the kids; these were northern people, so it was different, but it was the same.

The lady was single and one of the daughters was dark. South of the Border had refused her a room the night before because of her "nigra girl" she could have afforded the room, though with some difficulity, but that is why they were all sleeping in the car.

Fuck South of the Border. To this day, fuck South of the Border.

[jmowreader]

8. There's still a "Too Moch Tequila" sign up

[Arkansas Granny]

5. Oh my! On long trips it was like a contest to see who could spot

the signs first and the whole family would read them out loud. It was a disappointment when you came to a set of signs that duplicated one you had seen before.

[alterfurz]

9. my all-time fave

In this vale
Of toil and sin
Your head grows bald
But never your chin
Burma Shave

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Thank you.. thank you..... thank you!

For the GREAT memories!

I still remember those from my childhood....

I was so sad when they vanished.....

Your thread just got bookmarked, so I can re-read them.......

:woohoo:

[Bzzzz]

11. Good gawd...

this thread reminds me of all the Burma signs we passed when heading to Sturgis.:eyes:

[CBHagman]

12. My father's favorite.

The bearded lady
Bought a jar
And now is a famous
Movie star.
Burma Shave.

And my favorite, though I read about it years later and never saw it on the road:

He lit a match
To see his tank.
And now they call him
Skinless Frank.
Burma Shave.