From a friend a little older than me, but I remember these well. No, there's nothing wrong with the sentence structure.

I'm sure that Burma Shave actually saved some lives. People laughed and they 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! They're part of our history of the 1930s and 1940.

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.


A man, a miss,

A car, a curve.

He kissed the miss,

And missed the curve.

Burma Shave


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 SKILLFUL

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


Do these bring back any old memories? If not, you're merely a child.

I'm an old fart so I remember them well

It may be where Bendable learned to write in the sentence structure he uses.

I remember seeing them, but they were old ones, in disrepair.

Out here in Arizona along a couple of the old highways ( old Route 66 perhaps?) I have seen them still up in good shape.

I loved the Burma Shave signs. My favorite:

Twinkle twinkle
One-eyed car
How I wonder
Where you are

If you still
Know where you are
You can't have driven
Very Far

I have a little paperback called "Verse by the Side of the Road" that tells the whole story of the sign and the cream. It lists all the known verses.

It's still in print, and still available.

As a kid, my dad drove the family across the country. Twice. My sisters and I were perpetually scanning for the Burma Shave signs.

I remember them very well. We used to read them out loud during a car trip.

Yeah, one of the highlights of our car trips when I was a kid.

I have fond memories of those signs. My family drove from Michigan to Arkansas almost every summer to visit my kinfolk, back in the 1940s and 50s. Those signs were everywhere (no Interstates yet, and very few superhighways).

WITHIN THIS VALE
OF TOIL AND SIN
YOUR HEAD GROWS BALD
BUT NOT YOUR CHIN

yOU CAN DRIVE
A MILE A MINUTE
BUT THERE IS NO
FUTURE IN IT

HE SAW THE TRAIN
AND TRIED TO DUCK IT
KICKED FIRST THE GAS
AND THEN THE BUCKET

ANGELS WHO GUARD YOU
WHEN YOU DRIVE
USUALLY
RETIRE AT 65

And here's one especially good here in Texas
PAST SCHOOLHOUSES
TAKE IT SLOW
LET THE LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW

flashguy

quote:

NO MATTER THE PRICE

NO MATTER HOW NEW

THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE

IN THE CAR IS YOU.

Burma Shave

This one definitely applies on today’s cars

THIRTY DAYS
HATH SEPTEMBER
APRIL, JUNE,
AND THE SPEED OFFENDER.

Burma Shave

I would drive on Route 66 traveling from the Chicagoland area to Bloomington Normal in the ‘60s.

I think thats where I recall seeing the Burma Shave signs, but it could have been when I was much younger, on cross country trips with my grandparents.

Nice memory.

My shave mug for many years. I retired from the military and shaving a couple of years ago but I hung on to the mug, just in case.

Good road trip memories.

What was the one about 'old horses read'?
Or something like that ...

I remember those well. Was fun to be on vacation and see new "verses" that you hadn't seen before.

quote:

Originally posted by bobandmikako:
My shave mug for many years. I retired from the military and shaving a couple of years ago but I hung on to the mug, just in case.

That’s a keeper alright. You could use it as a coffee cup.

Along side my grandfather's field:

MEN WITH WHISKERS
'NEATH THEIR NOSES
OUGHT TO KISS
LIKE ESKIMOSES
Burma Shave

When the contract ran out he used them to close off feed bins. Sure wish I'd been old enough to know to rescue them.