There used to be several Burma Shave sign sets along Highway 14 west of Madison, WI. The one I remember best was///
Angels that guard you
when you drive
usually retire at 65
Needless to say it was in days of Day = 65, Night = 55 speed limits. I will have to see ifmy brother remembers any of the other sign sets, I sort of remeber another one and will post it if I can get it right.
Hi Roger. Two places that the CatsandI visited when she was passing through were Frankenmuth up by you and the Henry Ford Museum south of us. In the museum in Detroit there is an Airstream/Burma Shave display. Here are some pictures I took on our tour.
The Burma Shave signs are back. You can see them on the Rt66 segment that goes from Seligman , Arizona to Kingman, Az. It sure adds to the joy of this drive. Thank you AZ for realizing what Rt 66 is about.
Two things to add: Years ago I passed a farm that had a dog house in the front yard - the side of the dog house was painted exactly like a Mail Pouch barn from years past - but instead it said, MALE POOCH. I thought that was terribly funny and a great play on words especially out in the middle of nowhere.
My second comment was the only BurmaShave sign I've remembered all these years. I couldn't wait to repeat for the thread but at the beginning of this page, Relentless already reminded us of it. Instead of rewriting it, go to the top of this page and re-read it - I've always thought it a very clever one.
A very funny thread - and full of great memories of traveling with my grandparents every summer. Thanks for starting it.
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I think the interstate system killed the Burma Shave signs. They couldn't be placed close enough along the interstates and were too small to be seen at high speed off the interstate. They were still around in the '60's, but I think they were ones that had been placed years earlier and had survived.
I have seen in recent years, usually in the South. faded Mail Pouch and See Rock City signs on barns. Rock City also had bird houses on poles in people's yards and some of them are still around.
If you're in NW Colorado, fairly small F&M Light signs all lead to and from Steamboat Springs. They sell clothing, much of it western style. I think some signs advertise a cowboy hat for $5.
Lots of hokey tourist traps have signs for miles. A favorite on US 50 somewhere near Cañon City, Colorado, is "Kids, Scream 'Til Daddy Stops". Despite all the screaming, not enough dads stopped because the place closed a year or more ago.
Most of the signs now are large billboards that can be seen from interstates—South of the Border signs used to, decades ago, be the smaller kind, but are now billboards. They used to be up and down US 301 in the '50's, but now are on I 95—a road that usually follows the same route through the south. Also along I 95, at least 5 or 10 years ago, we saw (from the highway, not inside) a lot of porn stores and strip joints with billboards for many miles, my favorite being the exquisitely simple but memorable message: "We Bare All".
And then there are the "world's largest" things. Cawker City, Kansas, had the world's largest ball of twine; Bath, NY had the world's largest picnic table; a town along the Yellowhead Hwy in BC has the world's largest fishing pole. There are many more "world's largest" and I think this kind of boast, not necessarily true, may be a North American thing.
I like the old days with all these things only in my memory. Remember cars used to break down a lot, batteries died, brakes had to be redone in 20,000 miles, no AC, power windows broke, lots more people were killed and injured on the roads, etc.
Old Route 66 in Arizona is worth it for a taste of the past with reliable, modern vehicles.
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