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MetAphorism – Burma-Shave Signs
March 21, 2007 | 1 Comment
[-metaphorism, crackles!-]
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by Nancy Waldman
The metAphorism:
Burma-Shave Signs
The Lesson:
spaces provoke > > >
anticipation, humour, suspense, thrills, interest …
Unless you were born in the USA before 1955 or so, you won’t remember this brilliant advertising coup. So why bring it up now? Because Burma-Shave ads point out the important of what this PCQ is all about: leaving space between things.
From the 1920′s, Burma-Shave entertained highway drivers by putting poems on a series of six tiny, red signs spaced a few hundred feet apart. The last new signs were posted back in 1963 but people still remember and talk about them. Why? They are memorable not only for their humour but also because
EACH
SIGN
TOOK
ITS
OWN
TIME.
At the end there was usually a laugh and sometimes a surprise. Of course people looked forward to seeing what they would come up with next. You can be sure, though, that if the whole message had been on one sign – just like every other billboard – people would not be talking about them over 40 years after the last one was posted. That’s why we remember them and that’s why you should keep Burma-Shave in mind when you do your creative work.
Here are a few examples:
SAY, BIG BOY
TO GO
THRU LIFE
HOW’D YOU LIKE
A WHISKERED WIFE?
Burma-Shave – (1937)
HENRY THE EIGHTH
SURE HAD
TROUBLE
SHORT TERM WIVES
LONG TERM STUBBLE
BURMA-SHAVE
IN CUPID’S LITTLE
BAG OF TRIX
HERE’S THE ONE
THAT CLIX
WITH CHIX
BURMA-SHAVE (1947)
And there were many about highway safety:
YOU CAN’T REACH 80
HALE AND HEARTY
BY DRIVING 80
HOME FROM
THE PARTY
BURMA-SHAVE(1940)
This one is in the popular culture section of the Smithsonian Museum:
WITHIN THIS VALE
OF TOIL
AND SIN
YOUR HEAD GROWS BALD
BUT NOT YOUR CHIN – USE
BURMA-SHAVE
And a favourite of mine:
SAID JULIET
TO ROMEO
IF YOU
WON’T SHAVE
GO HOMEO
BURMA-SHAVE
Remember Burma-Shave as you work creatively. In writing, acting, dance, music, comedy, painting, photography and simple conversation don’t forget the pauses, stops, rests and spaces-in-between! Here’s my own ditty to help you remember:
When you strive
to be
divine
Take a pause
between each sign
like Burma-Shave
for more information on the history of Burma-Shave signs go to signindustry.com/outdoor/articles/
Originally published in the July 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly; theme: space and spaces
also posted in: Crackles! , Creative Cross-pollination , MetAphorism , Practice & Practices , The Original PCQ, 05-06
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Having heard of the clever Burma-Shave campaign, we adapted the idea back in 1977 for a campaign to raise awareness about the lack of a viable evacuation plan for the Plymouth, MA Nuclear Power Plant in the event of a nuclear accident. I recently wrote about it on my personal blog, Tell Me Another. Here’s the link to the story, “Burma-Shave Signs”, if you’re interested:
http://josna.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/burma-shave-signs/