History Advertising / BurmaShave

[[caption-width-right:350:(BIG MISTAKE/MANY MAKE/RELY ON HORN/INSTEAD OF BRAKE)]]

[[caption-width-right:350:(BIG MISTAKE/MANY MAKE/USE THE HORN/AND NOT THE BRAKE)]]

--->''Burma-Shave''

Wiki/TheOtherWiki has an article [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma-Shave here]].

[[TvTropesWillRuinYourLife 'TIL YOU'RE ADDICTED]] \\

!!Works that have referenced the Burma-Shave advertisements:

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* During Creator/AlanMoore's run on ''ComicBook/SwampThing'', when Matthew Cable gets into a car crash while drunk, the caption boxes soberly declare: "The night can make a man more brave...but not more sober"...and then finish with a ''Burma-Shave'' sign next to Matt's smashed car.
* From Literature/AmericanGods (the comic version thereof):
-->He undertook to overtake\\
The road was on a bend\\
Form now on the undertaker\\
is his only friend
---> ''Burma-Shave''

[[AC:ComicStrips]]
* Newspaper comic ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'' managed an indirect version, albeit set to a limerick meter:
-->There once was a young man named Peter\\
Who spoke with a definite meter\\
He drew up some signs\\
And he wrote out up his lines\\
And now Peter's meter is neater.
** "Guess what I've invented." "Shaving cream?"
* Science cartoonist Sidney Harris once drew an astronaut encountering one of these, with the signs posted on individual asteroids:
-->SPACE IS BIG\\
SPACE IS DARK\\
IT'S HARD TO FIND\\
A PLACE TO PARK
---> ''Burma-Shave''

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In the movie ''The World's Fastest Indian'' there is a sequence where Burt and the air force pilot he's travelling with read aloud the Burma-Shave poems they pass, showing the distance they cover.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'': One of Claire's journal entries in her childhood begins with her helping her mostly-blind grandmother complete a crossword puzzle.
-->'''Claire:''' Ten letters, the clue says, "Don't stick your neck out too far."\\
'''Grandmother:''' ''BURMASHAVE.'' Before your time.
* ''Literature/LakeWobegonDays'': Referenced in a sketch about a character's Aunt Mary, who is notorious for reading billboards aloud on car trips.
-->Don't drive so fast\\
Among the pines\\
Aunt Mary likes\\
To read our signs
---> ''Burma-Shave''
* In the DieselPunk short ''Rolling Steel: A Pre-Apocalyptic Love Story'', Topper is on a mission to steal some steel for his AwesomePersonnelCarrier.
-->"W-74," Topper sang out. "Tungsten steel. Hard as a shield, cuts like a blade, keep it sharp, never be late... Burma Shave!"

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* Sam encounters a Burma-Shave ad in the ''Series/QuantumLeap'' pilot.
* ''Series/HeeHaw'' occasionally presented gags in the form of Burma-Shave signs -- filmed out a slowly-moving car window for that genuine experience.
** Every episode of ''{{Creator/JeanShepherd}}'s America'' began that way, possibly with actual Burma-Shave signs.
* One of the "driving-to-California" episodes of ''Series/ILoveLucy'' originally had a scene where Lucy reads some Burma-Shave signs aloud. This was excised from the syndication cut, although it's included as a bonus on the season 4 DVD.
* The [[Recap/MashS11E16GoodbyeFarewellAndAmen final episode]] of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' has Hawkeye placed in a mental hospital after suffering a severe emotional breakdown. After counseling sessions with [[TheShrink Sidney Freedman]], he's reassigned to the 4077th; as he's being driven back by jeep, the driver points out a series of homemade signs that the rest of the staff have put up along the road to welcome him back:
-->Hawk was gone\\
Now he's here\\
Dance 'til dawn\\
Give a cheer
--->''Burma-Shave''
** Referenced in the episode "C*A*V*E". When Hawkeye and Houlihan prepare to drive from the cave where everyone is bunking during heavy shelling to the main camp to perform a life-saving operation on a patient, Hawkeye quips, "Don't drive too fast, I wanna read the Burma-Shave signs."
* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': In the fourth episode, during Red Skelton's comedy set, he riffs on the size of the Fontainblaine Hotel: "From your bedroom to the bathroom, they've got Burma-Shave signs!"

[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* Roger Miller did a song (later covered by Music/TheEverlyBrothers) about the adverts called, of course, "Burma Shave".
* "Burma-Shave" is the title of a song from Music/TomWaits' album ''Music/ForeignAffairs'' telling the tale of two urban runaways searching for someplace to escape to. The verses are set up to always end on name the titular product, as if tracking their progress down the lonely highways. [[spoiler:It [[DownerEnding doesn't turn out]] well.]]

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* The Flying Karamazov Brothers' production of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/ComedyOfErrors'' references these signs;
-->'''Adriana''': Come, I will fasten on this sleeve of thine:\\
Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine,\\
Whose weakness, married to thy stronger state,\\
Makes me with thy strength to communicate.\\
'''Antipholus of Syracuse''': Was that Rod [=McKuen=]?\\
'''Dromio of Syracuse''': Burma-Shave, I think.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}} 3'' contains the following series of billboards, which doesn't ''quite'' follow the meter.
-->Before they send us\\
To the grave\\
Alien beasts use\\
Burma-Shave
* One of the video games for the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer emblazoned with the GameOver screen with a short poem:
-->Ashes to ashes\\
Dust to dust\\
Your game is over\\
Replay if you must
---> ''Burma-Shave''
* ''VideoGame/GliderPRO'' has a series of rooms whose titles are a Burma-Shave poem... with the last one being named, of course, 'Burma-Shave!'(complete with exclamation mark).
* ''Videogame/SandcastleBuilder'' has one in the description of the 'Panther Glaze' boost, which doesn't really rhyme:
-->Early cat\\
Takes the blocks\\
But the late\\
Brings the chips
--->''Panther Glaze''
* The messages in Brick Road's dungeons in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' are reminiscent of this campaign, as they are short and he ends each one with "...Brick Road".
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has a spirit [[GratuitousIambicPentameter speaking in rhyme]], ending its FetchQuest request with a "Burma-Shave".

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/491 has a reference]]
* ''Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield'' [[http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=899 has a version of the signs]]:
--> Beware of Dog\\
He'll eat your kitten!\\
You Must Be This Tall to be Bitten
--->''Burma-Shave''
* When ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'' did one with [[DarkerAndEdgier grave stones]], it was flagged as being too old a reference on the blog [[http://comicsidontunderstand.com/wordpress/2015/12/14/gravely-incorrect/ Comics I Don't Understand]].

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* Website/GaiaOnline's online RPG ''[=zOMG!=]'' has a series of trash cans in the Bassken Lake area with lines written on them. Put together, the lines say:
--> To kiss a mug\\
That's like a cactus\\
Takes more nerve\\
Than it does practice
---> ''[[BlandNameProduct Burpa-Shave]]''

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', Rocky is lured into a trap by a series of signs:
-->Do not turn back\\
Go on instead\\
Your friend the moose\\
Is just ahead
--->''Boris-Shave''
* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' classic "WesternAnimation/RabbitSeasoning" begins with Daffy putting up "rabbit season" signs, starting with this:
-->If you're looking for fun\\
You don't need a reason\\
All you need is a gun\\
It's rabbit season!
** In ''[[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner Fastest With The Mostest]]'' the Coyote plants similar signs to lure the Road-Runner into a trap:
--->Anxieties and ulcers\\
Come from excessive speed.\\
Slow down!\\
Live longer!\\
Use Tranquilized Bird Seed!
* The Creator/TexAvery short ''WesternAnimation/NorthwestHoundedPolice'' has this when Droopy, as Sgt. [=McPoodle=], begins to chase the wolf down.
-->Don't look now--\\
Use your noodle--\\
You're being followed--\\
by Sgt. [=McPoodle=]
* In the 1940s ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' short "Shape Ahoy," Popeye and Bluto moved to a deserted island to escape the perils of women, and put up the following warning signs:
-->No dames\\
No hens\\
No skirts\\
No wrens\\
This island is only for '''mens'''!
---> ''[[BlandNameProduct Durma-Shave]]''
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' had Garfield and Odie do this to Jon:
-->Your cat and dog\\
Are getting thinner\\
Stop your work\\
And go make dinner\\

[[AC:ThemeParks]]
* The Worlds of Fun theme park near Kansas City, MO had an ride with rail-guided cars called Le Taxitour which featured one of these along the route (spaced quite closely together, because the cars didn't go very fast).
-->On winding roads\\
And steep inclines\\
Please watch the road\\
And not the signs\\
Burma-Shave

[[AC:RealLife]]
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_on_the_Rock House on the Rock]] in Spring Green, Wisconsin has a large collection of these ''somewhere'' inside.
* RealLife: Commuters who walk from the 1, 2, 3 train station to the A, C, E train station at Times Square in New York City has a Burma-Shave inspired poem called ''[[http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Artwork:_The_Commuter%27s_Lament-A_Close_Shave_%28Norman_B._Colp%29 The Commuter's Lament]]'' that hangs on the ceiling of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jyRqVLKtFY underpass]]:
-->Overslept,\\
So tired.\\
If late,\\
Get fired.\\
Why bother?\\
Why the pain?\\
Just go home\\
Do it again.\\
''(Picture of a bed with two pillows)''
** The installation was made in 1991 and was supposed to be temporary - it's still there. The artist, Norman B. Colp, passed away in 2007.
* Advertisements for Florida's [=SunPass=] system (where you pre-pay tolls and get a little doohickey to speed you through booths) is done in the style of Burma-Shave signs, spaced so that they're not too fast to read even on the high way.
* Humor columnist Lewis Grizzard wrote an article about Rosie Ruiz, who was accused of cheating in the Boston Marathon by slipping into the race shortly before the finish line. He suggested several tests to prevent this, including a set of these signs at five-mile intervals. After the race, each finisher would have to recite the rhyme. For example:
-->Here sits Rosie\\
Brokenhearted\\
She finished fine\\
But she never started
---> ''Burma-Shave''
* A lot of British readers were first introduced to the adverts by Creator/BillBryson's books about America. Additionally, due to the passage of time and regional differences, a lot of ''Americans'' were first introduced to the adverts by the same.
* The village of [[https://www.subletteweb.com Sublette, Illinois]] has a modern reproduction set of these just outside the south end of town on U.S. Route 52, posted by ''[[http://www.reminisce.com Reminisce]]'' Magazine:
-->WELCOME TO SUBLETTE'S ''Burma-Shave'' MEMORY LANE\\
''Reminisce'' MAGAZINE\\
"FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS\\
FOR A BIKE?" GRAMPS ROARED\\
"PAID LESS THAN THAT\\
FOR MY '39 FORD"\\
''Burma-Shave''
----

* BillboardEpic: The UrExample of this.

''"FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS\\
FOR A BIKE?"'' GRAMPS ROARED\\
''"PAID LESS THAN THAT\\
FOR MY '39 FORD"''
---> ''Burma-Shave''

* The village of [[https://www.subletteweb.com/index.asp?SEC=E4CFC449-DDA3-4767-8C9A-A7C7F5CFFD1A Sublette, Illinois]] has a modern reproduction set of these just outside the south end of town on U.S. Route 52, posted by ''[[http://www.reminisce.com Reminisce]]'' Magazine:

* The village of Sublette, Illinois has a modern reproduction set of these just outside the south end of town on U.S. Route 52, posted by ''[[http://www.reminisce.com Reminisce]]'' Magazine:

* The village of Sublette, Illinois has a modern reproduction set of these just outside the south end of town on U.S. Route 52, posted by ''[[http://http://www.reminisce.com Reminisce]]'' Magazine:

* The village of Sublette, Illinois has a modern set of these just outside the south end of town on U.S. Route 52, posted by ''[[http://http://www.reminisce.com Reminisce]]'' Magazine: