Roadside Rhyme

     Every summer our family went to North Carolina or Florida for the annual vacation.  It was a long, hot trip in a car without air conditioning.  Burma Shave signs helped to make the ride a little more bearable.  I still remember one of the rhymes - Said Farmer Brown/ Who's bald/ On top/ Wish I could/ Rotate the crop/ Burma-Shave.  I had just learned about crop rotation in school that year, so I got the joke, and that felt cool.  However, I didn't understand the "Burma Shave" part.  I thought it might be something you said after delivering a punchline, like saying "psyche" after fooling somebody.  My mother explained that Burma Shave was shaving cream, and the Burma Shave people put up the signs to attract attention to their product.
     The signs appeared from 1923 to 1965.  The messages either pushed the product (A shave/ That's real/ No cuts to heal/ A soothing/ Velvet after-feel/ Burma-Shave) or emphasized safety and exceeding the speed limit (Don't take a curve/ At 60 per/ We hate to lose/ A customer/ Burma-Shave).  Twice, prizes were offered via the signs - a free jar of shave cream for sending in a bumper and a free trip to Mars for sending in 900 empty jars.  The company received a few fenders, so they made good on the promise and sent out free jars.  A grocery store owner sent in 900 empty jars and received a free trip to Moers (pronounced "Mars"), Germany along with the warning, If a trip to Mars you earn, remember, friend, there's no return.  The name Burma-Shave became so well known that Canadians started referring to the practice of holding political signs on the side of the road at election time as "burmashaving."
     Phillip Morris acquired the Burma-Shave company in 1963, and the signs were taken down by 1965.  In 1994 and 1995 Reminisce Magazine posted Burma-Shave style signs to promote their magazine.  They used two slogans, Today's kids/ Sure missed a treat, No moonlight rides/ In a rumble seat/ Reminisce Magazine, and, We played marbles/ And climbed trees/ Now kids can't play/ Without batteries/ Reminisce Magazine.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma-Shave  Each state received one set of signs.  Towns had to enter a contest to compete for the signs.  Southampton Township won the privilege of displaying New Jersey's signs.  Over the years, those signs have deteriorated.  Recently, they were restored by Holly Doyle, owner of the Mt. Holly Jersey Made store.  The signs were re-dedicated on July 3, 2012.  http://www.southamptonnj.org/vincentowns-burma-shave-signs-restored/
     So, take a ride out Landing Street to see the signs.  If you go on a Sunday, you could also stop at the Jack Allen Memorial Early Country Living Museum (located next to the signs).  The museum is open from 1:00 p.m. till 4:00 p.m.