Charles Wysocki Burma Road

The red and white Burma Shave sign can be seen roadside in the distance in Charles Wysocki's Legacy Print BURMA ROAD, done in his primitive Americana style.

"Way back in 1925, Allan Odell pitched this great sales idea to his father, Clinton who was the owner of Burma-Shave. Use small, wooden roadside signs to pitch their product, Burma-Shave, a brushless  shaving cream. The year was 1925 and the automobile has people beginning to take to the roads of America. Allan put up his first signs in a farmer's field along Highway 65 between Albert Lea and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"At first the signs were pure sales pitch, but as the years passed they found their sense of humor  extending to safety tips and pure fun. At their height of popularity there were 7,000 Burma-Shave  signs stretching across America. The familiar white on red signs, grouped by four, fives and sixes, were as much a part of the family trip as irritating your kid brother in the backseat. You'd read first one, then another, anticipating the punch line on number four and the familiar Burma-Shave  on the fifth.

"The signs cheered us during the Depression and World War II. But things began to change  in the late Fifties. Cars got faster and highways were built to accommodate them. The last year for new Burma-Shave signs was 1963. No more red and white nuggets of roadside wisdom to ease the journey."

This print is signed and numbered with a certificate of authenticity and comes in an unframed image size of 20" x 17.25".