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Anonymous
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I can remember taking a trip as a child and seeing my first Burma Shave signs. Technically speaking, after 1963 all the 7,000 or so sets of signs were supposed to have been taken down. Still, my discovery may not have been unusual, since even today sightings abound (though they're not as frequent as Elvis sightings). It could be possible that some of the thousands of signs that dotted the countryside were never taken down, or perhaps (and more likely) they are the work of some nostalgic farmers who recreated them.
Like many great success stories, Burma Shave started by happenstance. Burma Shave, a brushless shaving cream, was concocted by the Odell family. Its predecessor product, a liniment called Burma Vita, was not doing very well in sales, due to competition and to the fact that it could only be sold to people who were ill. It was suggested that it would be more profitable to market a product that could be used every day, such as Lloyd's Euxesis from England. This was the original brushless shaving cream that was available world-wide. A chemist was hired (Burma-Vita was one of grandfather Odell's homemade concoctions) and after about 300 mixtures were tried, Burma Shave was born.
However, inventing the product was not the key to success, and the product almost died several times because of poor marketing. One of the marketing schemes was called "Jars on Approval," in which the Odell boys would enter a man's office and give him a jar of Burma Shave on this basis: if he liked the product he would pay them 50
Like many great success stories, Burma Shave started by happenstance. Burma Shave, a brushless shaving cream, was concocted by the Odell family. Its predecessor product, a liniment called Burma Vita, was not doing very well in sales, due to competition and to the fact that it could only be sold to people who were ill. It was suggested that it would be more profitable to market a product that could be used every day, such as Lloyd's Euxesis from England. This was the original brushless shaving cream that was available world-wide. A chemist was hired (Burma-Vita was one of grandfather Odell's homemade concoctions) and after about 300 mixtures were tried, Burma Shave was born.
However, inventing the product was not the key to success, and the product almost died several times because of poor marketing. One of the marketing schemes was called "Jars on Approval," in which the Odell boys would enter a man's office and give him a jar of Burma Shave on this basis: if he liked the product he would pay them 50
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