Way back in 1927, lawyer Robert Odell was trying to make a little extra money, since his lawyering business wasn’t doing too well. He formulated a liniment, which he claimed came from an old sea captain. He bottled it himself and placed it in a few drug stores in the Minneapolis area. Robert called his liniment “Burma Vita.” Vita meaning life, and Burma, located on the Maylay Peninsula, and now called Mayanmar. Why Odell chose Burma, is lost to history Those who bought it, said it worked OK, but smelled terrible. Robert suffered a stroke, and turned his liniment business, over to his son Clinton. Clinton was a successful insurance salesman, and did a lot of traveling for his sales.
Back in the 1920’s men shaved with a brush soaked in lather, usually created by soap, which softened the beard. A shaving brush, was an integral part of all men’s usually daily efforts to remove a beard. Soapy foam, applied with a shaving brush, was used daily by millions. Clinton, fairly quickly discovered that Dad’s liniment was not only a poor seller, but it didn’t smell too good. Druggists, told Clinton that maybe if he developed a product which could be used every day, rather than when one hurt and needed relief, he might be better off in sales.
Burma-Vita sales had dropped to virtually nothing, and Clinton had been toying with a revolutionary idea, which was simply a ‘brushless shaving cream.’ One which you could just wipe on your face, and it would soften the beard, making it ready for the blade. Clinton found a down and out chemist, named Carl Norton, who claimed he had discovered a formula which eliminated the brush in shaving, and he called it ‘brushless,” and he would sell the formula for $25. Clinton sent the $25. It wasn’t very good, to put it mildly, and Clinton, ordered Norton to keep working in it and make it cheap, be able to put in a tube, sme00ll good, and soften beads. 300 different formulas later, Norton still hadn’t found what was desired. He remembered formula 143, which had sat on a back shelf for two months, brought it out, and that was it.
Clinton had been joined by his two sons, and they discarded the liniment, changed it into ‘Burma-Shave,’ rather the ‘Burma-Vita.’ At that time, there quickly were literally dozens of what were called ‘brushless shaving creams.’ How to sell Burma Shave, was a huge problem. Advertising was expensive, and there was no radio, or TV. Only magazines and newspapers. Changing millions of daily shavers’ habits from one procedure to another, was not an easy task. After all, everyone used a shaving brush. Burma Shave seemed to be great to those who used it
They tried lots of thigs, from ‘money back guarantee,’ to ‘here’s a free sample,’ on street corners, and sales didn’t increase hardly at all. One day, Allan, one of Clinton’s sons, was driving on a road between Aurora and Joliet Illinois, and he saw signs, which pointed to a gas station ahead. Each sign said “oil”, and the next one said “Gas,” and the next one said “free air,’ and the last one said the name of the gas station ahead. Allan figured that idea might sell shaving cream. Allan told his Dad about his idea, and Clinton asked ‘advertising experts,’ about his son’s idea, and all agreed, it was a terrible idea.
Money was tight, but Allan went to a scrap yard and bought a few old boards, and painted them in a bright color and the first verse was
“Shave
The Modern Way
Fine
For the Skin
Druggists have it
Burma-Shave.”
Those first crude signs began to work, beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. By January, 1927, the company was reaping its first repeat orders ever, from druggists serving customers using the roads with the signs. Burma Shave, went from zero to $68,000 in the first year, Sales kept increasing, and the signs went from six to five phrases, such as one of my favorites,
“Ben met Anna
Made a hit
Neglected shaving
Ben-Anna split.
Burma Shave.”
Or maybe in 1949:
“He saw
The train and tried to duck it
Kicked first the gas
And then the bucket
Burma-Shave.”
Burma Shave took off like a rocket, and Odell became wealthy. Burma Shave became famous as did its signs in 45 states. Whether it became inferior to other major brands, or whatever, by the early 1960’s it was decided to eliminate the signs. Why? Because of faster cars, faster speed limits, and farmers, which had been their core users, were selling to corporate outfits, retired, and former rural residents were moving to big cities, and signs were becoming less useful as advertising devices, besides taking a lot of maintenance. Colgate and others, had developed brushless shaving creams, which had become universal, and Burma Shave, had had its day. I still remember them with great affection as I drove in the 45 states, where the signs were placed. I’ve got a Burma-Shave sign in the wall near my desk, and it’s a pleasant decoration!
-Don Stott, don@coloradogold.com