Burma Shave
The letter says:
Just wanted to write and tell you how much I enjoy the mysterious “Burma Shave” sign and your kooky mailbox, which I’m using now.
This roadside shrine to something is a small part of what makes Wilmington weird and good.
Thanks a lot,
Ian, the Grove Project
Marks the beginning of what I hope are a series of long-hand, snail mail letters to places and people in the community.
I bet someone stole rubber slippers off that little broad holding the mailbox up…
I have a similar tu-tu, only mine’s more fru-fru.
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Ian Reply:
June 8th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Tanya – This funny comment in no way exempts you from your review assignment for the Grove Project
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Tanya Reply:
June 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Oops-I meant ruby-not rubber-slippers…Lil mailbox broad reminds me of the witch on Wiz of Oz chillin’ under Dorothy’s crib. I’ll get back to work!
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Then you must love the enormous Triceratops, with painted red horns, on Clear Run Drive— surrounded by barbed wire!? I love it, it is so strange and stupid looking… it always makes me smile.
I’ve never seen Burma Shave… now I must be on the lookout!
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I do love that Triceratops. The barbed wire makes it EVEN stranger, but I hear that the horns have been stolen and/or vandalized before. You’ve got to *work* to protect your strange monuments!
(Speaking of which, I smoothed out the address on the leggy mailbox in the picture above.)
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How about the guy on Masonboro Loop who every Christmas places a Santa Claus atop a 20-foot ivy covered obelisk in front of his house? He had it up this year well after the New Year had passed. Weird and good indeed.
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Growing up in northern IL, I remember seeing the occasional series of rhyming, Burma Shave-esque signs along stretches of rural highways, advertising restaurants or country stores.
With July 4 approaching, make sure to see the house on Mallard near where Hooker Road meets it; that guy will have a thousand American flags in his yard!
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What *is* a “Burma Shave” anyway?
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Just to add to the weirdness, the owner of the infamous triceratops claims to keep a loaded pistol on his bedside table in case any kids try to mess with his beloved triceratops. Maybe he should electrify the barbed wire or upgrade to razor wire.
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It was shaving cream, Rachel. Their ad campaign consisted of a series of small-ish, rhyming signs, one after another, along a road that were about the product . Many times, though, they were sort of public service announcements about not driving too fast or not drinking and driving. I’m sure the web has lots of sites devoted to Burma Shave ads.
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Yeah Rachel it’s (or it was) shaving cream, but I’m pretty sure sold before your husband put a razor to his face.
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So it doesn’t have anything to do with a Brazilian?
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