The Museum in the Streets: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Burma-Shave was introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita company, owned by Clinton Odell. The brushless shaving cream was advertised in an innovative way: small signs were posted along the edges of roadways, spaced for sequential reading by motorists. Typically, six consecutive signs printed the rhyming lines of a poem, with the last sign naming the product. Sales soared. At its peak, Burma-Shave was the second-highest-selling brushless shaving cream in the United States. Introduced in the early years of the automobile, this billboard gimmick was adopted by many other promoters before the expanded Interstate highway system of the 1950s and increase in vehicle speeds rendered it less effective. Before World War II, the company moved to another Minneapolis location and was later acquired by Phillip Morris, which eventually discontinued the product.

Burma-Shave fue introducido en 1925 por la compañía Burma-Vita, de Clinton Odell. La crema de afeitar sin brocha se promocionaba de una forma innovadora: pequeños carteles consecutivos, típicamente seis, cada uno con líneas de un poema, se instalaban por las calles para ser leídos en secuencia por los motoristas, y el último nombraba el producto. Las ventas aumentaron dramáticamente. En la cúspide Burma-Shave fue la segunda crema de afeitar más vendida en los Estados Unidos. Este montaje



se introdujo en los primeros años del automóvil, y fue adoptado por otros promotores antes de la expansión del sistema do autopistas en los 1950, cuya elevada velocidad máxima disminuyó su eficacia. La compañía se mudó a otra localidad en Minneapolis antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y luego fue adquirida y discontinuada por Phillip Morris.

This panel is sponsored by Wellington Management

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2107 East Lake: Porky's Drive-In
2108-30 East Lake: Twin City Rapid Transit Lake Street Station and Car Yard
2217 East Lake: Axel's Lunch Room
Hiawatha-Minnehaha Corridor
Snelling Avenue: African American Community
3010 Minnehaha Avenue South: Fire Station No. 21
Longfellow School
3012 Minnehaha Avenue South: Lauritzen Wagon and Blacksmith Shop
2701 East Lake: International Order of Odd Fellows
2629 East Lake: Minnehaha Grill

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