As the month of April begins, I realize how fast the days go by.  It seems like it was only January with a whole new year ahead of us.  Then in a blink of an eye it was February with cold and icy weather, Punxsutawney Phil and the season of Lent.  We recently bid farewell to March and its erratic weather.  And now we arrive at April—a time of happiness and Easter.  We celebrate this most joyous holiday with church services, Easter baskets, colored eggs and flowers.

Spring reminds me of one of my favorite things we did in the spring when I was a boy.  To celebrate the return of warmer weather, we would take a short motor trip.  We traveled old Route 19 to the Amish country near New Wilmington.  It was a great ride, seeing all the green returning to the farms and landscape.  But I especially liked seeing the outdoor advertising. 

The barns painted with Mail Pouch Tobacco advertisements dotted the rolling hillsides.  Their slogan was “Treat Yourself to the Best.”  This was painted on the side of a willing farmer’s barn in exchange for a choice of several things:  cash, magazine subscriptions or, of course, a hefty supply of Mail Pouch Chewing tobacco.  Another popular option the farmer could choose was to have the rest of his barn painted.  The last living Mail Pouch painter, Harley Warrick, estimates that he painted or repainted more than 20,000 barns and signs throughout his career.

Another classic advertisement that I liked was the Burma-Shave signs.  Anyone who was alive between 1920 and 1960 will remember those ads, which were the precursor of the modern billboard.  The signs were often humorous jingles that were placed at intervals along the road with each sign showing one line of the rhyme.  Here is an example of one of the jingles: 

She put a bullet

Through his hat.

But he’s had closer

Shaves than that

With Burma-Shave

Billboards proliferated and on October 22, 1965, the Highway Beautification Act was signed into law. This legislation was enacted to control billboards on interstate and federal-aided primary highways by limiting them to commercial and industrial areas. In 1999 tobacco advertisements were banned on billboards.  Whether we like outdoor advertising or not, it is a part of the landscape. 

Well, enjoy April and may its showers bring you flowers next month and have a Happy Easter as well.

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Joe welcomes any ideas, suggestions or interesting stories.
Email him at northcon@nauticom.net. Please put "Town Crier" in the subject line of your email.

To contact Joe to schedule an appointment to tour his museum at McKnight Elementary School, call the Northern Connection office at (724) 940-2444 or email northcon@nauticom.net. Please put "Museum Tour" in the subject line.

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