Watching for Burma Shave Rhymes

We never took what I would call a real vacation. Daddy would go to Brainerd, Minnesota to see his parents, brothers and sisters (actually, some were half brothers and sisters). Occasionally, he took Iris or the boys with him. I never made the trip to Minnesota and they never came to see us, so I never met or knew my grandparents on Daddy’s side. Sometimes Daddy would take us on a long car ride, often going as far as the Wisconsin border. I now wonder if this was his way of getting us out of Mom’s hair for a while, giving her a little breathing room. We also went to visit Bessie and Harry Means and their children in Cordova, Illinois. There was another family we visited near there named Rogers. I can’t remember anything else about them, but I do remember that Bessie Means worked at the East Moline State Hospital. We made short trips to Elmhurst, Illinois, near Chicago, to visit Ray and Arjean Moos and their four children, all boys. Mom would sit in the front seat of the car and read a book. She would hold it in front of her eyes so she couldn’t see Daddy drive. He drove fast, weaving in and out to be the lead car. This was very dangerous in those days when there were only two-lane roads. These were very special trips to us, and a big treat because they often included a side trip to Lincoln Park Zoo for the day. We would love to look for the Burma Shave signs as we traveled. These were sequential signs carrying catchy rhymes for shaving cream and dotted the roadways during the 40’s and 50’s. The signs stood in sets of five. The first four spelled out a snappy verse, the last said, “Burma Shave.” I still remember a few.