You, dear reader, are much too young, no doubt, to remember the little strings of Burma Shave signs that proliferated along US highways until about the time Eisenhower set up the billboard-free Interstate Highway System. The signs presented verses in successive lines of 2 to 3 words, often in couplets, usually rhyming. This apparently successful advertising gimmick lasted from 1927 to 1963, much beloved by families, especially the children, on vacation road trips. I still remember how my siblings and I would sing out as we demonstrated our fine reading skills:

EVERY SHAVER/ NOW CAN SNORE/ SIX MORE MINUTES/ THAN BEFORE/ BURMA SHAVE

HER CHARIOT SAILED/ AT NINETY PER/ THEY HAULED AWAY/ WHAT HAD BEN HUR

There was nothing whatever gay about these verses, but, they were, in a number of respects, highly gendered. Burma Shave was a man’s product, often bought by the wives. As one of the first shaving creams to hit the market, this new invention had to be sold to both men and women on the basis of its superior ‘softening’ power for wiry beards, its convenience, and most importantly its wiping out the need for a shaving brush.

Gay men of that earlier, and in some ways more innocent, age were never catered for by the advertising industry. And so, it should come as no surprise that they developed the fine art of the double entendre. Gendered pronouns easily gave rise to the kind of ambiguity of interpretation much loved in some gay circles. And metaphors for the shaving brush were manifold (as it were), referring to either male or female parts, as the case might demand.

Consider, for instance, this juicy one, though I can’t imagine how the ad writers thought it would increase their sales:

FOR PAINTING COWSHED/ BARN OR FENCE/ THAT SHAVING BRUSH IS JUST IMMENSE/ BURMA SHAVE

In the eyes of gay men, “brushes” could also signify women as in:

LAWYERS, DOCTORS/ SHEIKS AND BAKERS/ MOUNTAINEERS AND UNDERTAKERS/ MAKE THEIR BRISTLY BEARDS BEHAVE/ BY USING BRUSHLESS BURMA SHAVE

SEVERAL MILLION/ MODERN MEN/ WILL NEVER GO BACK/ TO THE BRUSH AGAIN

Here’s a few more that you might enjoy, even if you’re not inclined to see the suspiciously gay interpretations

SAID JULIET/TO ROMEO/IF YOU WON’T SHAVE/GO HOMEO

HIS FACE/WAS LOVED/BY JUST HIS MOTHER/HE BURMA-SHAVED/AND NOW - OH BROTHER

LETS GIVE THE/ CLERK A HAND/ WHO NEVER PALMS OFF/ ANOTHER BRAND

SUBSTITUTES/ WOULD IRK A SAINT/ YOU HOPE THEY ARE/ WHAT YOU KNOW/ THEY AINT

SHAVING BRUSHES/ WET AND HAIRY/ I’VE PASSED YOU UP/ FOR SANITARY/ BURMA SHAVE

MY MAN WON’T SHAVE/ SEZ HAZEL HUZ/ I SHOULD WORRY/ DORA’S DOES

HE HAD THE RING/ HE HAD THE FLAT/ SHE FELT HIS CHIN/ AND THAT WAS THAT

IF CRUSOE’D KEPT/ HIS CHIN MORE TIDY/ HE MIGHT HAVE FOUND/ A LADY FRIDAY

WE’VE MADE GRANDPA/ LOOK SO TRIM/ THE LOCAL DRAFT BOARD’S/ AFTER HIM

TRAIN WRECKS FEW/ REASON CLEAR/ FIREMAN NEVER/ HUGS ENGINEER

MY CHEEK SAYS SHE/ FEELS SMOOTH AS SATIN/ AHA SAYS HE/ THATS MINE YOU’RE PATTIN’

HIS FACE WAS SMOOTH/ AND COOL AS ICE/ AND OH! LOUISE!/ HE SMELLED SO NICE

BURMA SHAVE/ WAS SUCH A BOOM/ THEY PASSED/ THE BRIDE/ AND KISSED/ THE GROOM

THE HOBO LETS/ HIS WHISKERS SPROUT/ IT’S TRAINS - NOT GIRLS/ THAT HE TAKES OUT

HIS BEARD/ WAS LONG/ AND STRONG AND TOUGH/ HE LOST/ HIS CHICKEN/ IN THE ROUGH

SINCE HUBBY TRIED/ THAT SUBSTITUTE/ HE’S ONE THIRD MAN/ AND TWO THIRDS BRUTE

WE DON’T KNOW HOW/ TO SPLIT AN ATOM/ BUT AS TO WHISKERS/ LET US AT ‘EM

A SCRATCHY CHIN/ LIKE BRIGHT PINK SOCKS/ PUTS ANY ROMANCE/ ON THE ROCKS

BURMA SHAVE/ IS FUN/ NO SOONER SPREAD/ THAN DONE

NO PUSHY/ NO PULLY/ SMOOTH SHAVY/ FEEL BULLY

SAY, BIG BOY/ TO GO THRU LIFE/ HOW’D YOU LIKE/ A WHISKERED WIFE

MY NECK WAS SORE/ IN FRONT BEFORE/ AND ALSO SORE/ BEHIND BEFORE/ BURMA SHAVE

IF YOU AND WHISKERS/ DO HOBNOB/ SOME SAILOR GOB/ WILL STEAL YOUR SQUAB

WITHIN THIS VALE/ OF TOIL AND SIN/ YOUR HEAD GROWS BALD/ BUT NOT YOUR CHIN