Terry Ryan wrote this book about her mother. It is pretty funny, as you would expect when there are 10 kids in one house. To help pay for expenses, the mother starts entering writing contests. And she wins--a lot! Here is a little teaser:
"She began her contesting career simply enough, with Burma-Shave roadside rhymes. In the 1950s you couldn't drive down a highway without passing a Burma-Shave roadside billboard campaign, six signs spaced at hundred-yard intervals down the road, one line to a sign, the last always "Burma-Shave". The verses were clever and meant to amuse, their content ranging from shaving to safe driving and current culture. My mother's submissions added to those topics an occasional touch of irony:
Race little roadster,
Fairly Fly.
You'll be
Used parts
By and by.
Burma-Shave.
Successful Burma-Shave jingles inserted a not-so-hidden advertisement into the mix, and in one entry Mom went for broke--if you don't shave close enough, you could kill yourself:
Hairpin turn,
Hotrod ditched.
Lost control,
His whiskers
Itched.
Burma-Shave."
No comments:
Post a Comment