In search of America
© DMT

Discovering America: Roadside Signs and Attractions

What keeps you going isn’t some fine destination but just the road you’re on, and the fact that you know how to drive.
—Barbara Kingsolver

There are hundreds of quotes about the art of travel (and the art of living), especially words that suggest that the journey matters as much as the destination . . . often more.

This philosophy is right on target when exploring one of the cornerstones of American life—the road trip.

Four million miles of highways can tell a good story—the roadside signs and attractions offer a realistic glimpse into the fabric of America.

Welcome to South Dakota.
© DMT

From the Burma Shave ads of the 50s and 60s that stretched their storyline into six sequential signs to the roadside signs and attractions of today, we are given a window to the character of the people and places along the highway.

All we have to do is look.

Oh I see. What a great way to discover America.

Americana at its best
© DMT

In the Beginning . . .

WE’RE WIDELY READ
AND OFTEN QUOTED
BUT IT’S SHAVES
NOT SIGNS
FOR WHICH WE’RE NOTED
Burma-Shave

When you ask what roadside signs are lodged in memory, most people who were in a car in the 50s and 60s will smile as they recall the Burma Shave signs.

The company was known for its innovative roadside advertising. Each of the six signs posted at intervals along the road had one line of verse. The grand finale was BURMA-SHAVE—the brushless shaving cream of the time.

The poems were often quoted; and travelers, it was said, could never read just one of the signs. The fun was putting the poem all together.

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

THE CROWD
YOU SEE
AROUND THAT STORE
ARE BURMA SHAVERS
BUYING MORE
Burma-Shave

DON’T LOSE
YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
Burma-Shave

The signs worked well for the company, growing its brand significantly and, in many instances, increasing attention on highway safety. Sadly, the last of these signs disappeared from the roadside in 1966.

Not quite Burma Shave, but eye catching just the same
© iStock/tacojim

We All Need a Little Humor in Our Lives

Several creative characters on today’s highways have continued the inventive roadside spirit of keeping drivers amused, informed, and awake.

Vince Rozmiarek of the Indian Hills Community Center in Colorado posts a few pearls of wisdom each week on the community center’s sign.

DOGS
CAN’T OPERATE
MRI SCANNERS
BUT CATSCAN

PUNS ABOUT
COMMUNISM AREN’T
FUNNY UNLESS
EVERYONE
GETS THEM

TURNING VEGAN
WOULD BE A
BIG
MISSED STEAK

MY MOOD RING
IS MISSING
AND I DON’T
KNOW HOW I FEEL
ABOUT THAT

PROCRASTINATORS
ANONYMOUS
MEETING
POSTPONED
INDEFINITELY

Indian Hills Community Center’s Creative Genius
Photo Courtesy of Indian Hills Community Center

The El Arroyo Restaurant in Austin, Texas shows the same genius in their changing billboard.

• Six out of seven dwarves aren’t Happy.
• Anything I say before coffee cannot be used against me.
• Dear Math. Grow up and solve your own problems.
• Treat your mom to a margarita. You’re probably the reason she drinks.

 And, one in an attempt at highway safety:

• If you’re reading this sign, you’re not watching the road.

Guided by Roadside Signs

Roadside signs provide more than just a smile for highway travelers. They also tempt those on the road to the food and sights of the region.

Who could resist love, peace, and chicken grease?

© Lauren Gezurian-Amlani

Or pork with an attitude?

© Lauren Gezurian-Amlani

Or 24-hour coffee?

© iStock/anna42f

Or Bar and BBQ at the Redneck Riviera?

© Lauren Gezurian-Amlani

Along with the temptation of local culinary treasures comes the need to break up long drives with roadside attractions—from the historic to the bizarre.

Every state has “roadside attraction pride,” from the world’s largest this and that to art installations to historic monuments to seductive entertainment conglomerates.

Living the heartland of America: hot dogs and apple pie
© DMT

We can travel to Montgomery, Alabama, for the world’s largest brick; to North Pole, Alaska, for the world’s largest Santa Claus; to Cawker City, Kansas, for the world’s largest ball of twine; to Scarborough, Maine, for the world’s largest chocolate moose; and to Cottonwood, Idaho, for the world’s largest beagle, which also happens to be the Dog Bark Park Inn, a dog-friendly hotel.

The Dog Bark Park Inn in Idaho
Photo courtesy of Dog Bark Park Inn

In addition to the plethora of “world’s largest” things, we can also find the artistic and bizarre.

Don’t miss Salvation Mountain in Niland, California; Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas; the Ventriloquist Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky; the Jello-O Museum in Le Roy, New York; an alien-themed brothel in Amargosa Valley, Nevada; Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obisbo, California; or the world’s largest collection of the world’s smallest versions of the world’s largest things in Lucas, Kansas.

Salvation Mountain . . . Stay on Path
© iStock/Steven Kriemadis

We might be surprised with the number of Stonehenge replicas across our great nation, including Foamhenge in Natural Bridge, Virginia; Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska; and Bamahenge in, you guessed it, Alabama (Elberta).

The Enchanted Highway in North Dakota
© DMT

Some of America’s roadside attraction legends are still going strong.

The Enchanted Highway in North Dakota features a series of innovative scrap metal sculptures at intervals along a 32-mile stretch of highway.

The Mitchell Corn Palace in South Dakota takes pride in its more than 127-year history as the only corn palace in the U.S.—replacing the corn-mural walls every year with 13 different colors of corn.

And the single spot in the U.S. where four states meet still attracts thousands of visitors each year, all trying to strike a precarious balance between Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado (can you really be in more than one place at the same time?).

Straddling four states at Four Corners
© Frank Mullins

Aside from the legends and the bizarre, there are subtle things we drive past that make us smile or give us a ping of nostalgia, as if we are perhaps seeing the last vestige of a particular America.

© DMT

The roadside signs and attractions will no doubt be different the next time we travel that road. Some other country may soon boast the world’s largest ball of twine or the largest chocolate moose.

Change is a constant.
© Lauren Gezurian-Amlani

As with any good journey, change is a constant. The art of travel is to enjoy the journey.

Enjoy the journey.
© iStock/Miroslav1

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Author’s Note: I dedicate this post to my parents (and all parents who venture on family road trips with kids). My parents’ patience and bravery in orchestrating numerous road trips resulted in my having seen many of the things that I mention in this article. The Corn Palace and Four Corners are still vivid memories years and years later, and the world’s biggest ball of twine still makes cameo appearances in my dreams.