Before I begin the Mail Pouch Sign history, I have a couple of things to share first.
Got an e-mail yesterday from a friend living in the City. I am going to quote that e-mail here:
SEARS IS LOST!
I have been sitting here in my chair in the living room for a little over an hour. At one point I noticed that the large delivery truck from Sears had been past several times. It kept circling and I counted 15 times in the same direction, in addition to all of the times that I did not count.
The truck is now circling in the opposite direction. It has done that 7 times and counting.
I wonder if they are looking for a place for your old refrigerator?
If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what will.
One of the neat things I would like to share regarding Harley Warrick (The Last Barn Painter), was his humility, and his willingness to share. He was an unique, like able person, and I feel much richer for having known him.
I remember, more than once, when I would be at a festival, there would be a 4 x 8 panel on sawhorses. Harley would be at that particular festival, and he would paint a Mail Pouch sign on said panel, demonstrating his "art work" and talking about Mail Pouch. But the neatest thing of all, whenever a customer would purchase one of my Mail Pouch barn prints, Harley would autograph it for said customer. How many "celebrities" do you know that would take the time to do that? Usually these panels were either auctioned off, or went into a permanent Mail Pouch display.
Now for History 102. (In case you don't know, History 101 was yesterday)
The sign first began appearing on the barns around the turn of the century (19th into the 20th, or 1800's into the 1900's - just making sure you know the right century) and CHEW MAIL POUCH - TREAT YOURSELF TO THE BEST has become a prominent part of the nostalgic Americana, found only within the 600 mile radius of Wheeling.
In the early days the farmer was offered his choice of being paid for the advertising space with money, tobacco, or magazine subscriptions. However this became quite complicated when barn ownership changed, and the farmer is now paid in money on a yearly basis.
When the program began, the copy was designed by Mr. J. A Block, requiring a wide yellow border with black spots in the center of the yellow border, spaced 12 inches apart. Why the black spot. Because the painters were paid by the square foot, and a picture of every sign was required to be sent in with their expense accounts. This picture, primitive as it was, served as a source of information, determining how many square feet each sign consisted of so the painters were paid properly.
MAIL POUCH barn signs are the original and oldest method of road-side advertising, and the one that is now known nationwide. The story is told about an English celebrity, who, upon arriving at a New York airport, was asked by a reporter what he thought America was most famous for. His answer "Good looking women and MAIL POUCH TOBACCO BARNS".
In the beginning the work was given out to local sign painters as transportation was limited. In later years the paint contracts narrowed down to only a few, and in 1933 this work was taken over by the tobacco company. The last two prominent barn painters were Maurice Zimmerman from Cambridge, Ohio, and Harley Warrick of Belmont Ohio.
Mr Zimmerman has passed away, but still has relatives in the Cambridge area. When Harley retired, the tobacco company discontinued the barn advertising. Harley passed away in 2000.
The Barnstormers is an organization founded to help preserve this piece of our local interest and heritage. They are doing a great job of making people aware of the history of Mail Pouch, and they also help with the restoration of mail pouch barns.
Another piece of our history is gone, along with so many others. It is truly sad.
In 1968 the Highway Beautification Act forced cancellation of a large portion of the barn painting, because a sign within 600 feet of an Interstate or primary highway was in violation of the act. Harley worked as the only barn painter for many years, retiring in 1995. Since that time the program has been completely cancelled, but I have it on good authority that property owners with the Mail Pouch Barn sign still receive their annual check for $10.00 I found the next barn in Randolph County West Virginia.
Only in West Virginia are the barns preserved, well painted, and propped up with posts to keep them from falling over the hill.
I will conclude this history lesson with a few MAIL POUCH TID-BITS.
DID YOU KNOW?
That the barn owner was paid approximately $10.00 per year per side.
That during the depression years it was this guaranteed income per year that was the difference between keeping or losing your farm?
That a lot of older signs done prior to WW II contained a tobacco pouch and some even contained the name of the tobacco company - Block Brothers - in the sign?
The barn painting was discontinued at the start of WW II? At the close of the war it was resumed and it was in that time frame that Harley Warrick was hired.
That in some instances the design of the sign was quite different than what we see today?
That Harley, at random, would deliberately mis-spell or mis-place one of the words on a Mail Pouch sign, and then sit back and wait to see how many phone calls the tobacco company would get about the mistake?
I hope you have enjoyed this. The next time you are out riding, see if you can find a MAIL POUCH BARN, and God Bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment