Poetry at 35 Miles an Hour: The Burma-Shave Signs
In 1926, little signs began appearing along a Minnesota highway. Drive past and a poem unfolded, one sign at a time. The last one always named a shaving cream.
A poem in six roadside signs
Today's EditionThe Saturday, November 6, 1926 Edition
Five stories from exactly 100 years ago, each told through money
Patents & InventionsRead the story →
An Invention Born at His Wife's Fingertips: The Band-Aid
She kept cutting her fingers in the kitchen. He wanted to make something she could put on by herself. That little strip of tape with gauze on it found its way into nearly every American home.
The first strips2½ × 18 inches
First-year sales$3,000
A Dollar Coin That Said "PEACE"
After the war, America stamped one word on a coin: PEACE. In 1926 people carried these heavy silver dollars in their pockets. Today the silver inside is worth about 39 times its face value.
A silver dollar → ≈ $38.87 of silver now
A Hotel Where You Park at the Door: The Motel Is Born
As road trips caught on, an architect had an idea: a place where drivers could park right next to their room. It opened in California at the end of 1925, and it gave the world a new word: motel.
$1.25 a night · the first motel
Gift Money That Arrives in November: The Christmas Club
In November 1926, bank checks arrived in homes across America — a year of small weekly savings, ready just in time for Christmas shopping. You could start with a penny a week.
A little each week → gift money in November
Person of the day
J. C. Hall
1891–1982 · Rebuilt a burned-out business side by side with his brother
In 1910 an eighteen-year-old stepped off the train in Kansas City, Missouri, with two shoeboxes of picture postcards. He couldn't afford a horse cab to the YMCA. He sold postcards to shops on foot, and soon his brother Rollie came to work beside him; they named the business Hall Brothers. As postcards faded, they read what people wanted next — cards sent in envelopes — and began selling valentines and Christmas cards. On January 11, 1915, fire destroyed their office and stock, leaving a safe and $17,000 in debt. Alone, he might have quit. Instead the brothers held on to each other and turned the disaster around: if they had lost everything selling other people's cards, they would make their own. They bought printing presses and began printing cards that carry feelings from one person to another. That small family firm became Hallmark. "Poverty for me was a tremendous spur," he wrote in his memoir. "It actually gave me an advantage over a lot of folks when I was starting out."
The day in one line
On a Saturday in 1926, people looked after one another with a bandage, a poem by the road, and a penny put away each week.— the Wink High Desk
Also in the news
- At the New York Auto Show, General Motors introduces a new brand, Pontiac — an affordable six-cylinder car.
- Congress passes the Air Commerce Act, putting aircraft, pilot licenses and airways under federal oversight for the first time.
- Agatha Christie publishes The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a mystery still talked about for its final twist.
Past editions
The November 5, 1926 EditionLunch for a Nickel: The 5-Cent HamburgerThe November 4, 1926 EditionYour Subscription Box Is 100 Years Old: The Book That Came in the MailThe November 3, 1926 EditionThe Hottest Gadget of 1926 Was a Box That TalkedThe November 2, 1926 EditionBuy Now, Pay Later Is 100 Years Old: How 1926 Families Drove Home in Cars They Paid for Monthly