Mail Pouch Barns
In the heyday of barn advertising (around 1900-1940) many companies paid farmers to use their barns as roadside ads, with other tobacco products (such as "Beech Nut" tobacco) and local feed and grain stores being the most common, but Mail Pouch was the only product advertised in so widespread and consistent a manner in this fashion.
Initially, barn owners were paid between $1 and $2 a year for the advertisement, equivalent in 1913 dollars to about $20–$40 today, but more importantly, they received a much desired fresh coat of paint to preserve the integrity of the wood. Mail Pouch painted their message on one or two sides of the barn (depending on viewability from the roadway) and painted the other sides of the barn any color the owner wished. Many of the barns were repainted every few years to maintain the sharp colors of the lettering.
In 1992, the owner of Mail Pouch Tobacco at the time, Swisher International Group, decided to suspend the use of barn advertisements when Warrick retired
Few are left standing today.
4 comments:
I've only seen a few in person, but I love that he advertisements kept the barns from ruin.
Those barns are so cool. I would love to see one in person.
i didn't know...have never seen one. it was a good idea and they are very cool looking!!
Maybe being raised in a rural community I saw more of them than the average person. Sadly most are gone today.
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