On Tuesday afternoon, July 17, it was reported to the Marshall County Sheriff`s Department that a large advertisement for “Mail Pouch Tobacco” had been stolen off of an older shed in the 6000 block of Lincoln Highway.
This advertisement was painted on the side of the shed`s individual wood planks with each individual plank being removed and stolen.
The Marshall County Sheriff`s Department is requesting individuals who have information in regards to the theft to contact this department at 574-936-3187.
Photos by Robin Myers
Article Robin wrote about the sign
Mail Pouch Barn in Bourbon
By Robin Myers
Heading on Old 31, (Lincoln Highway), East towards Bourbon, a barn with the painted words on one side caught my eye. I knew it was something special, but didn’t know the story behind it. It reads, “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” and on the bottom, “Treat yourself to the best”.
The current owners of the property are Mr. and Mrs. Dale McCollough. Mrs. McCollough, “Judy”, told me that John Zimmerman was the owner when the barn was painted with the advertisement. She said she has the original contract between the Tobacco Company and Mr. Zimmerman and she believes, “Mr. Zimmerman received a certain amount of tobacco in exchange for the ad space”. She thinks “They were “German folks” and didn’t use tobacco for personal use, so, maybe they used it to worm their horses”.
She also believes it may be the last remaining barn painting of its type on all of Lincoln Highway. She stated, “It was nothing to get rich off of”. She’s researching now how to preserve it, whether to re-paint it, or preserve it in another way.
I did some research and here’s what I found out about the barn painting. These “Mail Pouch Barns” were painted from 1890 to 1992. In 1992, the program was stopped because the owner of Mail Pouch Tobacco retired. The program was started up again years later, but, there is only one painter doing the job at the present time.
The company, Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco, was part of the Block Brothers Tobacco Company based in Wheeling, W. Virginia. In the beginning, the advertising campaign began in 1925 in Syracuse, NY with six men, (two to a truck) who started, “Barn Storming”. From Syracuse, the men traveled throughout 22 states looking for barns that had one or two sides visible from highways. Two men would paint a sign in half a day. The paint was in 100 pound kegs.
The painters completed the ads on many famous people’s barns, like, Jimmy Stewart’s dad’s, Dennis Day’s Uncle, and the birthplace of William Boyd, (Hop along Cassidy).
After World War II, many barns were painted by Harley Warrick of Ohio. He estimated that he painted close to 20,000 barns in his life, with an average barn taking six hours to paint. He said he always began the painting with the “e” in Chew. Some painters have their initials painted in the blue border. Many barns were repainted over the years to keep the colors crisp.
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 was put in place to stop so much advertising along highways, but, the Mail Pouch Barns were given an exception because they are considered to be historic landmarks. Some other advertisers like Beech Nut Tobacco and local feed or grocery stores also began painting barns for advertising value.
According to an article by Gerald Carl Art in 1984, Maurice Zimmerman, the last survivor of the original six men said, “Once in a while we’d get static—usually from women—not about the sign itself, but about chewing tobacco. Sometimes we’d find a lady barn owner who liked to chew tobacco”. The trucks were model T’s with curtains. Zimmerman said, “Often the Model T would barely make it up a hill. I remember the St. Clarksville Hill when it was snowy and icy. I don’t know which was worse, going up or coming down, but we always made it”. About pay, Zimmerman stated, “We paid from $2 to $10 a year, sometimes as little as $1, and some farmer’s thought they were getting rich quick”. (Zimmerman passed away in 1993).
Mr. and Mrs. McCollough are both retired now. Dale retired at age 71 and started out farming the land, but when his health stopped him from farming, he was a rurual route postman out of Warsaw. Judy retired just last year from the Marshall County Museum. She began working there just after it moved and managed moving all of the books. They have five children, three girls and two boys along with five grandchildren and one great grandson, so far.
Many of the barns have fallen into disrepair of have been demolished over the years, so, if you happen across one, take a close look, it’s really something special.
