They are rare….they are a part of our Western history and if you’re lucky on your next road trip you might actually spot one. I’m Susan Allen filling  in for Jeff Today and I will be back to  fill you in after the quick break. They are getting harder and harder to find, yet they remain a vivid reminder of a bygone era. They, being old barns painted with big advertising slogans.  We have all seen them but did you know painted barns started in the South in the late 1800’s when the Mail Pouch Tobacco Company came up with the  creative marketing technique of painting huge slogans on the sides of big  barns? Known as Mail Pouch Tobacco barns they  could be found throughout 15 states and soon other companies copied their success.  One  barn in an eastern Washington community near my home still sports an advertisement for some old health tonic but I think that most of our listeners are more familiar with coffee slogans or tobacco products on barns throughout the Northwest. I often wondered why a farmer or rancher would let their barn be “graphically enhanced.” Obviously it wasn’t was for big bucks because in  1913 barn owners were paid the equivalent of twenty to forty dollars a year in today’s funds. The kicker was that these barns  received a fresh coat of paint every few years helping to preserve the structures. One well known barn painter Harley Warrick from Ohio from  once estimated he painted twenty thousand  barns in his lifetime each taking an average of six hours. That gives me a new appreciation for this unique form of advertising.