Harley E. Warrick
(1924–2000)
The last barn painter for the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, Harley Warrick painted thousands of barns with the familiar Mail Pouch Tobacco logo over his 48-year career. Mail Pouch transcended advertising to become a fixture of nostalgic Americana, emblazoning barns across fifteen states with the “Midwestern imperative,” Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco — Treat Yourself to the Best. Once a common form of advertising through the early 20th century, barn painting became the sole province of Mail Pouch in this region by mid-century. The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 restricted roadside advertising, and in 1969 Block Brothers curtailed its program, retaining Warrick to refinish barns for their historical value until his retirement in 1993.
Marker is on Brown Street near 3rd Street, on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
