By Ken Drenten

This Mail Pouch barn, photographed in 2007, fell into disrepair and was demolished within several years. It was located at US 22 and SR 204 in Perry County. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

The Mail Pouch Tobacco barn is an iconic part of the American landscape, but how did it become so, and why? Large hand-painted advertisements for chewing tobacco can still be seen on barns in many states, especially Ohio, which has more of these barns than any other state.

Typically stating, “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco / Treat Yourself to the Best,” the painted barns are basically large roadside billboards. Between 1891 and the 1970s, the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, W.Va., (now Swisher International) hired two-man teams to paint barns in nearly every state except Alaska and Hawaii.  They paid farmers a one-time payment and a very small monthly royalty for the use of the barn.

This red-painted is located near SR 37 and SR 161 in Licking County between Granville and Alexandria. The barn is considerably more overgrown with trees now. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

One of these sign painters, Harley Warrick, of Belmont, Ohio, has become a legend among Mail Pouch barn fans. Between 1946 when he returned home from World War II and 1991 when he retired, Warrick is said to have painted or repainted over 20,000 barns. He passed away in 2000. Another sign painter, Maurice Zimmerman, painted about 14,000 barns.

In 1965 the Highway Beautification Act allowed Mail Pouch and other advertising barns to remain as landmark signs rather than billboards. This allowed these iconic barns to remain, though none have been repainted for nearly 30 years, except by the owners.

At one time there were an estimated 50,000 Mail Pouch barns in existence. Today it’s estimated that less than 2,000 of these barns remain nationwide. Other brands advertised on barns include Kentucky Club, Bull Durham, WOW, Melo Crown and Red Man tobaccos, as well as many other brands.

This Mail Pouch barn is located on US 62 in Holmes County west of Killbuck. (Credit: Ken Drenten)

Ohio has the most Mail Pouch barns (an estimated 940), followed by Pennsylvania (487) and West Virginia (287), according to the group MailPouchBarnstormers.org. The barn group has painstakingly catalogued each barn’s location and gathered as much information as possible about each one. 

Here are the locations of the Mail Pouch barns I have been able to find and photograph:

• US 40 west of Zanesville, Muskingum County (several).
• SR 555 about 10 miles south of Zanesville, Muskingum County.
• US 40 between New Concord and Norwich.
• 15296 Millersburg Road (US 62), Brinkhaven, Holmes County.
• 12198 US 62, Killbuck, Holmes County.
• SR 161/SR 37 at York Road/Alexandria exit, Licking County.
• SR 83 north of Coshocton, Coshocton County.
• US 22 and SR 204, Perry County (gone).
• SR 93 south of Baltic, Stark County.
• US 60 north of Marietta, Washington County.

Subscribe to Dusty Tires and receive a weekly email with the latest blog article. It’s free and ad-free!

Ken Drenten is creator and manager of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

All rights reserved, copyright Dusty Tires (dusty-tires.com), 2023.