Mail Pouch ---> History ---> Articles ---> The Tradition Continues

Following the Mail Pouch Barn tradition has been very interesting for me. I started over 25 years ago and have around 20 barns in my collection. I would estimate that around 50% of those barns are now gone. Time, fires, and new developments have accounted for a lot of them. For the most part I have cataloged the negatives by roll and picture. No new barns are being painted anymore. Harley Warrick was painting some before he retired. He passed away last year (2000). Most of the barns remaining are starting to weather and fade. Some have started to settle and the letters aren't straight. But the tradition is still there. I think the old barns have more character. But a newly painted red one is also a sight to behold. Like the recent repainted one at Barcamp State Par in Belmont County. I have heard that was one of Harley's favorites.

The Mail Pouch logo appears in other places, not only barns. In Thomas, WV the logo appears on the back of a brick theater building. In Cameron the faded logo appears on a building in the center of town and on one on route 250 at the entrance from Moundsvville. In Benwood the faded remains are on the back of the Slovak building almost across the street from Undo's. North of Caldwell, Ohio, the logo appears on a beautiful red covered bridge on the road to a farm house. This one really stands out. In Catlettsburg, Kentucky there is one on the back of a building in the business section. In Barnesville the logo appears on a bright red sheet metal barn. And so it goes.

The popular logo appears other places. After his retirement, Harley Warrick mad and painted mail boxes, bird feeders, magazine holders and wood plaques. All with the logo on them … And there was a large metal Mail Pouch thermometer on the front of most general stores in past years. No more barns are being painted but the logo loves on. And it seems to be thriving.

It amazes me how many people are interested in the mail pouch logo. Artist love it. You can see their barn paintings about everywhere you go. I have seen the logo on baseball caps, sweat shirts, bird houses, and many different types of novelties.

Over the years I have gotten letters from readers about Mail Pouch barns. Many times they give locations of the barns in their area. Some also send pictures. Recently, someone from the Elkins-Philippi area sent a picture of a barn in the woods at Philippi.

I told him that he was a great artist and he quickly snapped back. "I am not an artist. I am a craftsman". I think he was both.

He got started in painting barns when he got out of the service in 1946. He was watching a crew repaint a barn in Londonderry, Ohio and became interested. Shortly after, he was a member of the crew. In those days it was a year around job even in cold weather. Harley said when it was too cold they would add a little gasoline to the oil based paint and keep on painting. In severe weather they didn't paint. I asked him how many coats rough barn siding would take. "Only one" he said. Oil base paints penetrate". His estimate was that he had painted around 20,000 barns in his 45 years on the job. Before he retired, Harley was the last full time barn painter for Mail Pouch. His initials, "HEW" appeared on a bottom corner of every barn he painted.

Most of his work was done in 13 states: Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and Virginia to name some. Other contractors painted some barns in California, Oregon, and Washington at that time.

I asked him at Stifel if he would autograph one of my pictures that day. When he finished, I asked if he remembered where that barn was. He looked at it and said, "About 7 miles southwest of Waynesburg. PA and if you go down the road about 200 yards there's another one on the left side". "How in the world did you remember that?" I asked. He grinned and said. "If you had fallen off as many scaffolds as I have, you'd remember them too." He had a great sense of humor.

He received many honors in his 45 years of painting. He appeared on national TV, had a documentary about his career, made a video tape and received many honors and recognitions in magazines and newspapers. He was proud of his degree from "The University of Hard Knocks". He said he was in good company in his honor. Harry S Truman and Chuck Yager to name two.

Harley Warrik was a very talented person as well as a good will ambassador for Mail Pouch. He was a legend in his own time. He is gone, but not forgotten. There will never be another Harley Warrick. His monuments remain. He left his national landmarks for America for everyone to enjoy.