The results, Blakeley recalled, included a preliminary sketch of a family of three moving toward a shelter. Blair was instructed to include at least one design inspired by the radiation symbol and to focus on crafting a straightforward, easily reproducible logo with room for directional arrows and details on a shelter’s capacity. “Whatever we developed,” he told writer Bill Geerhart for a 2011 post on the Cold War blog Conelrad Adjacent, “it would have to be usable in downtown New York City, Manhattan, when all the lights are out and people are on the street and don’t know where to go.”īlakeley enlisted Blair Inc., a design company based in Fairfax County, Virginia., to come up with a few options for the aluminum sign’s image. Still, he knew enough to dismiss an early suggestion that the signs be made of railroad board, a papery material that would be difficult to hang and would likely go up in flames after an atomic blast. Located in the basements of churches, bank buildings, apartment complexes and municipal structures, the shelters were stocked with food and water and designed to prevent radiation exposure as well as the kind of mass chaos envisioned by television’s “The Twilight Zone,” where neighbors in one episode came to blows over access to a small private shelter.īlakeley, a Marine veteran who served in two of the fiercest battles of World War II and the Korean War, was an expert on chaos, but not graphic design.

That October, the first federally backed shelters were unveiled to the public. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.

Korean war fallout shelter sign