An Indelible Cold War Symbol

“My best salesmen are named Kennedy and Khrushchev”

--Home Fallout Shelter Salesman, 1961

In this well-researched piece CONELRAD Adjacent tracks the history of the fallout shelter sign.

Just as it would be difficult to imagine the Cold War without the Berlin Wall or the American-Soviet 'hotline,' it would be equally hard to consider this tumultuous era without the instantly recognizable National Fallout Shelter Sign. Beginning in 1961, this ubiquitous yellow and black sign with inverted triangular shapes began showing up on and in structures across the United States. The purpose of the sign was to alert the citizenry that space had been identified by the government for public shelter in the event of a nuclear attack.[ii]

Walk around any major American city today and you will still be able to see at least a few rusty Fallout Shelter Signs attached to buildings of a certain vintage.[iii] These distinctive metallic, reflective signs remain the most durable—literally and figuratively—symbol of the Cold War. But how did the sign come to be and who exactly was responsible for its creation?

Thanks for the interesting read Bruce!