We are very pleased to announce that we have uncovered the complete history of this important American symbol. CONELRAD, however, had the luxury of spending a number of years obsessively researching the issue. Naturally, Smith moved on to other stories. The magazine article (“Signs of the Times”) that spurred this furious and fruitless research activity was published a few weeks later without any reference to the Fallout Shelter Sign symbol.

There was, quite literally, nothing out there that explained the origins of the design. And despite our best efforts to quickly research the issue prior to the magazine’s editorial deadline, we were unable to find what we thought would be an incredibly easy, straightforward answer. Much to our professional embarrassment, we did not have a comprehensive response ready and waiting for the journalist. Smith of Rolling Stone magazine was writing a piece on popular culture iconography (the Smiley Face, the Peace Sign, etc.) and he wanted to know the story behind the design of Fallout Shelter Sign symbol.

Our quest to find the answers to these questions began on Apwith a simple inquiry. But how did the sign come to be and who exactly was responsible for its creation? These distinctive metallic, reflective signs remain the most durable-literally and figuratively-symbol of the Cold War. 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. 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. Beginning in 1961, this ubiquitous yellow and black sign with inverted triangular shapes began showing up on and in structures across the United States. 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. Blakeley in a 1986 oral history interview for the U.S. “Some day I’m going to write a paper about the fallout shelter signs.”

Rusty fallout shelter symbol