HISTORY121 - Road Signs
Recently Pat and I were driving down a local road in Tucson, and Pat said something about wanting to know more about road signs, e.g., their history, how they were manufactured, how the government fits in, and more. So, once again, I thank Pat for identifying a good blog topic. After a short introduction, I will talk about the earliest road signs, from Ancient Rome to the 17 th century, the early influence of bicycles and automobiles, standardization of road signs, modernization and expansion of road signs, how road signs are made today, the digital age of road signs, advertising road signs, and finally, the future of road signs. As usual I will list my principal sources at the end. Introduction For the purpose of this blog, I define road signs as signs erected at the side, or above roads, to give instructions or provide information to road users. Typically, the purpose of road signs is to manage vehicle traffic or to provide advertisements. Tr...