Having a lovely time at Leicester comedy festival. Last night I saw Tom Burgess's Peter Fleming’s Dismally Ill-Prepared TV Pub Quiz and had a delightful time. It was so, so funny.
cerys
@hashtagcerys.bsky.social
(they/them) Ask me about road signs. Photo credit: Michael Julings
You can read a full account of this story on my Patreon OR come see me talk about it live at the Leicester comedy festival on Sunday!
cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 6mo agoRoad signs in the UK use a font specifically created for that purpose, called Transport. (Many countries signed up to the Vienna Convention use variations of this font.) How Transport came to be the font of choice is a fascinating story as many elements of it were highly controversial...
Taking a brief interlude in the history of road sign fonts thread to show off this cool new book my lovely wife bought me*. *I'm trying not to buy any books this year and she was worried it would be difficult to get ahold of next year.
Road signs in the UK use a font specifically created for that purpose, called Transport. (Many countries signed up to the Vienna Convention use variations of this font.) How Transport came to be the font of choice is a fascinating story as many elements of it were highly controversial...
The blue of a parking sign (in the UK) is pantone 300. Here are more facts about the colour blue than you thought you needed: www.patreon.com/posts/141127...
Feeling blue | hashtagcerys
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The parking sign dates back to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics! I'll be releasing a full patreon post all about it next week. In the mean time, there's a paid post about motorcycle helmets already up.
cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 6mo agoI've been doing some reading about parking signs recently and it turns out the history is super interesting. Can you guess when the P in a blue rectangle parking sign was invented and for what event?
I've been doing some reading about parking signs recently and it turns out the history is super interesting. Can you guess when the P in a blue rectangle parking sign was invented and for what event?
You've gotta check they're legit though - there's an underground market in stolen street signs...
cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 6mo agoYou can also just buy them. Some of them for like £30.
You can also just buy them. Some of them for like £30.
cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 6mo agoThey just leave road signs lying around on the floor, no guards or nothing. Anyone could just pick one up and take it home...
They just leave road signs lying around on the floor, no guards or nothing. Anyone could just pick one up and take it home...
You can read the full report on the Slough Safety Experiment here: ia801400.us.archive.org/20/items/op1... And see a bunch of cool photos of the original signs and posters etc.
ia801400.us.archive.org
This is supposed to be a hand btw but I am not good at hands. Tbf, the original posters, made in the early 50s, have something authoritarian about their nature (I presume bc they're built directly on war propaganda iconography) and so it's probably for the best I didn't accurately capture the image.
The Great Slough Experiment! Read all about how Slough was turned into a safety town on my patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/148849...
The Safety Town | hashtagcerys
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Signs from the Margaret Calvert Exhibition at the OSH Gallery last year.
Welcome to Italy! If you want to know what specific brand of car it is you can read the deep dive on my patreon! (Spoilers: I don't know very much about cars.)
cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe Vienna Convention on road signs lays out basic shapes, colours and concepts for consistency across countries but allows for a lot of individuality within that. Can you guess what country this road sign is from based on its unique car symbol?
The Vienna Convention on road signs lays out basic shapes, colours and concepts for consistency across countries but allows for a lot of individuality within that. Can you guess what country this road sign is from based on its unique car symbol?
The Vienna Convention on road signs lays out basic shapes, colours and concepts for consistency across countries but allows for a lot of individuality within that. Can you guess what country this road sign is from based on its unique car symbol?
You too can be an annoying-I-mean-knowledgeable passenger by reading my patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/146350...
Bump in the road | hashtagcerys
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cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 7mo agoI now know the difference between speed bumps (designed to reduce speed to about 5mph), humps (designed to reduce to 20mph ish), cushions (don't cover the full length of the road) and tables (raised out of the road for pedestrians to cross) which makes me a super fun passenger.
I now know the difference between speed bumps (designed to reduce speed to about 5mph), humps (designed to reduce to 20mph ish), cushions (don't cover the full length of the road) and tables (raised out of the road for pedestrians to cross) which makes me a super fun passenger.
Did you know that red paint on signs often fades faster than blue? It's therefore not uncommon to see No Through Road signs sans the red bar. This has led to a rumour that some No Through Road signs signal if there is space to turn (a white T) and those that don't (with a red bar) which is not true!
Was late to an event today taking a photo of this nice tiled street sign.
You can find out all about this sign in my brief history of the Give Way sign here on my patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/147796...
An upside down triangle and a dream | hashtagcerys
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cerys@hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 7mo agoWould anyone like to guess what this no longer in use road sign signals?
Would anyone like to guess what this no longer in use road sign signals?
Did you know that the modern day speed bump was invented* by a Nobel prize winning physicist. *in so far as anyone can invent such a thing as a speed bump.
In the 60s, road signs in the UK had a glowup. They moved from mostly text based designs (like the sign on the right) to mostly icons. The redesign was commissioned by the Worboys Committee, led by Sir Walter Worboys, and so these signs are often referred to as pre and post Worboys signs.
Did you know that the cow on the warning sign for cattle is based on a real cow called Patience?
London was divided into postal districts in 1857, using the points on a compass. In 1917, the districts were subdivided with numbers. Signs like this one can be dated to between 1857 (because they have the NW) and 1917 (because the 6 looks a little different we might guess it was added later).
