1. Robert Wilson Blakeley was an American graphic designer, known for making the fallout shelter sign.
15 Facts About Robert Blakeley
1. 2.
Robert Blakeley graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1954 and was the president of Toastmasters.
3.
Robert Blakeley died in a Brookdale senior living community in Jacksonville, Florida, on October 25,2017, from complications from a bacterial infection.
4.
Robert Blakeley later served during the Korean War in 1951 and 1952, one of the "Chosin Few" at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
5.
Robert Blakeley worked for two years with the Veterans Administration before joining the Army Corps of Engineers in 1956.
6.
Robert Blakeley retired from the Corps as chief of administrative services in 1981.
7.
Robert Blakeley joined Toastmasters International in 1958, becoming its international president from 1976 to 1977.
8.
Robert Blakeley helped change the organization's bylaws to allow women to join and expanded the group by traveling across the US, Africa, and Europe.
9.
Major General Keith R Barney tasked Blakeley with creating the fallout shelter sign in 1961.
10.
Robert Blakeley decided that to be most durable the signs must be made from metal.
11.
Robert Blakeley wanted the reflective paint to easily illuminate from a cigarette lighter.
12.
Robert Blakeley's design was approved by Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army Powell Pierpoint.
13.
Robert Blakeley suggested a $700,000 production run of one million interior signs by Alfray Products from Coshocton, Ohio and 400,000 exterior signs by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing.
14.
Robert Blakeley debuted the completed products at the Westchester County Office Building in White Plains, New York, on October 4,1961.
15.
Robert Blakeley recounted a story from when his children were young and saw the ubiquitous signs:.