Things You Don't See Much Anymore: Fallout Shelter Signs

There was a time when seeing these distinctive signs was a commonplace event. I remember seeing them quite often, especially while I still lived in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Maybe D.C. had more fallout shelters since it is the U.S. capital. I guess the adults took the signs seriously because they always told me with a straight face that we'd be going into one if the atomic bomb was lowered on us. Or Red Russia sent the first sortie of intercontinental ballistic missiles at the U.S. I still can imagine us surviving underground in musty, dim basements until the all-clear signal is given. Thinking back, I wonder if it would have even been possible. I can't remember when the last time and place was when I saw a last fallout shelter sign. Perhaps it was a faded, scarred relic like this sign pictured in Wikipedia.