Kid's Questions

Our daughter's questions started at home. She wondered of her parents' gallop of packing suitcases and calling to our relatives for Christmas and New Year holidays. She watched observantly street posters and TV plugs about international travel tours. As she couldn't read she asked me or my husband to pronounce their texts. We had to mark all the signs that the kid pointed out. Then we stared to dream of other states' posters and signs. Road signs can be seen in any city we visit. Some of them can be quite strange, unique or amusing to the tourists. My husband decided even to look through a history of traffic signs. Milestones started traffic sign or road ones made with stones or wood, earmarking to accommodate information on distance or direction. Ancient Romans built erected stone columns throughout their empire to note distance to Rome. They became the earliest posters/signs marked back to Roman Empire. Multi-di rectional signs at intersections gradually made appearance, giving directions to various cities and towns in the Middle Ages. The prevalence of traffic signs became a vital necessity when the automobile industry developed. Modification followed to suit various culture and countries requirement since the beginning of the 20 century when the basic patterns of most traffic signs were formed at the International Road Congress held in Rome. Today, all the wooden traffic signs are superseded by metallic ones. New technology allow to coat them with various types of retro-reflective sheeting to reflect light back to its source for night time and low-light visibility.