Painting Traffic Lights

I would think it depended on the particular municipality. Lacking non color shifted color pictures that might be hard to find.

You might try to locate color photos of the downtown area for the years in question.

Dark green

Green and black are the colors I remember.  I don't think the unpainted metal poles came along until much later.  Come to think of it, I do remember some that were probably galvanized steel as well.

The only colors I remember are green (almost an OD green) and black.

Thanks for the help.  The majority opinion is "green & black".  I presume that means green top and black pole, right?

Bill

Actually, the ones I remember were all one color.  If they were green, they were green from top to bottom.  They didn't do multi-color traffic lights as a rule.

Wow, what an interesting thread!  I, too seem to have forgotten the color of traffic lights and fixtures in my youth.

Thanks all!

George

they were dark green even the light cowls.  Note the GREEN light in the middle!!

See traffic light collection below:

http://www.kbrhorse.net/signals/other01.html

I remember while growing up in Queens (NYC), the traffic lights were green - the same color as the elevated subway structure.

Phil

Excellent information.  Can I get some specifics about area, timeframe of color scheme, etc?

Thanks,

George

I recall green lights in the early 70's in NE-Phila as well.

Alan HN,

Does the light with the green light in the middles have an turn arrow on the bottom.  I know of a traffic light in the Bronx that was still only red and green lights as late as 1980.  It had a separate left turn arrow underneath the red and green and from a distance it looked like the now standard red, amber, green traffic signals.

Joe

JOE

Check out the collection website I posted

the picture is from this guys collection of signals

Ditto Philg's response. I also grew-up in Queens and the signals were a dark green color. Lots of stuff was dark green in the 1940s and 1950s such as Post Office mail boxes, police call boxes, El structures, cast iron traffic and street light poles. Johnny pumps were black with silver tops.

Long Island Rail Road wood structures were dark green and cream.

In the City of Rochester where I grew up during the 50s the traffic lights were painted dark green, so were the streetlights, except the ones with concrete poles. Even the fire hydrants were painted dark green. The county, however, painted their traffic lights yellow. Also, traffic signals cycled green-amber-red then red-amber-green. In a few locations in the city there were 2 color signals (red-green) I remember my father cussing about them.

One at a nearby antique store in its original state is dark green.