While the title of this article might make you think that we’re writing another blog about warning stickers that go in the bathroom, this is actually going to be about some of the more recent signs you’ll find in the workplace, ones that you might not have seen 60 years ago. Let’s take a look at some of the stickers we sell that would have completely confused your grandfather if you hopped in a time machine and visited the factory he worked in during the 1950s.

“No Cell Phone Use While Operating A Motor Vehicle”

First of all, your grandfather wouldn’t know what a cell phone was (although it showed up longer ago than you probably realized, in 1973). Now you might be able to explain to 1950s Grandpa that a cell phone is kind of like a two-way radio like those that they used in World War II. Combine that with the phone that’s on the wall at home, only instead of calling the operator all you have to do is punch in some numbers. And instead of being able to talk to just a few people, you can talk to billions of other people in the world. And you can also type on them to send people messages, like Morse code only faster.

What Grandpa Might Say: “Wait, they’re saying that we can’t use these things in the Plymouth? Why would I want to? I know where I’m going, they know where I’m going, and if they need to contact me they can call me on the phone when I get there. And if I want to get a message, they’ll send it to me in a letter or Western Union. What’s the rush? I’m not sending a message, typing is for secretaries! Now hand me a cigarette, I feel a cough coming on and doctor says Marlboros will help.”

“No Personal Cell Phones Allowed in Work Area”

After you give your grandfather a basic working description of the cell phone, you now present him with one that tells him he can’t use one of the factory floor, only during breaks.

What Grandpa Might Say: “Of course I’m not going to use this stupid contraption on the floor, I need to concentrate! Everything in this room is trying to kill me! Why aren’t you wearing a hard hat? If I ever meet the idiot who raised you…”

Recycling Stickers

We recently wrote a fun article about the history of recycling and where modern recycling efforts came from. Of course, your grandpa living in the 1950s is still 20 or 30 years away from any mass recycling efforts, so explaining this sticker might be a bit of a problem. You could tell him that there’s only so many resources in this world, and that you should do whatever possible to make the most of them.

What Grandpa Might Say: “Yeah, I get it, I take my sassafras bottles back so that I can get my nickel deposit. This factory must be putting deposits down on every box that comes in here, and we want that deposit back. Wait, what? You want me to do it voluntarily? I’m supposed to separate everything instead of just throwing it into the trash? I have five kids at home in a 700 square foot home, I’ve got other problems.”

Notice: No tires, No Batteries, No Chemicals

Much like with the recycling stickers we mentioned above, it might be difficult for Grandpa to understand that we’re trying to look after the earth in the future.

What Grandpa Might Say: “Everything goes to the dump! If I’ve got a car battery, what else am I going to do with it? And when I replace my tires, the kids get a new tire swing, but I’m not paying for rope for FOUR tire swings! In the future, I’m guessing that every kid has four tire swings, don’t they! Spoiled, four-tire-swing-having’ kids. I need another cigarette…”

We’re not trying to come down too hard on grandpas, because if we were that age in the 1950s we’d certainly have no idea of what was coming in this world. After going through World War II, they certainly had other things on their minds. Still, we’re glad that we can be part of waste and warning stickers that can make the world a better place.