High-Visibility Safety Vests Started In Berkeley California in 1930!

High-visibility construction apparel may seem relatively new in the building and construction industry but personal protective equipment (PPE) have been around since the 1930's when high-visibility vests started in Berkeley, California in 1930. We owe it all to Bob Switzer and his brother Joe. The brothers were raised in Berkeley, California and in 1932 Bob received a scholarship to attend the College of Chemistry at Berkeley to become a doctor. As fate would have it, Bob would never become a doctor but an inventor instead. In 1933 Bob was working at the Heinz company laboratory unloading tomatoes when he fell and suffered a skull fracture that severed the optic nerve and which forced him to stay in a dark room for several months until he recuperated his eyesight. While recovering, Bob and his brother Joe had the idea to search and experiment with fluorescent compounds, mixing them with shellac and eventually producing the first black light fluorescent paints. The brothers founded the Fluor-S-Art Company in 1934 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio to partner with Continental Lithograph, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Pictures specializing in advertising displays. By 1938 Bob was working on a process that used fluorescent dyes to identify faults in machine parts as the dye penetrated the small cracks that became visible when seen under black light. This eventually led to the company developing a fluorescent pigment that was visible in daylight - which Bob tested by dyeing his wife's wedding gown! This fluorescent dye was useful during WWII to paint military aircrafts and providing troops with fluorescent fabrics to ensure safety and visibility. The high-visibility vests we use today are a result of the same Day-Glo pigment. CeremonialSupplies.com is proud to offer customized high-visibility safety vests that not only provide protection, but also a professional appearance and an easy way to identify workers.

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High Visibility Safety Vest Styles

CeremonialSupplies.com is proud to offer quality high-visibility safety vests that include the dual-color safety vest made from 100% polyester oxford fabric and has contrast binding with wide reflective tape front and back. This safety vest is available in yellow with orange piping or in orange with yellow piping with ample room for customization on the back. This vest also includes 2 chest pockets with pencil stall, and 1 lower left pocket. Ensure your safety or the safety of your employees as well as the comfort of the dual color safety vest. These vests are of a high quality material and durable. If you are interested in a more lightweight safety vest then the super lightweight (6 oz.) breathable mesh high-visibility safety vest is for you! This lightweight safety vest is made from a 100% polyester breathable mesh fabric in neon yellow and comes with 2 vertical and 1 horizontal reflective silver tape across the waist, over the shoulders and on the sleeves. This yellow fluorescent safety vest will keep you or your employees safe by reducing the risks of accidents. You can customize the safety vests to differentiate workers on different projects or tasks.

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Planning A Construction Themed Party For The Little Tyke?

Take your pick from our assorted selection of children's fluorescent vests in a combination of sizes and colors with reflective silver stripes across the waist and over the shoulders! CeremonialSupplies.com offers the kids safety vests in neon green, neon orange, and neon yellow and although they have the same fluorescent dyed polyester material as the adult construction vests, kids can use these mini replicas for a construction birthday party theme, or for other occasions like Career Day at school, playtime, riding a bicycle, scooter, skateboard or roller skates and they're perfect if the little one will have mini shovel in hand and taking part in an actual sod-cutting ceremony!

Berkeley may have been the birthplace of high-visibility fluorescent dyes, but now the offshoots are everywhere! Just like CeremonialSupplies.com, the best one-stop shop on the net for groundbreaking shovelsceremonial ribbons and ribbon-cutting scissors, event carpets, stanchions and rope, and many more items! Shop CeremonialSupplies.com for high-visibility fluorescent vests for adults and children and customize them for your needs. You will love our budget friendly prices, our attentive and knowledgeable customer service, and our fast and efficient shipping wherever you are in the world! Click here for a shipping quote.