Objects – teachanyclass.org

Introduction

Walk down almost any street, in almost any country, and you will eventually see one. A bright orange cone, knee-high, with white reflective stripes, standing in the road or on a pavement. Maybe a workman is digging up the road behind it. Maybe an accident has just happened. Maybe a school is closing a road for sports day. Maybe a building is being repaired. In every case, the cone is saying the same thing: 'Stop here. Something is different on the other side. Be careful.' The traffic cone is one of the most universal objects of modern life. There are hundreds of millions in use worldwide. Yet most people never think about it. It is small, simple, and easy to ignore — except in the way that matters, where its bright colour grabs your attention from far away. The cone was invented in 1940 by an American road painter called Charles D. Scanlon, who worked for the city of Los Angeles. The first cones were made of rubber. They replaced wooden pyramids that workmen had been using to mark wet paint. In 1961, an English engineer called David Morgan, working at the chemical company ICI in Oxfordshire, made the first plastic traffic cones. Plastic was lighter, cheaper, and could be made in any bright colour. The plastic cone became the world standard. Today, every country uses some version of it. In Britain, it is sometimes called a 'witch's hat'. In Australia, just a 'cone'. In the United States, sometimes a 'pylon'. The cone is also one of the most stolen objects in the world. Students take them as trophies. Drunk people put them on statues' heads. Street artists use them in installations. The cone is somehow both serious (saving lives) and silly (making people smile). This lesson asks how one bright orange object became part of the shared language of the modern world.

The object

Origin: Invented in 1940 by Charles D. Scanlon, a worker for the Los Angeles Street Painting Department. He filed a US patent for an 'improved safety marker'. Earlier roadwork used wooden pyramids or oil-can lamps. David Morgan of Burford, Oxfordshire, England, made the first plastic traffic cone in 1961 while working at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).
Period: Used widely from the 1950s in the United States, the 1960s in Britain, and from the 1970s and 1980s in most other countries. The same basic design is now used worldwide on roads, building sites, sports fields, and emergency scenes.
Made of: Most modern traffic cones are made from soft, flexible PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic or polyethylene plastic, with a separate heavy black rubber or plastic base. Reflective bands are made of glass beads or microprism material. Some cones have a hole in the top to mount flags or lights.
Size: Standard road cones are 50 cm (small) to 90 cm (large) tall. The small cones are used in low-speed areas (car parks, sports fields). The large cones are used on motorways. The base is about 30 cm square and weighs around 2 to 5 kg to hold the cone in place.
Number of objects: Hundreds of millions of traffic cones are in use around the world. The largest manufacturer is Jackson Safety in the United States. The British roadworks industry alone uses about 8 million cones at any given time.
Where it is now: Used everywhere — on roads, building sites, sports fields, schools, emergency scenes. Major design collections include the Design Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The traffic cone is often cited as one of the most successful product designs of the 20th century.

Before you teach this — reflect

Questions for you

The traffic cone is one of those objects so common that nobody really thinks about it. How will you help students see what is interesting about it?
Stealing traffic cones is sometimes treated as a harmless prank but can lead to serious accidents. How will you raise this without being preachy?
Different countries use different colours and shapes. How will you give the global picture without focusing only on one country?

Common student difficulties — tick any you have noticed

My students may not know that the traffic cone was invented in 1940 by an American road worker called Charles D. Scanlon — the first design was made of rubber.
My students may not know that the plastic traffic cone was invented in 1961 by David Morgan in Oxfordshire, England.
My students may not know that orange was chosen because it is the colour the human eye notices most easily against most backgrounds.
My students may not know that traffic cones are one of the most stolen objects in the world, often by students or after parties.
My students may not know that different countries use different colours — orange in the United States and the UK, but yellow or red in some places, and blue in the UK to mark no parking.
My students may not know that the modern traffic cone is a designed object — its shape, weight, colour, and stripes are all chosen for specific reasons.

Discovery sequence

1

Why is the traffic cone orange? Not because someone picked the prettiest colour. Orange was chosen because of how the human eye works. The human retina has two kinds of light-sensing cells. Cones (no relation to the road cone) see colour. Rods see brightness, especially in low light. The cones are most sensitive to wavelengths of light around 550 to 570 nanometres — which is roughly the yellow-green part of the spectrum. But against most everyday backgrounds (grey roads, blue sky, green trees, brown earth), orange stands out more sharply than yellow. Orange is also the colour least likely to be confused with traffic lights, road signs, or natural things in the landscape. The American Federal Highway Administration ran tests in the 1950s on which colours were most visible at speed. Orange came out near the top, especially when paired with reflective white stripes. The combination — bright orange body, white reflective bands — is now the world standard for road safety, used on cones, vests, and barriers. Why might colour design be a piece of safety engineering?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

Because safety depends on being seen. A worker on a road is in danger from drivers who do not notice them in time. A cone in the road is useful only if drivers see it from far enough away to slow down. The right colour, in the right place, can be the difference between a safe site and a serious accident. The same principle applies to many other safety designs. Hi-vis vests are bright yellow with reflective stripes for the same reason. School zone signs are often bright orange or yellow. Fire engines were red for many years but are now sometimes lime-yellow in countries where research showed yellow was more visible at night. Cyclists' lights and lorry side-markers use the same physics. Students should see that 'choosing a colour' is not a small decision in a safety object. It is a piece of careful design. The traffic cone is one of the clearest examples of how human vision shapes safety engineering.

2

The traffic cone is also a piece of physical engineering. The cone has to balance several different needs at once. It has to be visible from a distance — so it is tall (50 to 90 cm) and brightly coloured. It has to stay put in wind — so it has a heavy base (2 to 5 kg) that is wider than the cone is tall, giving it a low centre of gravity. It has to be cheap to make — so it is moulded from inexpensive plastic. It has to be light enough to carry — so a worker can stack twenty or more cones in their van. It has to stack — so the base of one cone is open and the body of another can fit inside it. It has to survive being hit by a car without doing damage — so the plastic is soft and flexible, and the cone bends and bounces rather than shattering. It has to last in sun, rain, snow, and frost — so the plastic is UV-stable. It has to be reflective at night — so it has bands of glass-bead or microprism material. All of this in a single small object that costs about £5 to £15. Most products are designed for one job. The traffic cone has to do at least eight jobs at the same time. Why might one small object need so many design features?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

Because it has to work in many different conditions. The cone is used on a quiet street in summer, on a motorway in a snowstorm, on a windy hillside, in a school playground, in a desert work site. The same cone has to function in all of these. Each feature is the result of careful thought. The hollow body that lets cones stack? Saves space in the van. The heavy base? Stops the cone blowing over. The bright colour and reflective bands? Visibility day and night. The soft plastic? Safety if a car hits it. Many products fail because they try to do one thing too well and forget the others. The traffic cone is a piece of 'good-enough design' — every feature is acceptable, none is perfect, and the whole thing works because all the features come together. Students should see that 'good design' is not about being amazing at one thing. It is about being good enough at many things. The traffic cone is one of the clearest examples of this principle in everyday life.

3

Different countries use the cone in different ways. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the standard road cone is bright orange with two horizontal white reflective stripes. In Germany, road cones are typically red and white, often striped along the length. In France, they are also red and white. In Japan, road cones are sometimes red, sometimes blue, sometimes orange. In Hong Kong, the cone is often bright pink for some construction sites. In some places, road cones double as 'no parking' markers; in the UK, a blue cone with a red 'no entry' symbol on top is specifically for no-parking zones. The shape varies too. The American cone is taller and more slender. The British cone is shorter and wider. Some countries use a cylinder instead of a cone — taller, with a heavy base. The Dutch use these. Australia uses a mix. The basic idea, though, is the same everywhere. A bright, weighted marker is placed in the road to signal a temporary boundary. Drivers and pedestrians know what it means without being taught. The cone is part of an international visual language that crosses borders and languages. Why might one design idea look slightly different in many places?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

Because each country has its own safety regulator and its own road conditions. The US Federal Highway Administration sets its own standards. The UK Highways Agency sets its own. Germany has its own. Each country writes the rules slightly differently. But the underlying idea — 'a bright weighted marker that says stop or be careful' — is universal. The same thing happens with electrical plugs, road signs, and many other everyday designs. National regulators want to keep control. But there is huge overlap. The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals tried to standardise road safety internationally; many countries adopted it, but local variation continued. The traffic cone is a good example of 'local standards on a global idea'. Students should see that 'universal' and 'local' often co-exist. The cone in front of your school looks slightly different from the cone in front of a school in Tokyo, but both mean the same thing.

4

The traffic cone has also become a cultural object. It is one of the most stolen objects in the world. Students take them as trophies after a night out. Drunk people put them on the heads of statues — most famously the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow, Scotland, which has been topped with a traffic cone almost continuously since the 1980s. The city council has tried for years to keep cones off the statue. The local people have always put them back. In 2013, the council proposed raising the statue's plinth to make this impossible. Public outcry was so strong that the plan was dropped. Traffic cones appear in art, in films, in protests, in pranks. The British band Devo wore cone-shaped 'energy domes' on their heads. The American TV show 'M*A*S*H' featured a recurring sight gag with cones. Cones appear in the Pixar film 'Cars'. They are used by sports coaches to mark out training drills. They are used by music festival organisers to direct crowds. They have become a kind of universal symbol — for 'something different is here', for 'rules apply', for 'don't go past this'. This double life — serious safety object and silly cultural object — is part of why the cone is interesting. Most safety objects have only one face. The cone has two. What does this teach us?

Points to consider (for the teacher)

That objects can mean more than one thing at once. A traffic cone in the road is a serious safety device. A traffic cone on a statue is a joke. A traffic cone in a museum is a piece of design history. A traffic cone in a protest is a tool. The same object plays many roles depending on where it sits. This is true of many ordinary objects. A glass of water is hydration, ceremony, or a chemistry experiment. A spoon is a tool or a piece of art. A flag is a symbol or a piece of cloth. Students should see that 'meaning' is partly about context. The cone in your hand right now is just a piece of plastic. The cone on the Duke of Wellington's head in Glasgow is a piece of city culture. The same object. End the discovery here. There are millions of cones around the world right now, each playing whatever role its current location asks of it.

What this object teaches

The traffic cone is a bright orange (or red, or yellow, depending on country) plastic marker used to direct traffic or warn of hazards on roads, building sites, sports fields, and many other places. It was invented in 1940 by Charles D. Scanlon, a road painter in Los Angeles. The first cones were made of rubber. The plastic traffic cone was invented in 1961 by David Morgan at ICI in Oxfordshire, England. The cone is a piece of careful design: bright colour for visibility (orange stands out against most backgrounds), reflective bands for night use, heavy base for wind stability, hollow body for stacking, soft plastic for safety on impact. Hundreds of millions are in use worldwide. The British roadworks industry alone uses about 8 million at any one time. Different countries use different colours and shapes, but the basic idea is universal. The cone has also become a cultural object — one of the most stolen items in the world, a recurring joke (the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow), and a piece of design history in major museums. The cone shows how careful engineering, basic vision science, and shared visual language can come together in one simple object.

Question	What many people assume	What is actually true
When was the traffic cone invented?	It has always been around	Charles D. Scanlon invented it in 1940 in Los Angeles; David Morgan made the first plastic version in 1961 in England
Why is it orange?	For decoration	Orange stands out against most everyday backgrounds and is least likely to be confused with traffic lights
Why does it have a heavy base?	To make it harder to steal	To stop it blowing over in wind and to keep its low centre of gravity
Why is the plastic soft?	To save money	So that a car can hit it without serious damage to driver or pedestrians
Is the cone the same everywhere?	Yes	No — colours and shapes vary by country (orange in US/UK, red and white in Germany/France, sometimes pink in Hong Kong)

Key words

Traffic cone

A bright cone-shaped marker, usually orange, used to direct traffic or warn of hazards. Also called a road cone, pylon, witch's hat, or safety cone in different places.

Example: The standard British road cone is about 75 cm tall, made of soft PVC plastic, with a heavy black base and two white reflective bands.

Charles D. Scanlon

American inventor of the traffic cone. He worked for the Los Angeles Street Painting Department and patented his rubber cone design in the early 1940s.

Example: Before Scanlon's cone, road workers used wooden pyramids or oil-can lamps to mark wet paint. His invention was much lighter, more visible, and harder to knock over.

David Morgan

English engineer who made the first plastic traffic cones in 1961, while working at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in Burford, Oxfordshire. His plastic design replaced the earlier wooden and rubber cones in Britain and elsewhere.

Example: Morgan's plastic cones were lighter, cheaper, and could be made in any bright colour. They became the British standard within a few years.

PVC

Polyvinyl chloride — a soft, flexible plastic used to make most modern traffic cones. PVC is cheap, durable, and can be coloured brightly.

Example: PVC is also used to make pipes, flooring, and many other industrial products. The soft form is sometimes called 'flexible PVC' or 'plasticised PVC'.

Retroreflective material

A special surface that sends light back to where it came from, instead of scattering it. Used in the white bands on traffic cones, in road signs, and in hi-vis clothing. Makes objects visible at night under car headlights.

Example: Retroreflective material uses tiny glass beads or microprisms. Each one acts like a mirror that sends light back along the path it came from. A driver's headlights light up the cones in front of them.

Visual signal

An object or sign that gives information without using words. Traffic cones, road signs, traffic lights, and warning labels are all visual signals.

Example: Visual signals work across languages. A traffic cone in Tokyo means roughly the same as a traffic cone in Toronto, even though the local writing systems are completely different.

Use this in other subjects

Science: Look at how human vision works. The retina has cones (colour-sensing cells) and rods (brightness-sensing cells). Discuss why orange stands out against most backgrounds. Compare with hi-vis yellow and other safety colours. The traffic cone is a real example of vision science applied to safety design.
Engineering: The traffic cone is a piece of multi-feature design. Discuss the trade-offs: bright colour (visibility) vs. cost; heavy base (stability) vs. portability; soft plastic (safety on impact) vs. durability. Each feature is a compromise. Good design is balancing many things at once.
History: Build a class timeline: wooden pyramids and oil-can lamps (before 1940), Scanlon's rubber cone patent (1940), spread of cones in the US (1950s), Morgan's plastic cone (1961), British and European adoption (1960s and 1970s), worldwide adoption (1980s onwards). The story is barely 100 years old.
Citizenship: Traffic cones are part of public safety infrastructure. They are placed by road workers, police, paramedics, and event organisers to protect the public. Discuss what happens when cones are stolen or moved — the protection disappears. The cone is a small symbol of shared responsibility on the roads.
Art: The traffic cone has become a cultural object. Discuss its appearances in films (Pixar's 'Cars'), music (Devo's energy domes), public sculpture (the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow), and street art. Students might design a cone-based piece of art with a message.
Ethics: Cone theft is widespread. Sometimes it is harmless fun; sometimes it removes a real safety barrier and contributes to accidents. Discuss the difference. Strong answers will see that an object meant for everyone's safety becomes more than personal property when removed.

Common misconceptions

Wrong

The traffic cone has always existed.

Right

It was invented in 1940 by Charles D. Scanlon in Los Angeles. The plastic version came in 1961 from David Morgan in Oxfordshire, England. Before these inventions, road workers used wooden pyramids or oil-can lamps.

Why

Calling the cone 'timeless' hides the real history of careful design.

Wrong

The colour is just decoration.

Right

Orange was chosen because it stands out against most everyday backgrounds and is least likely to be confused with traffic lights, road signs, or natural objects. Colour is part of the safety engineering.

Why

Treating colour as decoration misses the science behind it.

Wrong

The traffic cone is the same everywhere.

Right

Colours and shapes vary by country. Orange is standard in the US and UK; red and white in Germany and France; pink in some Hong Kong construction sites; blue with red symbols in the UK for no-parking zones. The idea is universal; the design is local.

Why

'One global standard' is a useful but inaccurate idea.

Wrong

Stealing a traffic cone is harmless fun.

Right

A stolen cone is a missing safety barrier. Most theft is harmless, but some thefts have led to serious accidents — for example, when a cone was taken from a roadworks site and a car drove into the hazard. The cone is a piece of public infrastructure, not just a souvenir.

Why

The 'harmless prank' framing hides the real safety function.

Teaching this with care

Treat the traffic cone as a piece of design history, a piece of road safety, and a piece of popular culture all at once. Be honest about all three. The lesson is light in tone for an everyday object, but mention the real safety stakes when discussing cone theft. Use neutral language — 'cone theft can remove safety barriers' rather than 'people who steal cones are bad'. Many students will have moved cones at some point as harmless fun; the goal is not to make them feel guilty, but to help them think about the difference between a cone in a deserted car park and a cone on a working road. The Duke of Wellington story in Glasgow is a wonderful example of public-cone-culture and worth mentioning, but check that students understand it is a long-running tradition, not an instruction to put cones on local statues. The story varies a little by source — some say the cone first appeared in the 1980s, some say 1970s; treat the basic outline as accurate without claiming a specific date. Pronounce 'pylon' as 'PIE-lon'. Pronounce 'PVC' as 'pee-vee-see'. If you have students who have worked on roads, with construction workers in the family, or who have had a family member injured in a road incident, give them space to share but do not put them on the spot. The cone is a small object, but road safety is a serious topic. Avoid making the lesson about any single country's road system. Many countries have similar cones; the global picture is richer than focusing on one place. Use 'roads' rather than 'highways' or 'motorways' when speaking generally. End the lesson on the present. There are millions of traffic cones in use right now, somewhere, doing their job. The story is not over.

Check what students have understood

Answer each question in one or two sentences. Use what you have learned about the traffic cone.

Who invented the traffic cone, and when?

The first traffic cone was invented in 1940 by Charles D. Scanlon, a road painter for the city of Los Angeles. His first design was made of rubber. The first plastic traffic cone was made in 1961 by David Morgan at ICI in Oxfordshire, England.

Marking note: Award full marks for any answer that names at least one inventor and approximate date.
Why are most traffic cones orange?

Orange stands out against most everyday backgrounds — grey roads, blue sky, green trees, brown earth. It is also least likely to be confused with traffic lights or road signs. The American Federal Highway Administration tested colours in the 1950s and found orange was one of the most visible.

Marking note: Strong answers will mention both visibility and avoidance of confusion with other signals.
List three design features of a traffic cone and explain what each is for.

Bright orange colour: makes it visible from far away. Heavy base: stops it from blowing over in wind. Reflective bands: makes it visible at night under car headlights. Hollow body: lets cones stack inside each other for transport. Soft plastic: a car hitting it bends rather than smashing or hurting people.

Marking note: Award full marks for any answer that names three features with a clear reason for each.
How do traffic cones vary between countries?

In the United States and the United Kingdom, road cones are usually orange with white reflective bands. In Germany and France, they are usually red and white. In Japan and Hong Kong, sometimes pink or blue. In the UK, blue cones with red symbols mean no parking. The basic idea is universal; the colours and shapes are local.

Marking note: Strong answers will name at least two different country styles.
Why is taking a traffic cone from a roadworks site different from taking one from an empty car park?

A cone on a working road is part of a safety barrier. Removing it can put workers, drivers, or pedestrians in danger. A cone in an empty car park is probably not doing safety work. The cone's meaning changes depending on where it is — what looks like a harmless souvenir might be a missing safety barrier.

Marking note: Award full marks for any answer that recognises the context-dependent function of the cone.

Discuss together

These questions have no single right answer. Talk in pairs or small groups, then share your ideas with the class.

The traffic cone is a designed object. Every feature (colour, base, plastic, stripes) is chosen for a reason. What other 'ordinary' objects can you think of that are full of careful design?

This is a creative question. Students may suggest: the toothbrush (bristles, handle shape, head size), the door handle (lever vs. knob, height, material), the milk carton (folding shape, spout, label), the chair (height, back, balance), the smartphone (size, weight, button placement). The deeper point is that 'simple' objects are often the result of decades of design thinking. End by saying: 'Look around. Almost nothing in this room is accidental. Most of it was designed by someone, often a long time ago, after many failures.'
The Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow has a traffic cone on its head almost all the time. The city has tried to stop this. The people keep putting it back. Who is right?

This is a real ongoing debate in Glasgow. Strong answers will see both sides. The city wants to protect the statue and the dignity of public art. The people see the cone as a piece of local humour and culture, a working-class joke about a duke. The 2013 attempt to raise the plinth was abandoned after public outcry. Today the cone is part of the city's identity — it appears on tourist posters and in Glasgow's promotional materials. The deeper point is that public space is shared, and what counts as 'respect' for it can be debated. End by asking: are there similar public traditions in students' own areas?
Why do you think the traffic cone, of all things, has become a popular cultural object — in films, pranks, art, and protests?

Push students to think about what makes the cone special. It is bright, it is simple, it is everywhere, it has a recognisable shape, it is light enough to move, and it is associated with rules — so playing with it feels like playing with authority. The cone is also faceless and impersonal; nobody owns a traffic cone the way they own a hat. Strong answers will see that the cone's success as a cultural object is partly because of its success as a safety object. Being everywhere makes it a shared reference. End by asking: what other everyday objects might play a similar cultural role?

Teaching sequence

THE HOOK (5 min)

Without saying anything about the lesson, ask: 'When was the orange traffic cone invented?' Take guesses. Then say: '1940 — only 86 years ago. We are going to find out about one of the most successful small inventions of the modern world.'
INTRODUCE THE OBJECT (10 min)

Describe the traffic cone: a bright cone-shaped marker, usually orange, used to direct traffic and warn of hazards. Pause and ask: 'Why bright orange? Why a heavy base? Why a cone shape?' Listen to answers. They will lead naturally into the idea of careful design.
DESIGN FEATURES (15 min)

On the board, list the cone's design features: bright colour, reflective bands, heavy base, soft plastic, hollow stacking body, cheap plastic. For each, explain what it is for. Tell the inventor story: Charles D. Scanlon in Los Angeles in 1940, David Morgan in Oxfordshire in 1961. Discuss: every feature was a choice. The cone is one of the cleanest classroom examples of multi-feature design.
AROUND THE WORLD (10 min)

On the board, list the variations: US/UK orange, Germany/France red and white, Hong Kong pink, UK blue for no-parking. Discuss how one global idea has many local versions. Mention the cultural cone: the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow, the appearance of cones in films and protests. The cone is serious and silly at the same time.
CLOSING (5 min)

Ask: 'What does the traffic cone teach us?' Take a few honest answers. End by saying: 'That a small object can be the result of careful design. That every feature is a choice. That the same simple idea can do its job in any country, in any weather, on any road, while also somehow making people smile. The world has hundreds of millions of these in use right now. Tomorrow you will probably walk past one. Look at it.'

Classroom materials

Design Your Own Safety Marker

Instructions: In small groups, students design a safety marker for a different situation — for use in a swimming pool, at a concert, in a hospital corridor, or in a school playground. They must choose: shape, colour, size, weight, material, any special features. Each group presents their design. Discuss: each situation has different needs.

Example: In Mrs Carter's class, students designed a marker for hospital corridors. They chose: small, bright yellow with reflective tape, soft foam (so patients walking into it would not be hurt), low to the floor. The teacher said: 'You have just done what road designers do. Every situation has its own needs. A swimming pool marker should be bright but waterproof. A hospital marker should be soft. A concert marker should be tall enough to see in crowds. The traffic cone is the road version of this thinking.'

Map the Cone

Instructions: On a world map drawn on the board, students mark the major cone colours by country: orange (US, UK, Australia), red and white (Germany, France, Italy), pink (some places in Hong Kong, Japan), blue (UK no-parking). Discuss: how does one global idea become many local versions?

Example: In one class, students were surprised by the variety. The teacher said: 'You have just discovered an interesting principle of design. The basic idea — a bright weighted marker — is the same everywhere. The local versions are different because each country writes its own safety rules. This is true of many other things — electrical plugs, road signs, school uniforms. Universal idea, local version.'

Cone Culture

Instructions: In small groups, students discuss: 'Where else have you seen a traffic cone besides on a road?' List examples — in films, in art, in protests, at sports events, in school playgrounds, on statues. Each group shares one example. Discuss: why do students think the cone has become such a recognisable cultural object?

Example: In Mr Olu's class, students mentioned: the Pixar film 'Cars' (where a cone has a face), school football training, music festivals, building sites, the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow. The teacher said: 'You have just listed the cultural life of a safety object. The cone works as a real safety device and also as a recognisable symbol. Few objects manage to be both. The cone is one of them.'

Where to go next

Try a lesson on the rubber band for another small everyday object with a longer history than it looks.
Try a lesson on the shipping container for another piece of standard design that runs the modern world.
Try a lesson on the barbed wire for another simple invention that changed many things.
Connect this lesson to art class with a longer project on industrial design — how do designers balance many needs at once?
Connect this lesson to citizenship class with a longer discussion of public infrastructure and shared responsibility.
Connect this lesson to science class with a longer project on vision and visibility — why we see what we see, and how safety designers use it.

Key takeaways

The traffic cone was invented in 1940 by Charles D. Scanlon, a road painter in Los Angeles. The first plastic version was made in 1961 by David Morgan at ICI in Oxfordshire, England.
Every feature of the cone is a design choice: bright orange for visibility, reflective bands for night use, heavy base for wind stability, hollow body for stacking, soft plastic so a car hitting it bends rather than shatters.
Orange was chosen because it stands out against most everyday backgrounds and is least likely to be confused with traffic lights or road signs.
Different countries use slightly different colours — orange in the US and UK, red and white in Germany and France, sometimes pink in Hong Kong, blue with red symbols in the UK for no-parking zones.
Hundreds of millions of traffic cones are in use worldwide. The British roadworks industry alone uses about 8 million at any one time.
The cone has become a cultural object too — one of the most stolen items in the world, the long-running joke of the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow, an appearance in films and art. It is serious and silly at the same time.

Sources

Traffic cone — Wikipedia (2024) [institution]
The Role of Traffic Cones in Road Safety — Traffic Safety Resource Center (2025) [institution]
The Duke of Wellington Statue: A Cone-Headed Glaswegian — BBC News (2013) [news]
David Morgan, inventor of the plastic traffic cone — Daily Telegraph obituary (2017) [news]
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices — US Federal Highway Administration (2023) [institution]

Choose your language

The Traffic Cone: A Bright Orange Boundary on the Road

Questions for you

Common student difficulties — tick any you have noticed