alt Hacker News> My sister remembered the glowing handrails (radium?)
That reminded me of the "glowy tape" my brother and I used to play with when we were kids. It had come from my grandparents' estate, and we had no idea what it was for, but it was fun. My father thought it was from WWII, as he had vague memories of it being used to mark the corners of furniture during 'lights out' air raid drills. I now assume it was radium, and am not overly happy with my childhood self playing with it.
Interesting, did some light (heh) digging.
[1] agrees that World War II-era luminous materials featured radium, yes. Another use seems to have been putting discs on helmet fronts of paratroopers, to help soldiers see each other in the dark.
This page [2] has a picture of a variety of luminous products from the era, and also mentions one civilian usage was marking edges of clothing, also to help make pedestrians more visible in the (blacked-out) streets.
I'm rather low on the Interest in History scale, but it's fascinating how often WW2 manages to deliver something new. Thanks.
[1]: https://www.paratrooper.be/articles/luminous-disks/
[2]: http://www.butterflybalcony.com/2013/10/the-home-front-black...