pict. B. Hoeyberghs
| Nederlands | Children's crossing in Argentina |
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| north west Argentina, 1993 | Ushuaia, VII.1996 | Tolhuin, XII.2006; pict. B. Hoeyberghs |
| Two girls? The likely precursor found in Tolhuin gives
us reason to believe in two boys. In any case, I don't recognize any clear sex indicating features.
This is most unusual as children on the road are, it seems by worldwide agreement, of opposite sexes. As finds from several countries in South-America are similar it looks like this is a regional characteristic. (Read some background in Venezuela.) |
One of my readers pointed out that it was custom that children in
Argentina weared kind of a dust-coat at school. Thus boys and girls all
looked similar and this was probably the origin of this typical and authentic drawing.
It's not always true though. Take a look at our road-signs from Vietnam (with two boys) and from France (two girls). |
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The finds on the first row aren't exactly beauties, but
they don't hurt the eye like the monstrosities encountered in 1996 and
which were still around in 2006. In ten years time they seem to have evolved into more
normal body proportions. During the same time a new line hit the roads closely related to the American kind. The indigenous design will surely quietly die away. It's the fate of most things indigenous in that part of the world. |
| Ushuaia, VII.1996 | Buenos Aires, VII.1996 |
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This New-World design is already wide-spread in
the Americas, but this find is a bit different.
Did you notice that the drawing is better than the model? The artist was probably looking around a bit and inspired by what he saw took the liberty to include a neck. Good work! He also succeeded in avoiding the transparency trap (read more about that in Hawaii). |
| Ushuaia, II.2006 | P.N. Glaciares, XII.2006; pict. B. Hoeyberghs |
| The find from Los Glaciares is mirrored and is therefore adapted to a left hand side driving situation. The bookbags and the necks are gone and the design comes close to the Australian drawing, though several points are different. |
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The dashed lines are difficult to interpret. It looks
like someone tried to hide them. Lines, if they are drawn, are usually uninterupted
(e.g. Hawaii).
Very few countries use dashed lines: e.g. The Gambia,
Indonesia, Philippines.
More than only American forces are at work. The roadsign from El Calafate belongs to the Mediterranean sign group (explained in Malta). Take a closer look at the head of the boy. I first thought it was just a small production flaw, but then I noticed the weird shape of the male's head in the sign from Ushuaia on the previous row. I now think that this is by purpose, perhaps to bring a bit more life into the scene. |
| El Calafate, XII.2006; pict. B. Hoeyberghs |
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| north west Argentina (1993) | Trelew, VII.1996 | Bella Vista, XII.2006; pict. B. Hoeyberghs |
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A single child on the way to school is only
rarely seen. Argentina is special because we have found several.
Children on their own usually don't go to school. They are just playing around (e.g. Chile, Canada or Austria): mostly ball gaming, running but also playing with the dog. Here, in Argentina, most signs of this type show children equipped with a bookbag. They are running towards (or is it from?) school. If you can trust my memory Argentina shares panels of this type only with India, Sri Lanka and Madagascar where the drawing is much nicier than here. |
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| Rio Grande, XII.2006; pict. B. Hoeyberghs |
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| More signs from Argentina: Men at work - Falling rocks |