Color of Tool boxes?

From:  "Faron"

Why are most toolboxes red?

So after an alarming amount of responses heres what the world has come up with.

durk sent us this simple answer: 

Toolboxes are red because of tradition. In america(1800's ?) red was the cheapest and most available paint color.

Todd went and did a little research for us:  

Well its quite simple. A red tool box is not very easy to misplace. If it was green, you could set it down in your lawn and walk a few hundred feet and not be able to see it because it is green. There are not many red things around where you would have or use a tool box. Red just makes them easier to see so you don't loose them. :)

ceral killer was rattled off this answer: 

I think toolboxes are red to camflouage the blood............at least mine is for that reason.

DLUKE helped us out a little with this: 

They are red in order to be able to find them among scrap, junk, parts etc.

Anton went and got some advice: 

My father is a construction worker and he told me that toolboxes are red so that they can be seen more easily. This so that there will be less accidents.
e.g. You are working in the evening and the lighting is bad
+ You are working on the second floor
+ The house hasn’t yet walls
+ You don’t see the let’s say black toolbox, and push it with your foot and it drops.
+ There is someone standing exactly below.
= Auch!

spiritmoveshroughallthings agreed with some other people and sent us this: 

A lot of things that can be used in an emergency, such as fire extinguishers and toolboxes and the like are painted red, because the human brain can identify red quicker than any other color, so if needed in an emergency, they can be found quicker.

Travis did his homework and came up with this: 

regarding Red tool boxes... I asked my father-in-law who has been employed by large national parts and tool supplier for over 30 years in their manufacturing arena; my Grandfather(97) has been a farmer (cattle and grain) in Michigan his entire life. Tool boxes are Red for the same reason Barns are red. Low cost of material and high visibility. Red paint or iron oxides/barries for pigmentation -way back when- have been cheaper to manufacture/produce and historicly the materials to assemble the pigment/dye/paint have been more abundant then any other color. In addition to contrasting nearly every other job site material.

TB agreed with Travis and wrote this: 

The same reason that old barns are red. Back before hardware stores, paint as we know today did not exist. What people have been using for hundreds of years is milk paint - curdled milk, lime and pigments. Red pigments originally came from iron oxide (rust) or crushed brick. Since it was a cheap way to protect surfaces and plentiful. It found its way to quite a few surfaces including barns and tool boxes etc. Today red is a traditional color that is still used although it is not as prevalent as pre WWII culture due to the variety and advances in paint technology.

Jez added this detail:  

To hide the blood, of course.

Ricardo Rojo shared his views with us: 

Armed Forces regulations require containers such as fire hose and toolboxes to be painted red for safety and visibility reasons. If you wanted to make that big sale to the Army (the $200 toolbox) you painted your product red!

chris simply answered:  

most tool boxes are red for safety reasons. since red is a highly noticeable color, it helps keep people from tripping over their tool boxes.