gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Share #1 Posted April 10, 2013 Over the winter months the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, NE hosted a traveling exhibition, Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow: Living with the Atomic Bomb 1945-1965. It featured over 75 artifacts, large and small from the "atomic" era..... ....A number of the people there were my age and remembered the elementary school terror of "Duck and Cover"... many of the younger people just looked at these items like they were from another planet......... Included in the exhibit were a simulated basement fall out shelter, a missile command station, a 1960's classroom...... to add to the charm were the sounds of an air raid siren along with Civil Defense Alert messages.....all designed to bring back the paranoia of those days. This exhibit has departed the Strategic Air and Space Museum (to my regret... I wish some of this had remained as a permanent display.) But you may see it elsewhere as it travels the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #2 Posted April 10, 2013 Many of the era's talents were encouraged to contribute to the campaign to raise awareness for Civil Defense... this character was designed by none other than Al Capp, the artist behind the popular Lil' Abner comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #3 Posted April 10, 2013 After the details of the atomic strikes on Japan were made public, the public was encouraged that they could contribute to an American victory by SURVIVING the dropping of the bomb. That meant going underground and building shelters either in their home or nearby. The exhibit made the point that initially this meant building shelters on WWII models that basically protected people from the effects of blast and debris. Around the country, families publically experimented with shelter living for weeks at time. Anyone who has children can just imagine what this must have been like. It was only later in the 1950's that the effects of radiation became more publicized. It was only then that people realized they would not be in hiding for hours or days, but for weeks or months. The dangers had a special meaning in Omaha where people lived next to SAC Headquarters... one of the top 3 targets in the country along with Cheyenne Mountain and the Pentagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #4 Posted April 10, 2013 On display was a well ordered family shelter from the 1950's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #5 Posted April 10, 2013 Close up shots.... note the markings on the water barrel, along with instructions on how it can later be used as a "commode". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #6 Posted April 10, 2013 One of my favorite items in the exhibit... I am not sure if this was meant to be a template for planning a shelter, or a kids book to acquaint them for the happy fun times they will have living in the basement. The 1950's Dick and Jane style characters are priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #7 Posted April 10, 2013 But what if you couldn't make it to your shelter, or didn't have one? This insert from a Chicago paper has helpful hints in case you get caught short the day the bomb falls... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #8 Posted April 10, 2013 Civil Defense posters could be found everywhere... these appear to be the right size for a bus or subway overhead. Notice the hip, cool young people calmly making their preparations for a home shelter... this was a common theme for what would become the Kennedy generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #9 Posted April 10, 2013 Civil Defense materials were developed for specific groups, especially farmers. Atomic attacks might focus on the city, but the farming community also needed to take precautions to help rebuild the country after a strike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #10 Posted April 10, 2013 Some of the posters were straight out of World War II... special appeals were made to women to participate in Civil Defense organizations with an unambiguous message that their work would save their children. This is actually one of the tamer posters that was on exhibit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #11 Posted April 10, 2013 Another appeal in the early 1950's, when the primary thread was from manned bombers, was for volunteers for the Ground Observer Corps. It was phased out when the primary threat switched to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #12 Posted April 10, 2013 Other civic organizations were also made part of the Civil Defense plan, including the Girl Scouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #13 Posted April 10, 2013 Cadres were established... plans were made...city maps were made with Civil Defense evacuation routes clearly marked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #14 Posted April 10, 2013 Again, a special emphasis on the role of women in helping the country to survive.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #15 Posted April 10, 2013 Books and how to manuals abounded....both official and unofficial... as the dangers of lingering radiation became recognized, the emphasis moved from burrowing in to evacuating at the earliest opportunity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #16 Posted April 10, 2013 Gadgets and gear began to appear on the market...recommended for "camping or fall out shelters"... Ironically the "disaster radio" was produced in Japan. Looking like something right out of the TV show "Madmen", a pocket radiation detector that could be discretely worn in the pocket of a business suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #17 Posted April 10, 2013 Almost every radio in the country had the preset channels marked for the Civil Defense channels should the alert sound.... 640 and 1240 on the AM dial. This one was blaring out a CONELRAD alert message at intervals... very disconcerting, even when you know you are standing in the middle of a museum exhibit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CONELRAD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #18 Posted April 10, 2013 While the civilian populace was being prepared for the very real possibility of atomic warfare, the military was on guard with our deterrent force.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #19 Posted April 10, 2013 Dedicated officers waited in underground command centers for the order to fire upon our enemies... hundreds of enlisted men maintained the systems and safeguarded the sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #20 Posted April 10, 2013 It was not enough to educate the adults about the dangers of atomic warfare... children were taught how to defend themselves should the day come in their schools... (Personal note... we didn't believe a word of it!) (2nd Personal note... I had that very same book cover! I think my school had stocks of them for years to come!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #21 Posted April 10, 2013 But hey... not everything was doom and gloom back then! Look at some of the cool toys we had... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Herd Posted April 10, 2013 Share #22 Posted April 10, 2013 I live in Lincoln and there was a SAC B-47 base here then and when Kennedy finished his TV speach on the Cuban Missile Crisis some practical joker trigger the air raid sirens. About three blocks from my house during the cold war was a Fallout Shelter and Communications Center. It was the Irvingdale Shelter and if you search on the web you can find all sorts of interesting information, like a dairy with a fallout shelter for it's cows. My wife and her sister spent a weekend in it with their dad, a cop, on a shakedown test when they got it done. It would have made a great Cold War museum, but the city emptied it out and it is used for storage by the parks department. It had a garage door so they could store a "radio car" inside to go out and check the radiation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #23 Posted April 10, 2013 And some more goodies...what young boy wouldn't want his own Civil Defense control center? Or how about a toy Geiger Counter that looked just like Dad's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #24 Posted April 10, 2013 Some items might be considered less than tasteful today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share #25 Posted April 10, 2013 The atomic age also presaged the space age... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now