May 29, 2012
Duck and Cover, Nuclear War Awareness campaign
by fosco lucarelli
In 1951, shortly after the Soviet Union began nuclear testing, the US Federal government’s Civil Defense started producing a series of films and pamphlets destined to children and school.
The “Duck and Cover” public awareness campaign (written by Raymond J. Mauer and directed by Anthony Rizzo of Archer Productions) was produced at the apex of nuclear paranoia, as nuclear war could happen at any time, without warning, and people should be ready to act as a consequence.
Yet, there was a lot of controversy on the real usefulness of the instructions.
Watch the film on Archive.org
More infos and related links on Things Magazine
Images found on 16sparrow‘s Flickr stream.
[...] In 1983, the world was near the brink of an apocalypse: the NATO war exercise Able Archer almost started a nuclear war. “Unknown to NATO, just a few months earlier a false alarm had already put the Soviet leadership on edge, and the exercise triggered preparations for a counter attack in the Soviet military. Only a few double agents on each side may have saved the world from nuclear armageddon.” (Via) “Protect and survive”, was a booklet showing you “how to make your home and family as safe as possible under nuclear attack”. This remembers “Duck and Cover“. [...]
[...] “Protect and survive”, was a booklet showing you “how to make your home and family as safe as possible under nuclear attack”. This remembers “Duck and Cover“. [...]