Duck and Cover

During the 50s & 60s there was a great fear of a Nuclear Attack from Russia on the United States. Children in classrooms all over were made to watch "Bert the Turtle" and the short film of how they should react if there was an attack on the U.S. This short film was part of the Duck and Cover public awareness campaign. First you duck and cover then very tightly cover the back of your head. This was what you were instructed to do should we ever be in the situation of attack. There is a part in the movie where a young boy is told that the Atomic Flash will cause a burn on you far worse than any sunburn you should ever have.

Fallout shelter sales went through the roof during this time, they consisted of a telephone, toilet and the basic things one would need to survive. Some of these shelters were made in the corner of your basement and were a few hundred dollars and others were made by digging a trench about 4 feet under ground in your yard. The fear of this kind of attack was so great during this time that there have been many references in movies from that era, commercials, school books ect...

Fear gripped many people during this time. Imagine living in a time of great fear from Nuclear Attack with NO Facebook, Twitter, or 24 hours a day news on any channel. Your only source of news would be a breakthrough on TV, if you had one, or being at work or school and hearing the sirens. How scary? I have heard a siren once about 10 years ago when we had a tornado warning and I can't begin to tell you how scary and chaotic it got, we NEVER heard anything like that before and it scares people to death! We are blessed to live in a time where we can receive warnings of things to come. I know many people poke fun or giggle at some of the things of the 50s and 60s but we need to remember that they were not as advanced as we are today and it must have been a frightening time for parents, children and people all over.