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During the Cold War and brief time after, the National Archives released many pamphlets, blogs, and pieces of information to inform the American Public. The source shows many photos and examples of shelter necessities and the effects of nuclear fallout. Letting the American people know of the preventative measures during the war was essential to deflect the lack of control that almost all Americans had over the threat that is nuclear war.

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Background

In August 1945 the United States unleashed a new weapon of mass destruction against the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought an end to World War II. Unlike conventional bombs, these new atomic bombs killed in two ways. They killed by sheer magnitude of the blast and the resulting firestorm, and they killed by means of nuclear fallout. In 1945 the United States possessed a monopoly on this new dreadful weapon.

The exclusiveness was short-lived, however. In 1949 the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Although the United States and the Soviet Union had been wartime allies, by this time they had become peacetime enemies with conflicting ideologies and competing global interests. In an attempt to get or maintain an advantage in the power and numbers of nuclear weapons, both nations embarked on an arms race while at the same time preparing their citizens in the event that nuclear weapons were deployed. In effect, a Cold War was being waged, and civilian populations could no longer be shielded from the violence of war.

The arms race resulted in nuclear weapons testing. These tests consisted of above-ground and below-ground explosions of nuclear devices. The above-ground explosions generated nuclear fallout.

With each incremental increase in the level of hostility between the two superpowers, the need to develop and popularize civil defense procedures became more apparent. Of the two outcomes of a nuclear explosion, firestorm, and fallout, techniques to defend against radiation poisoning resulting from nuclear fallout had the only real possibility of success. One technique was to shield oneself from the blast by means of a barrier such as a "fallout shelter." Where a "fallout shelter" was unavailable, virtually any barrier would have to do, even a school desk or a kitchen table. Students practiced drills called "duck and cover" to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear attack. Private homes and public buildings had fallout shelters that were stocked with canned goods and other necessities. Drilling for nuclear war became a part of life's routine in the 1950s and like fire drills, today in the schools was taken very seriously.

Other Resources

CNN Web Site -- Cold War Series at http://cnn.com/SPECIALS/coldwar/

Judge, Edward H., and John W. Langdon. The Cold War: A History through Documents. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1999.

Schaller et al. Coming of Age: America in the Twentieth Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

The Documents

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Photographs and Pamphlet about Nuclear Fallout

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Background In August 1945 the United States unleashed a new weapon of mass destruction against the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought an end to World War II. Unlike conventional bombs, these new atomic bombs killed in two ways. They killed by sheer magnitude of the blast and the resulting firestorm, and they killed by means of nuclear fallout.

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The Library of Congress presents the essay written by Jake Hughes revolving the 1951 short film: Duck and Cover. This video demonstrated the safety precautions and measures that children need to take in the event of an atomic bomb. In the beginning of the short film that was shown to millions of school children from 1951-54 we are introduced to a cute, cartoon turtle named Burt. Due to the constant threat of an atomic attack, and the extreme popularity of the film throughout school-aged children, Burt quickly became an American icon of civil defense. The the video gave kids a false sense of reassurance through knowing what to do in an emergency, the strategies shown would have minimal effect in protecting someone in the event a nuclear detonation.

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This article is from A Brilliant Madness and is published by PBS. It is a short, informative article about Nobel Prize Winner: John Nash. He had extreme paranioa during the Cold War and time after relating to Nuclear attack and the fear of being drafted. This anxiety and paranoia did not just affect John, however. It also affected the majority of America from the 1940's through 1955. This article captures the fear that Americans felt, as even the smartest of them desired to flee.

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A Brilliant Madness | Article

John Nash at MIT, Robert Mottar

The political backdrop to John Nash's paranoid and geopolitical hauntings included the Cold War, fought not only with spies and bombers stationed abroad, but by FBI agents, demagogue senators, and fearful citizens working in places such as Washington, D.C., Hollywood, and Wisconsin. Some anti-communist maps of the post-World War II era showed half of all the world's countries colored red to dramatize the extent to which communists were said to influence the geopolitical world. With the perceived danger of a spreading worldwide communism came fear of a Soviet surprise nuclear missile attack. Fears grew into what many observers believe was a full-blown hysteria in the United States.

This world of real danger and sometime paranoia would provide a strangely parallel context for Nash's schizophrenia. In a world that was fractured into two camps -- one communist and the other capitalist -- Nash referred to himself as "the prince of peace." In 1959, at the onset of Nash's full-blown schozophrenia, he would mail letters to foreign embassies in Washington, D.C. declaring that he was establishing a world government. Years later, on his way to Stockholm to receive his Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994, Nash pointed out a bank to friends where he had once wired money to defend against an "invasion of aliens."

Nash's delusional fears mixed with real-life ones. When war broke out between the Koreas in 1950, the young Nash was afraid he would be drafted by the American military, and succeeded in exempting himself. With the onset of schizophrenia his fears multiplied and eventually gained delusional proportions, leading him to attempt to relinquish his U.S. citizenship and seek political asylum abroad.

Paranoia was not specific to Nash, however -- it infected the country in the late 1940s and 1950s. As U.S. President Harry Truman divided the world into camps of "tyranny or freedom," U.S. leaders also sought to make sure the supporters of tyranny were rooted from American soil. Attorney General J. Howard McGrath publicly proclaimed that there were "many communists in America" and that each bore the "germ death of society."

The U.S. House of Representatives formed an Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1938 to conduct anti-communist investigations. One of the most famous, in 1947, examined the entertainment world for communist influence, and resulted in jail time for the so-called Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters, directors, and producers who refused to testify about their political beliefs. The following year, Whittaker Chambers' espionage allegations against former State Department foreign policy advisor Alger Hiss made headlines and the HUAC held even more explosive hearings. As a public forum for elected representatives eager to demonstrate their patriotism, loyalty, and effectiveness, the HUAC traded in vague, broad accusations and the presumption of guilt by association.

The 1950 arrest of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as Soviet spies fed fears of subversion in high offices. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin took advantage of these fears by building a career on the harassment of many decent, progressive Americans. McCarthy's power peaked in 1952, when Republicans gained control of the Senate. Dissent no longer seemed safe, as civil servants, government workers, academics, and actors who had criticized America were attacked as un-American.

Due process under the law was one of the victims of this Cold War hysteria. A fire department officer wrongly accused of membership in the Communist Party was dismissed 40 days before he reached his 25 years of employment, denying him retirement benefits. Navajos facing starvation in the bitter winter of 1947-48 were denied government relief because their traditional way of life was considered to be communistic, and therefore, un-American. African-American Paul Roberson was labeled a communist for his sharp criticism of American foreign policy, which severely curtailed his performing opportunities. Left-leaning Hollywood scriptwriters were permanently blacklisted.

In 1953, while Nash was at M.I.T., FBI agents went after three members of the university's math department who previously had been members of the Communist Party. "M.I.T. was turned topsy-turvy," remembered Zipporah Levinson, widow to Norman Levinson, an M.I.T. colleague of Nash's at the time. "The faculty debated and debated how to prove that M.I.T. was patriotic. There was strong pressure to name names." The careers of many M.I.T. mathematics department members were threatened as the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenaed the three math department professors.

McCarthy's excesses were finally checked a year later in 1954, on nationally televised hearings, but the Cold War continued. The mood of fear and suspicion would linger across the nation for years to come, and it would serve as a backdrop when John Nash's schizophrenia emerged.

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Cold War Hysteria | American Experience | PBS

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In 1953, while Nash was at M.I.T., FBI agents went after three members of the university's math department who previously had been members of the Communist Party.

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In this Article published by ORAU, Journalist: Amber Davis informs us of the products and procedures sold to the different classes of americans at the time of nuclear hysteria. She explains how the nuclear craze started after WW2 and into the Cold War, even going into detail about the Cuban Missle Crisis. Davis goes into detail about the Uranium rush, (similar to the Gold Rush 100 years prior) and how the US government incentivized people to look for new Uranium deposits so they could build more bombs. She uses real evidence in brochures and flyers about what citizens should do in the event of a nuclear attack.

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The fascination with all things nuclear started during World War II and continued for a couple decades. Attitudes toward uranium and nuclear technology spanned a fine line between thinking it would save the world or ultimately lead to global destruction. American pop culture became saturated with radiation-related products. From movies to toothpaste, everyone wanted to get in on their market share of nuclear promotion. You can see many of these products in ORAU's online Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity.

What fed into (and perpetuated) the craze? Here are four reasons nuclear science was at the forefront of pop culture throughout the 1950s and 60s.

Top of mind

Image from civil defense brochure that was distributed to the public

While the United States' atomic bomb ended WWII in 1945, it started the nuclear arms race, and the Cold War began in 1947. Bristled by far different ideology, the Soviet Union detonated their own atomic weapon in a 1949 test. The rivalry between the democratic U.S. and the communist Soviet Union superpowers spurred what is known as the Red Scare, with American citizens concerned about internal spies sharing nuclear secrets to help enemy nations.

Historians say President John F. Kennedy won the 1960 election by promising to keep the U.S. ahead of the Soviet Union in the Space Race and the Cold War.

Then, the world stood still for 13 days in 1962 as the terrifying prospect of all-out nuclear war hung in the air during the Cuban Missile Crisis. One way the U.S. Department of Defense responded included putting out civil defense brochures alerting the public about best practices for response in the event of a nuclear attack. Awareness of atomic capabilities was top of mind for many Americans. For more information about the federal government's campaign to educate the general population about nuclear fallout read this ORAU blog.

Middle class prosperity

Front and back of radioactive pad product sold to consumers

The 1950s represented a decade of American prosperity and expansion of the middle class. It was an era of new technology and most families benefited-starting in this decade, there was a TV in almost every American living room, for example. Globally, the climate was one of excitement and hope through unprecedented growth and independence. Post-war reconstruction produced an economic boom. With some disposable income, leisure activities included shopping. This opportunity greased the skids for marketers.

During the war, there had been a lack of consumer goods. In the years that followed, Americans were eager to spend. Much of the spending was pragmatic (if a bit luxurious): cars and refrigerators were two of the biggest ticket items. There was also a segment interested in the eclectic such as radioactive spark plugs that were "especially engineered for today's high octane gasoline" or a radioactive pad to be placed under your pillow or mattress for treatment of arthritis, rheumatism, sinus trouble and soreness of hands, wrists, forearms and back. The benefits of the spark plugs were questionable and piddled out of production by the end of the 1950s. As for the radioactive pad, the FDA later issued a Notice of Judgement against the company for its misleading claims. Both the spark plugs and the radioactive pad can be viewed in ORAU's Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity. Read more about nuclear "quack cures" here.

Cues from the government

During this time, the U.S. government needed uranium for nuclear reactors and stockpiling weapons. The Atomic Energy Commission offered financial incentives for people who found new uranium ore deposits. It was the uranium rush! Like the gold rush 100 years earlier, prospectors went in search of uranium out West. The get-rich-quick spirit inspired everything from movies to board games.

Movie poster for the 1956 film.

This board game (simply named "Uranium") came out in the mid-1950s.

Radiation used for good

Though it was a challenge to balance the messaging about radiation between fear and awe, the general population was being educated and hearing more about the good that can come from the power of the atom. Radiation kills harmful bacteria that can make us sick, and nuclear medicine can help treat illnesses like cancer. In those days, ORAU (formerly known as the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies) operated one of three cancer research hospitals in the country-the Oak Ridge Cancer Research Hospital -which were leading the way in studying the use of radioisotopes. The learnings that came out of this research have inspired the way doctors around the world treat cancer patients today. For example, this photo from 1956 shows the instrumentation room of the Oak Ridge Cancer Research Hospital where various types of thyroid uptake equipment were installed to study the thyroid's size, shape, position and function. This and other types of radiation research helped inspire hope and dispel some apprehension about exploring more uses for nuclear technology.

Image from ORAU Medical Division

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Nuclear craze: 4 ways atomic policies and products of the 1950-60s influenced Hollywood and American consumerism

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The fascination with all things nuclear started during World War II and continued for a couple decades. What fed into (and perpetuated) the craze? This blog offers four reasons nuclear science was at the forefront of pop culture throughout the 1950s and 60s.