Today boys and girls we're going to talk about death. Not real death. Make believe death. The kind the government warned us Boomers about as we were growing up. Death at any moment. Or...maybe just a really bad sunburn.
I found this brochure in with a bunch of other nonsensical stuff I've saved over the years. I have another one around here somewhere that was given to my family when we moved to Hawaii that shows the people doing duck and cover in Aloha shirts. I'm not kidding. But until I can find that one I give you this one from the early '50s provided by the Navy when we moved to Pensacola.
Government and corporate stupidity always amazes me and this is just plain stupid. The lies we were told about how we'd survive an atomic blast by simply doing duck and cover. Or as comedian Lewis Black has said "hide under kindling." Actually I think we're all lucky we didn't end up running around screaming all the time, arms waving madly over our heads, waiting for the bright light in the sky. Any minute now...no wait...it's coming...you have less than a second to make a decision on how to save your life. Seriously, is it any wonder drugs became popular?
Do click on either image to see it larger. Important life saving tips included.
And to end, I give you the infamous "Duck and Cover" film, well worth watching as a classic comedy piece from the golden age of television. If you're of a certain age there are two sounds that will most likely bring about visceral feelings. The theme to the Captain Kangaroo show and the air raid warning siren. I still remember hearing the warning signal into the '60s. It stood strategically located in the neighborhood and was painted a bright yellow. I wonder when and if they ever took it down.
Nothing to see here. I'm okay. Move along. Move along. I'm fine. I've always had this nervous twitch.
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I remember more than that! Our school was a fallout shelter, complete with large tins of crackers and barrels of water. My folks used to go down to the city park and watch the sky to the North (we lived 25 miles from the Canadian Border) for "Russians". One of our neighbors installed a Fallout Shelter in his backyard!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! Your family would have been perfect for one of those educational films of what citizens should be doing. My folks did their best to shield me from all of it even when we lived on Oahu. I found out later from my father about all sorts of military things that were going on that he wasn't allowed to talk about.
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing that we were so naive and little informed! lol As if all we had to worry about was losing our eyesight from that blinding flash.....that just completely incinerated us! Yeah, I think you're right about the drugs! lol
ReplyDeleteGreat post!