Cheerful diagram. Based on smaller weapons of the early 1950's. He does look sort of depressed doesn't he?
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Some readers have expressed distrust of Bert the Turtle!

4 comments:

@eloh said...

I was just singing "Duck and Cover" yesterday.

Remembering how simple life was back in the fifties when all I had to do was cover my head with my hands and sit under my school desk to survive any atomic attack.

It must have been "true" our guber-ment put so much time and effort into teaching us all how to.."Duck and Cover......"

james vaughan said...

"Duck and Cover" made sense. In the early Cold War "attack without warning" was a danger. Most casualties would result from flash burns, flying debris and collapsing structures. Taking cover was a good idea. There was a line from a civil defense film of the era which sticks out- in reply to an adult who was pessimistic about survival "Do you have the right to extend your attitude to your children?" Then there are those who would rather picnic at ground zero.

james vaughan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
james vaughan said...

Not that being depressed or pessimistic isn't a completely normal response. Civil Defense officials used to be very worried
about it. How to communicate the facts about atomic war without causing panic or fatalism. [Was it "Burt" or "Bert" the Turtle -and- was he related to Burt of Burt and Ernie?]