Duck And Cover Film Analysis

In December of 1962, president John F Kennedy broadcasted, “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.” Even though there was little hand-to-hand combat during the Cold War, an estimated 389 men died while in air-combat. Nations experienced both victories and losses. But, without the Cold War, America (and other countries for that matter) would have never learned from their mistakes. To show their superiority, America was going to explode a bomb on the moon. Thankfully that never happened, but America and the involved countries have learned from their faults and decisions so history will not repeat itself. The Cold War, characterized as a time of constant apprehension and suspicion, produced

fear in the public at large during the 1950s and 1960s, including within schools by forcing students to participate in duck and cover drills, massive rates of propaganda, and fallout shelters, which were created to protect the country from ruination.
Duck and cover drills were utilized all across America to protect the nation from the possible threat of an atomic bomb. In schools, children were taught how to correctly perform a duck and cover drill. In these situations, children would curl up under their desks with their hands and arms over their necks (Berg 618-621). PSAs would also direct adults in how to react to an event like this. During the Cold War, an abundant amount of teachers were advocated to participate their students in air raid drills.These drills would consist of the teacher abruptly shouting "Drop!". After the teacher did this, the students would conceal themselves under their desks. Some schools would even administer dog tags to identify the body of the student if something dire were to happen (Ganzel). To signal an air-raid drill, a loud, low noise would sound. Even though the infamous Duck and Cover was an instant educational hit, many children had some trouble grasping the difference from cartoon and reality.
Even though the drills were highly utilized, science proved that radiation was a much bigger threat. A test was conducted on the Marshall Islands to see how radiation could travel. The residents who returned after the test’s explosion all had symptoms of radiation sickness. But, even though outside of range, fishermen 7,000 miles away were still affected mildly. Even though the drills would never protect from radiation, they were used as a placebo effect to calm the public. The very first nuclear fusion test, Ivy Mike, concluded the same findings as the Marshall Island experiment. The Ivy Mike bomb created a 6,240 foot crater, that was 50 feet deep. It created a 3.25 mile wide fireball, and a cloud that rose up to 57,000 feet. The morbidly fortunate thing is that if one was close enough to the blast, they will be obliterated instantaneously before obtaining any other harmful results. The explosion creates a blinding flash of light and heat reaching up to millions of degrees, which can leave skin charred, cause blindness and start fires. The clouds of gas can rise, and debris can fly. A poster in New Hampshire said: “When you see a flash of light brighter than the sun—- Don’t run; there isn’t time. Fall flat on your face. Get Down Fast” (Kelly)! Although this may protect one's face, the rest of their body most likely would have been severely burned.
Although unrealistic, the Duck and Cover film was somewhat useful.

Because the film was such a hit, the Alert America Convoy was launched with 10 trucks and trailers touring the nation for nine months. They brought diagrams, models, and movies that provided information to 1.1 million people. The 1951 duck and cover pamphlet sold around 20 million copies. A film, a record album and even a radio program was produced! The franchise produced a travelling show called Alert America. This show toured the country for nine months, and the film was broadcasted across the nation. Bert the Turtle showed the children what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. The delivery was short and sweet, so the children could easily follow along with the message (“Duck and

Cover”)
Fallout shelters were built in response to American’s horrific fears. Since 1923, there had been 50,000 recorded deaths because of plane accidents, but the amount of deaths caused by nuclear disasters were much higher. At the time, 2 nuclear bombs had killed around 200,000 people already. People knew radiation had deadly results, from hair loss and skin burns, to cancer, bone defects, and malformations in unborn children. In 1951, the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) was formed.. The purpose of the FCDA was to educate citizens about what they could due in the event of an attack. Because of the increasing tension with the Soviet Union and the introduction of the Chinese intervention, the FCDA suggested the use of fallout shelters. Even after all the FCDA's endorsement, the civil defense declined to include fallout shelters in their program, though the public did welcome the addition. John F. Kennedy also encouraged shelters with his letter in the article How Can You Survive Fallout? But it’s release, which was directly after the fall of Berlin, decreased tensions and subsequently the demand for the shelters. It’s popularity reached its highest in 1961, because of the new creation of newer, stronger, weapons (Contreas et al.).
Fallout shelters were used all across the nation for the protection of families. Even though all fallout shelters were built for one common purpose, there were many different kinds. They include: Expedience, Personal/Family, Community, and Hidden. The Expedience shelter resembled a trench. It had a very strong roof that was at least three feet underground with entrances formed in right angles so radiation could not penetrate. A plastic sheet was above the roof (but still underground), so rain could not flow through (“Fallout Shelters”). A Personal or Family shelter was small, and had low ceilings, and were isolated. Community shelters were located in the cores of buildings or subways. Hidden shelters were used for important city or government leaders. Some people found it more economical to just use their basement, with around two weeks' supplies of food and water, a radio, and a first aid kit. Although advised against it, many people proceeded to build their own shelters (Watson and Bird 46)
Most shelters were concentrated out of concrete, though not all. To be considered as a shelter, the walls had to be at least one foot wide, and shields that could block out intense amounts of gamma-ray radiation. In addition to this, an alarm would sound as the threat approached its target. Even though all bomb shelters were designed to protect, not all completed this task. At a cost of $150 - $200, which would be $1,209.95 - $1,613.26 today, these shelters were designed to block radiation, but could not care for the people inside. They weren't designed to hold the people for the time it would take for the radiation to fizzle, and they didn't have the air ventilation and waste systems they needed. Because the shelters were contained underground, the inhabitant's body heat would slowly suffocate them. In reality, they were more a sense of security than actual safety.The basement shelter was safer, and contained "pocket dosimeters", which let the individuals know when the radiation levels were safe. This device obtained readings on the radioactivity that was in the air. There were also contraptions called Geiger counters which performed the same job as the dosimeters. The way these shelters were built, impacted its inhabitants greatly. Without fallout shelters making an appearance in the mid to late 1950s, America would not have the more advanced and high-tech doomsday-shelters that are still built today (“The Family Fallout Shelter”).
Propaganda was one of the most notorious forms of publicity in the Cold War. During the late 1950s, in children’s bubble gum packs, there would be cards to demote Communist beliefs. The cards were packed with bright colours easily understood language, so the children's attention could be quickly grasped, and fed the information easily. Propaganda for children also included films such as Make Mine Freedom, and Meet King Joe. These films also ingrained a deep sense of nationalism and because animators believed that animation was the best way of influencing children. The American government was very smart when it came to creating pieces of propaganda for children. The ideas of the Soviet enemy was crammed into their little heads from the earliest they could remember. Because comedies were the main programs on television, the producers decided to stick with that. Certain children's shows ingrained themes of education, respect, obedience and the like. Many characters in children's shows also were modeled after European Communists. This led children to believe whatever they watched (“The Cold War”).
The propaganda of the Cold War took over some extreme concepts.

Propaganda even was expelled in the form of Hollywood movies. The most infamous storyline was that anyone you knew could possibly be, or is becoming a Communist. These movies became a very proficient way to add to the already paranoid public, with scare tactics and nationalism. Since Americans were terrified by the idea of suddenly being attacked, producers promoted thoughts of post-explosion people, with grotesque features, cities in complete wasteland. Filmmakers made anti-communist films to influence, but more importantly, because they were being investigated by Washington D.C.'s Red Raiders. Because the United States wanted to remain allies with the Soviet Union, they continued to produce pro-Soviet films. This continued until the House Under American Activities Committee was questioning their motives. The HUAC was worried that these films would influence Americans to engage in Communism. Because of these investigations, filmmakers started filming obvious anti-Communist films, such as I Married a Communist (1950) and My Son John (1952) (Gustainis 550). One of the films that was created was titled Fail-Safe, which was about bombers who worked for the American side who were mistakenly asked to bomb the Soviet Union, with no way to be

recalled.
The use of television was a new and popular way for Cold War propaganda to be distributed in a fast and efficient way. "Pseudo-events", erupted, where society was made to believe in something that was not factual. In the 2003 book Cold War, Cool Medium, Thomas Doherty discusses different types of media during the war, and how it functioned under "an elastic arrangement, sometimes constricting but ultimately expanding the boundaries of free expression and relaxing the credentials for inclusion.” Along with propaganda, American television began to produce more scandalous topics. Because of the war, entertainment reflecting it was bound to happen. Around 16 series just about the military aired between 1949 and 1960. Some include Crusade in Europe, Victory at Sea, along with many others. These programs highlighted the war as being "fun" and how it was the "good war" (Mundey 828). Since Americans could easily have access to many forms of propaganda, as they were almost anywhere and everywhere. Even though propaganda was full of mistruths and white lies, it still pursued its purpose, to create a sense of nationalism and pride.
Even though the Cold War was a very dark time for most, America crafted solutions, such as duck and cover drills, propaganda, and fallout shelters, to provide Americans with safety and comfort. Returning to John F. Kennedy’s statement, “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”, America persevered to achieve their idea - to win the war. Without the Cold War, the 1950s and 1960s would not be such a captivating topic.