Film poster held by Jean Nelson.
Don’t miss this vital film! “You can beat the A-bomb.” Free showings. Columbia High School, Feb. 19 thru 22. Get tickets for yourself and family from your supervisor today.
That’s what the promo reads. The woman smiling makes one feel hopeful about the bomb, and seems the movie says there’s good reason to be hopeful according to a review at PicPal .
You Can Beat the A-Bomb (b&w) is an amazing piece of atomic propoganda that basically says a nuclear attack may be a tad inconvenient but it’s nothing to get too upset over. Just close the windows, hide under some furniture, stay inside for about an hour, then start to clean up. It also contains some hilarious what if? scenes in which Mom unplugs the iron before taking shelter. Dad, however, is the big know-it-all who can spout off a credible sounding yet suspect answer to any nukie question thrown his way. For example, when his kids ask, Can we catch radiation from you, Daddy? Daddy answers, No, I’m keeping it all to myself! as he scrubs the fallout off with a quick soap lather! And remember, if you get radiation poisoning, lie down and rest. |
As a child, I likely saw You Can Beat the A-Bomb. I believe I did as I think I remember mom’s unplugging the iron and how that made me paranoid about irons. I also likely saw Duck and Cover (which you can catch over at The Internet Archive) in which children are exhorted to keep on mind at all times the FLASH that will clue them in to unannounced atomic warfare. Keep it on mind as you walk to school, as you play at school, never let the knowledge go, so that when the moment comes you’ll reflexively dive under your nearest schoolmate. If you’re out on your bike and no schoolmate is available as a shield, pull your coat over your head to save yourself from the bomb’s knack for delivering a scorching sunburn (the film doesn’t mention you better be wearing a light-reflecting coat) and wait for your nearest Civil Defense worker to tap you on the shoulder when all’s safe. Eluding harm is just about that simple.
Which it was not and is not and watching the propaganda it’s clear that the film existed not to save your hide with sticks-and-stones era measures, but to dedicate Citizens John Jr. and Sally to a lifetime of fear and trembling.
In the pic’s background, out the window, it seems a desert duststorm may be blowing so I colored it brown. There appeared to be dark streaks of mold staining the wall beneath the window. On the desk, which was likely Jean’s, was a coffee cup beside a thermos. That thermos and the inviting smile on Jean Nelson’s face make the room seem almost as cozy as Jean Nelson appears confident that she can beat the A-bomb. One wonders how she got stuck with the duty of cheesecaking this sham of a comforter, or instead of a promo was it a cynical or satirical comment on the film by Jean and the photographer and was never intended for use, just a photo on the tag end of a nearly used-up roll of film.
I doubt the cynical scenario. Jean and the photographer were likely quite serious in their play.
All Boomers will remember the terror of the atom bomb dropping at any time. In Richland, plutonium being its excuse, that fear was a little more focused than in a place like Get Yer Beef Here, Texas. 80% of the jobs in the Tri-City area of Richland, Pasco and Kennewick were dependent on Hanford, directly or indirectly. A bright face was put on plutonium and at one time the idea for a Nuclear Industrial Park with up to 50 reactors was being talked about as a good idea. But the regular air-raid drills reinforced the knowledge you were part of something kind of, uhmm, dicey special, and I imagine was a little reflected in the following child’s bike safety poster.
Photo from the “Hanford Historical Photo Declassification Project”
We were targets.
That’ll do something to a kid’s psyche, being raised as a target. We thought the Cold War would never end. Fear would be eternal as the U.S. of A’s supposedly eternally established and ordained-by-god borders. There was no other way. The end of America would be apocalypse for everyone. There would be no world on the far side.
Bad bombs were always launched by another power. At some point the Uptown Theater showed a movie called "And A Voice Shall Be Heard". It was produced by "The March of Time" and presented by General Electric. A poster for it reads, "See how Syracuse NY intends to fight back against the A-Bomb." I guess that means the bad A-Bomb belonged to someone else, while America had good A-Bombs that only served for defense.
Photo from the “Hanford Historical Photo Declassification Project”
If you didn't have an outfit to protect you against The Bomb, hopefully you would have a hard hat and canned goods and a shovel of sand. The below display shows "Items Recommended for Every Richland Home" included tomato juice, Spam, formula, a battery radio, a can opener and first aid kit. One's local grocery would "soon be able to quote you prices and take your order for canned water."
We ate a good deal of Spam in Richland but I think that's because my dad liked Spam and it was easy to fix.
Photo from the “Hanford Historical Photo Declassification Project”
The government spends a fair amount of time telling today’s children they’re targets. In the 1950s and 1960s, the dread was a retina-scorching flash on the horizon followed by a mushroom cloud billowing in the sky. Today the threat is any time, any where. The person seated next to you on the bus might have been a cold war spy, a commie infiltrator in the 50s and 60s. Today, the person seated next to you, the envelope in your mail box, the knapsack on the train may be instead the carrier of certain and immediate death. The intention, as before, could be nothing but to instill fear, not to train in safety measures, as duck and cover was just as absurd as today’s duct tape and plastic.
H.o.p., my seven-year-old son, saw Duck and Cover when I watched it in preparation for working on this photo. He was immediately attracted by the Bert the Turtle whose security is his shell out of which he is reluctant to emerge. And he didn’t say a word until the end. Just stood silent by my side, watching. No fidgeting, no playing with anything else while he watched.
We may laugh about these films now, but that’s some captivating and thus effective piece of child-targeted propaganda.
Image resource:
You Can Beat the Bomb: Accession Number N1D0033727
Document Number 1767-1-NEG-B
Alternate Document Number 1767-1-NEG
Title Description YOU CAN BEAT THE A BOMB - FILM POSTER,\ HELD BY JEAN NELSON
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