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Life During the Early Cold War: Facing the Bomb
Americans were shocked when the Soviet successfully tested a powerful hydrogen bomb in 1953. This occurred less than a year after the US tested their own H-bomb. Americans prepared for a surprise Soviet attack. Schools set aside special areas as bomb shelters, students learned to duck under their desks, turn away from windows and cover their hands. “Duck and cover” was supposed to protect them from nuclear bomb blasts. These drill might make people feel safe, but it would not have protected from nuclear radiation. According to experts for every person killed outright in a blast, four more would die from fallout, the radiation left after a blast. To protect themselves families built fallout shelters in their backyards and stocked them with canned foods.
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Popular Culture in the Cold WarWorry about nuclear war and communist infiltration filled peoples imagination and Cold War nightmares soon appeared in films and popular fiction. Matt Cvetic was an undercover FBI informant who infiltrated the Communist Party of Pittsburgh. His story captivated readers of the Saturday Evening Post and was made into a movie, I Was a Communist for the FBI. Another suspense film featured FBI activities on an espionage case. Television took up the theme with a series about an undercover FBI counterspy. In 1954 author Philip Wylie published a novel, Tomorrow! describing the horrific effects of nuclear war on an unprepared city. As an advisor on civil defense Wylie had failed to convince the government to play a strong role in building bomb shelters. Frustrated he wrote his novel to educated the public about the horrors of nuclear war.
