Archive for the 'the cold war' Category

22nd Jun 2008

1965: Civil Defense PSAs


Some of the advice is good, like “wash and peel fruits and vegetables that were exposed to fallout.” Some is a bit more questionable, like piling hay around your barn to protect your livestock. All of it is amusing, though.

I’d love to get my hands on a copy of some of those brochures, particularly “Your Livestock Can Survive FALLOUT.” I doubt they’re terribly common, though…

Posted in the cold war, the world will end, video | 1 Comment »

15th Jun 2008

Fake legs and anti-commie judo

Having been out of town for ages, then having relatives visiting us, it’s taking days to catch up on my RSS feeds. I had no idea I read so much stuff. Good thing I’m being downsized, I’ll have more time for reading random blogs!

Two nice short olde tyme things from Modern Mechanix… Leg Falsies from 1953 (as if small boobs weren’t enough, now we need to worry about curvaceous calf muscles) or an 1950 ad for Americanized Judo (you don’t want to accidentally learn that Godless Commie Judo, after all).

Posted in advertisement, feminism, just plain weird, the cold war | 1 Comment »

04th Mar 2008

For civilization to survive

We watched The Shelter last night. One of the classic Twilight Zone episodes, it’s a revealing glimpse over the thin line between perfection and panic that was the Cold War.

No moral, no message, no prophetic tract: Just a simple statement of fact. For civilization to survive, the human race has to remain civilized. Tonight’s very small exercise in logic, from the Twilight Zone.

Thank G-d that my area of the world is civilized on the surface. I don’t relish the idea of dealing with gut-wrenching fear for the lives of one’s children. And maybe someday nobody will have to.

Enough philosophizing, I need to get some sleep!

Posted in raising children, the cold war | No Comments »

27th Feb 2008

chugga chugga boom boom

I find that I prefer toy advertisements from “back in the day” over modern ones. Less stupid electronic rock music in the background while you blow up trains.

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My brother had model trains while he was growing up, but none of those missile-shooting kind. His just went in a circle. Then he became a policy wonk when he grew up, not a jet pilot (and I’m sure there’s some sort of metaphor for “going in circles” versus “launching missiles” in there somewhere).

Posted in advertisement, the cold war, toys | 1 Comment »