1952 ... truth is grim!

... adequate and complete early warning systems were not a reality until the late 1950's.
Hence the fear of sudden 'surprise attack'.

1947 ... peaceful payloads

1958 ... Presidential communications

... in an era of vacuum tubes and teletypes keeping the President of the United States in control of America's nuclear arsenal while traveling the world was an arduous task.
Also of interest is the mention of 'site R' or Raven Rock. This is an underground 'super-hardened' site intended for use as a doomsday command post.

1964 ... Miss Foreign Affairs

... Stanley Kubrick directs Tracy Reed as 'Gen. Buck Turgidson's secretary, in a scene from 'Dr. Strangelove'. Miss Reed plays not only the role of the slinky 'Miss Scott' but also makes a momentary appearance as the centerfold, 'Miss Foreign Affairs' , in the magazine being perused by Slim Pickens, 'Major Kong', in the first scene on the flightdeck of the B-52 bomber. Although it looks like it was a lot of work, this particular angle shot never appears in the finished film.

1961 ... you can survive!

... scary Life magazine cover from issue that has the nifty illustrations of different family fall-out shelters. (earlier post)

1954 ... communist germs!

1948 ... attack from the moon?

1962 ... the facts! (details)

1962 ... the facts!

... after millions of Americans saw a cover story like this it is not hard to understand it was hard to generate enthusiastic support for civil defense. I was a seven year-old devotee of Life magazine at the time- hence my life-long nightmares of living in underground catacombs with atomic zombies scratching at the door!

I am surprised by how tough and unvarnished the facts of thermo-nuclear war are presented. Try to imagine that this is a very possible scenario for Ozzie and Harriet and not a forty-nine year old piece of historical flotsam.