Scanning Around With Gene: Our Love/Hate Relationship with the Atom

In my family the discussions around the dinner table during this period were less about the effects of nuclear radiation (which was widely glossed over), and more about who would be privileged enough to gain access to our own shelter (assuming we finished it). My father made it very clear that these would be hard times and the first item into the shelter would be one of his guns. If any desperate neighbors (who were not insightful enough to build their own shelter) dare tried to gain entry after the bomb hit, he’d have to “dispatch” them so as not to waste our limited resources. Grandma, yes, parish priest, no, pets yes, aunts and uncles, no.
Here, from the Library of Congress, are a number of government fallout-shelter images, ending with an optimistic trade-fair tent and display of suggested supplies. No one was willing to admit you would need enough food for several hundred years.





Over time the cold war thawed a bit and the government seemed to realize that any attempt to prepare citizens for a nuclear war was futile. The fear and doom scenarios gave way to the incredible benefits of nuclear power, which utility companies began pushing as something positive and not to be feared.
So I’ll end with two more positive atom-era images. The first, from General Electric, shows an “Atomburger” being cooked with electricity generated from atomic energy (see plant in background) in 1955. The second, from 1994, is a more modern coloring book produced for kids by the American Nuclear Society. Inside, kids can not only learn about the benefits of nuclear energy, but color their own Geiger counter. I guess it’s a better message to send to children than teaching them how to “duck and cover,” or suggesting to them which of their neighborhood friends would have to be shot in a time of conflict.

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