Civil Defense: You Duck and I'll Cover

Duck and Cover
with "Bert the Turtle"

After Russia's launch of Sputnik I in 1957 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962, it was clear that the U.S. was vulnerable to a possible nuclear attack. The Defense Civil Preparedness Agency and later the Federal Emergency Management Agency performed studies, published pamphlets, and stocked fallout shelters. Yet, the U.S. never seemed serious about civil defense against nuclear attack, preferring the doctrine of deterence through "Mutually Assured Destruction."

It is easy in retrospect to find the ridiculous in the civil defense posture of the 1960's, as was done so well in the "Atomic Cafe" when it compared Bert the Turtle's advice of "Duck and Cover" against the actual effects of nuclear weapons on civilian houses. There was much serious study and development of civil defense measures that never reached a wide public audience. The examples of documents published for most Americans are shown under the section labelled The Official Story. Less well-known is the detailed information developed by Cresson Kearny and others at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, which is presented as The Do-It-Yourself Story.

The Official Story

Home Shelter [Adobe PDF, 646KB]
This 1980 pamphlet shows the design of an underground shelter offering protection against radioactive fallout, nuclear blast, and tornados.

Aboveground Home Shelter [Adobe PDF, 819KB]
This 1980 pamphlet shows the design of an aboveground shelter offering protection against radioactive fallout, nuclear blast, and tornados.

The Do-It-Yourself Story

A Homemade Fallout Meter: The KFM (Kearny Fallout Meter) [Adobe PDF, 1.19MB]
This booklet shows make and use a Kearny Fallout Meter from simple materials around the home. It is automatically calibrated by the geometry of its components.

Most of the documents, photos, maps and videos presented here are from U.S. Government documents and believed to be in the public domain, unless specifically noted.