1952 - 1960 ... President Eisenhower



... not many photos of Ike looking quite this dashing! The more I research, the more respect I have for this man who helped to guide the world through it's first dangerous decade of the Cold War.

1965 ... country CD with strings!


... looks like this was made after the big one was already dropped! How to protect yourself and your cows and chickens. Made by some 'Super-Marionation' wanna-bees on what must have been a fifteen dollar budget! If I was a rural American I'd ask for my money back!

1964 ... not that phone!


... very informative official film on how Strategic Air Command's command and control system worked. Here are the real guys who will fight WW3... "toe to toe with the Russkies!". 

By the looks of them, some of them need to go home early, 
smoke some reefer with their kids and listen to some Rolling Stones!

1959 ... next day delivery!

"... when it absolutely, positively, has to be there overnight"
You can rely on the Douglass C-133 'Cargomaster'.

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1961 ... saving thine!


1966 ... shelter shopping list!


... seemed to have dropped the suggestion of 'an adequate supply of tranquilizers'. Also no automatic weapons to drive off those foolishly ill-prepared neighbors or the soon to come bands of roaming atomic zombies! 

link to the rest of pamphlet

1962 ... guys who blow-up stuff!


... before the 1963 'Test Ban treaty' which banned atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, the US and USSR were were feverishly detonating all sorts of fun and new-fangled toys.

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... 'US Strategic Nuclear Policy'



... excellent, in depth documentary, of the concepts and actions of nuclear deterrence. Historic footage and many interviews with the people who developed the policies. Produced by the Sandia Co. who are the private contractors at Los Alamos National Labs. In four, one hour, parts.

,,, 'The World's Biggest Bomb' PBS


... story behind the Soviet development and testing of a 50 megaton Hydrogen Bomb. It is this weapon, the 'Tsar Bomb', and the threat of more like it of even bigger yields, that solidified fears of 'the end of the world.'

... 'Race for the SuperBomb' PBS


... excellent, accurate and comprehensive "American Experience" program on the development of the Hydrogen Bomb.  It was the 'H-Bomb' that made atomic war unwinnable and carried the potential to destroy humanity.

1957 ... a closer view!


... 2 miles above, a 2 kiloton air to air atomic missile goes off- and they were there for the 'spectacular, beautiful' moment!

... roger 'X-Ray Delta One'


... christened after the call sign of the spaceship 'Discovery' in Stanley Kubrick's science fiction masterpiece '2001'; my Pop-Culture/ History site on Flickr has a huge Cold War section
( a mere smattering is pictured above )

1946 ... Artzybasheff


... as early as 1946 the fantastic art of Boris Artzybasheff was foreseeing the future arms race.

... here's a link to a gallery of his work at my pop-culture/ history site 'X-Ray Delta One'


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... the Oak Ridge Boys!


... Windy City Loses!


... I have not been able to get a date on this- but it is in obvious reference  to relatively small 'Hiroshima Size' weapons. ie. fission- plutonium 15-20 kiloton

1953 ... Atomic House!




... wow, this is a location for a cheesy 1950's Sci-Fi classic just waiting to get made!
... here's one version 'The Day the World Ended'- but the house is not nearly as cool. 

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1957 ... 'Jet Pilot'



... oh, it's such a bad movie! But the scenes with the jets are cool!



1957 ... love-sick Duke!



... John Wayne pines away over the love of a hot, woman MIG pilot ( Janet Leigh ) who has defected to the West. She may be a double agent- what will the Duke do ?!?

Produced by Howard Hughes, 1957's 'Jet Pilot', remains one of the great debacles of Hollywood.  Absurd plot, embarrassing script. Hughes kept tinkering with it for so long that the jets were out of date when it was finally released.

1956 ... atomic powered flight!

... this is a re-post of an earlier image (better version). As discussed earlier, the dream of aircraft that could stay aloft indefinitely, powered by atomic reactors  was dashed by...

1. tremendous cost
2. insurmountable technical problems- mainly how to not cook the crew
3. development of air-to air refueling
4. introduction of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
5. the fact that they were crazy dangerous
6. a rare period of sanity at the Pentagon

... did I mention crazy dangerous? 

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... Ядерное оружие - нас!

... Nukes-R-Us !

1959 ... wish you were here!


1964 ... British Aircraft Corp. TSR-2

... another miraculous aircraft of British design that fell victim to cost cutting and US competition. Maybe if they had only come up with a sexier name? video

1965 ... Corsair

... everytime I see a US aircraft in Vietnam War camo- I get a little depressed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTV_A-7_Corsair_II

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