This wall-mounted flyer titled IN CASE OF NUCLEAR ATTACK was produced by the city of Portland, Oregon, some time between 1981 and 1985. Thanks to step #7, I now know the international stick-figure symbol for "Comfort the dying." Those were the days, eh? [via Geekologie]
Posted by Sean Michael Ragan |
Jan 18, 2010 07:51 PM
Made On Earth, Paper Crafts, Retro |
Permalink
| Comments (15)
| Email This |
Oldest comments listed first.
Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!
Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.
$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)
Check out more videos from MAKE.
 |
MAKE on Facebook Visit our Facebook page and become a fan of MAKE! |
 |
MAKE on Twitter Follow our MAKE tweets! |
 |
MAKE on Flickr Join our MAKE Flickr Pool! |
Gareth Branwyn
Editor-in-Chief
Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
| Web | Twitter
Becky Stern
Associate Editor
| AIM | Twitter
Marc de Vinck
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
John Park
Contributing Writer
| Twitter
Sean Ragan
Contributing Writer
| Twitter
Matt Mets
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
Dale Dougherty
Editor & Publisher
| Twitter
Shawn Connally
Director of
Digital Media
| Twitter
Goli Mohammadi
Senior Editor
Kip Kay
Weekend Projects
| AIM | Twitter
Collin Cunningham
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
Adam Flaherty
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
John Baichtal
Contributing Writer
| AIM | Twitter
More contributors: Mark Frauenfelder (Editor-in-Chief, MAKE magazine), Kipp Bradford (Technical Consultant/Writer), Chris Connors (Education), Diana Eng (Guest Author), Peter Horvath (Intern), Brian Jepson (O'Reilly Media), Robert Bruce Thompson (Science Room)
Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!
Click here to advertise on MAKE!
Industrial Sound Controllers
Tristan Shone rolled out the 'big guns' for Maker Faire Bay Area 2010. His Industrial Sound Controllers are a musical force to be reckoned with and their sheer size and weight demand considerable attention upon seeing them firsthand. Tristan...
More...
Help | Write for MAKE | Contact Us | Subscribe | Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy| About MAKE | FAQ
© 2010 O'Reilly Media, Inc.
All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing on makezine.com are the property of their respective owners.
RSS
"Place newspaper over head??"
Reply to this comment
I'm pretty sure this is a fake; the work of a prankster(s) some years ago. It may be written about in the Re/Search book "Pranks", in fact. Either way, it was definitely a precursor to plastic and duct tape protection.
Reply to this comment
hahah, i know, i had to laugh about the newspaper as well.
Also, step two (the flash) is what notifies you of the explosion. The next step being: Close eyes, drop to the ground with your head towards the explosion. Cover your head best you can.. because here comes the shockwave/debris! After the initial blast you should find cover because cruft/rocks/junk will be falling from the sky for several minutes (if not longer).
If you were indoors? you probably wouldn't know until the blast hit you.
Also, the baby corpse in the last frame is saddening.
Reply to this comment
I suspect the newspaper over the head is to prevent being contaminated by nuclear fallout, which is a valid concern if you weren't close enough to the bomb to be incinerated or blown away.
In the past, personal protection from fallout was a major concern, but as Wikipedia suggests, in a global thermonuclear war short-term survival is generally considered futile. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout#Fallout_protection)
The military still teaches methods of decontaminating the body of fallout particles, but I've never gotten any such education in school. I wonder if any schools teach this kind of stuff these days? I suspect they did at least in some places in the 50's-early 80's
Reply to this comment
If it is a "fake" then it's a needless one. I'm old enough to remember the "duck and cover" practices; and there were handouts very similar to this one. Even so young we knew it was kabuki safety measures... we would've been ash packets neatly underneath each desk.
Hmm... #8 "isolate corpses to prevent spread of disease" was just being somewhat debunked on the BBC today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8465464.stm
Do dead bodies in Haiti pose a health risk?
Reply to this comment
The current thinking is "not more than they were alive". However, bodies in an advanced state of putrefaction release some very nasty cadaver poisons which I would not want getting into my system through an open cut or blister, quite apart from the pollution they can cause to water supplies.
Reply to this comment
Don't forget step #9: Shoot all corpses in the head to prevent spread of radioactive zombies.
Reply to this comment
It's a fake because it misses the fire-wave which follows the flash and precedes the blast. Putting a newspaper on your head would just be asking for it. Added to which, the protocols in use were c1970 - by 1984-5, we were fairly certain we were past the worst risk, and this would have been considered unnecessarily provocative. A real UK public information leaflet from this period is to be found here - it was treated with derision by most of the population.
Reply to this comment
It looks official; the seal and the mayor's name are accurate.
Also, the guy in #5 is missing a leg.
Reply to this comment
...he said they had a similar poster. Except Step 4 was "bend over", Step 5 encouraged additional bending, and the Final Step was "Kiss your a-- goodbye."
Reply to this comment
What do you use if you get your news on a Kindle?
Reply to this comment
Hey you in step #2 - no peeking!
Reply to this comment
This is a fake. If you ride the BART, look at their "in case of emergency" signs, this design mimics those. Also note that the "isolate corpses" panel takes place in a stylized train. The original fake was the same size, had the BART/MTA/whatever logo, and was made to be stuck over the actual signs.
Reply to this comment
This sign is very similar to one handed out in my school in the mid eighties. The setting of mine is in a bathroom and has one final step, "Remain cheerful to the end."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46765197@N03/4291441708/
Reply to this comment
Put a newspaper over your head? I thought you were supposed to put a tinfoil cap on to keep death rays out of your brain, lol.
On a more serious note though, there was an E-mail circulating right after 9-11 some of you probably saw, purported to be from a Colonel about what to do in the event of a nuclear detonation, first is get down (yes I know, it makes no sense because if you see the flash, even through a wall it'll burn your eyes out, and if you hear it, the blast wave will likely already be upon you) the blast wave can apparently go right over you if you're flat on the ground or in a shallow hole or ditch, for fallout, just move upwind from the blast and you should be OK. (which by the way, if you were in the blast radius, you probably got radiated anyways, go figure) I'm not stating this as fact but it was an interesting E-mail
Reply to this comment