A surer way to protect Americans from a nuclear attack-which, with the Berlin crisis of 1961, looked increasingly possible-was to build reinforced-concrete blast shelters around the nation that could actually withstand an explosion.
Kennedy was privately skeptical about the value of a public shelter program. They are the products of an ill-conceived program, designed to appease a population with little faith in that program even working. They’re tangible artifacts of that era.”Īnd though their original purpose has vanished, the signs still have much to say. “They outlasted everything, including the Berlin Wall. “They’re an enduring symbol of the Cold War,” says popular-culture historian Bill Geerhart, who since 1999 has maintained, a meticulous chronicling of the duck-and-cover era. The Fallout Shelter Sign Design Was Approved by Government Psychologistsĭented and faded now, the Kennedy-era fallout shelter signs still cling to the sides of buildings across the country. When the Civil Defense message changed from "shelter" to "evacuation," Wright "evacuated" Bert.Men install fallout shelter sign in Chicago. The sign under Bert's enclosure reads, "The Original Bert the Turtle lived 1,000 years because he knew enough to Duck and Cover. It became a popular attraction promoting civil defense in Maine. Bruce Wright, public relations director of the Maine Civil Defense and Public Safety Department, acquired the turtle from a Brunswick doctor who had gotten it from sailors at Brunswick Naval Air Station. One of the most enduring campaigns was the Bert the Turtle "Duck and Cover" The symbol for a national Civil Defense motivational effort was Bert the Turtle, who taught children how to "duck and cover" in case of danger.Ī live Bert, a 50-pound North African sea turtle, appeared on a float at the Rockland Seafood Festival in the late 1950s.Ĭ.
In addition to providing information and warnings about fallout shelters and rations, Civil Defense workers educated children (and others) about personal safety.
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