Page 316 - Demo

Nuclear-EraEphemeraThis section consists of various types of ephemera, mostly produced between the 1940s and the 1960s. It was an era when The Bomb was very much a part of the national zeitgeist, and there were profound changes in society, politics, and technological development.Nuclear testing was in the news regularly. Newspapers and magazines were filled with articles concerned with nuclear proliferation and the risk of a disaster resulting in a global nuclear winter. The fear of such devastation persuaded some people to build bomb shelters and stock them with enough food and supplies to survive the worst. Municipalities put up yellow-and-black trefoil signs directing people to buildings with sturdy basements that could be used as fallout shelters.At the same time, scientists discussed peaceful uses of nuclear technology. Atomic power was promoted as the epitome of progress and modernity. Nuclear medicine offered beneficial applications from the %u201cfriendly atom.%u201d David Dietz, a science writer, predicted that instead of filling your car%u2019s tank with gasoline, you would be able to travel for a year on a pellet of atomic energy the size of a vitamin pill. And he wasn%u2019t the only one. In 1957, Ford created a concept car model called the Nucleon which was powered by a steam engine fueled with nuclear fission.