The A-Bomb and You: Four Survival Secrets; Memorize Them and Live (Broadside)

Atomic survival advertising broadside created by Pittsburgh agency Matt-Lee Sales Co. for Sycamore Pharmacy. 14 x 8.5 inches. Orange cardstock with soil and wear consistent with being dutifully hung on a kitchen wall. The heading uses a turn of phrase from Orwell's famous essay, "You and the Atomic Bomb," where the term 'Cold War' was first used. The language on the poster itself is adapted from the Survival Under Atomic Attack booklet issued by the Department of Civil Defense in 1951 to try to educate the public and allay fears of nuclear annihilation.

Survival Under Atomic Attack featured six "survival secrets," and the four listed on this poster are lifted almost verbatim from pages 16-17 of the booklet, which was printed so the center pages could be removed and kept handy (the other two secrets being "Don't take chances with food" and "don't start rumors"). The balance of household safety tips is distributed into four columns in the lower section, a mass of text printed in various sizes and much more difficult to read than the Survival booklet, but alas--the animated "Duck and Cover" campaign, produced as a pamphlet, short film and radio spot commissioned and distributed by the Federal Civil Defense Administration, would soon take over as the atomic informer (and, some argued, propaganda) for the general public.