Cold War: Gas Mask Fashion

"QUANTUM SHOT" #165


Experience You Don't Forget

Those of you who remember the "hottest" days of the Cold War (Cuban Missile Crisis, Brezhnev's Fight with Imperialism, etc) will know more about gas masks than modern generation. Wear it once, get scarred for life. Here are some ultimately creepy shots from "gas mask" nuclear defense craze in the 50s and 60s:











Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS












(Source: Vintage Photo)












(Source: Oibeer)


Threat of nuclear destruction was very tangible then (some argue, even as it is now). Have a look at this comparison of nuclear bombs, starting with the "microscopic" Hiroshima bomb:



To scare yourself even more, read this excellent list of
Close Calls in the Nuclear Age.

"On October 25, 1962 (during the Cuban Missile Crisis) a security guard at an air base in Duluth, Minnesota, saw a shadowy figure scaling one of the fences enclosing the base. He shot at the intruder and activated an intruder alarm, automatically setting off intruder alarms at neighboring bases.

However, at the Volk Field air base in Wisconsin, the Klaxon loudspeaker had been wired incorrectly, and instead sounded an alarm ordering F-106A interceptors armed with nuclear missiles to take off. The pilots assumed that a full-scale nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union had begun, and the planes were about to take off when a car from the air traffic control tower raced down the tarmac and signaled the planes to stop. The intruder in Duluth had finally been identified: it was a bear."

"Bomb Paranoia" starts early: marvel at Hitler's plans to bomb America in 1946:


(Source: Modern Mechanix)

The "End of the World" as we know it:
This fascinating chart details the time-line of complete disappearance of any trace of human civilization from Earth, in case of an "extinction event": asteroid strike, or all-out nuclear war. After the humans are gone:


(image credit: Times Online)

- in 50 years all cities are overgrown with vegetation.
- in 1000 years most brick, concrete and stone buildings are gone.
- in 50,000 years all glass and plastics disappear.
- nuclear waste remains deadly for 2 million years.




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Also read: Thermonuclear Oops List,
Biochemical Oops List,
Ballistic News

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Category: History,Weird, Military
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