Fear of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union led Americans to invest in many civil defense measures during the cold war. The discovery of radiation left in the air after an atomic blast, known as fallout, led to the creation of fallout shelters. These reinforced concrete shelters were promoted as safe, easy-accessible locations in which a family could live for an extended amount of time following a nuclear attack.

Cold War film that attempts to dispel many common myths and fallacies about radioactive fallout.

Taking advantage of television's rise in popularity, during the Cold War instructional programs on surviving a nuclear attack were widely produced. Fallout shelters, stocking canned goods, and other emergency preparations became ritual, though necessary, precautions.

This Prelinger Archives film promotes the idea that "as serious as fallout is, we can cope with it through an active radiological defense program." With hyper-dramatic narration the film depicts various aspects of atom-blast scenarios, including people on the street shot through a red filter to indicate contamination, a man shown dying in a hospital bed (with a close-up of his hand going limp), and the declaration that "all of us live within fallout...

Following the end of World War II, the Truman administration created the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA). The agency produced videos, booklets, and television shows to convince the American public that they could survive a nuclear attack by taking basic precautions. School children practiced "duck and cover" drills, dropping under their desks and covering their heads in response to a warning. Fear of a Soviet nuclear attack also led many...

"Saint Ambrose Prep is a place where the wealthy send their children for the best possible education, with teachers and administrators from the Ivy League, and graduates who become future lawyers, politicians, filmmakers, and CEOs. Traditionally a boys-only school, Saint Ambrose has just enrolled one hundred and forty female students for the first time. Even though most of the kids on the campus have all the privilege in the world, some are struggling,...