Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The History of Bert the Turtle


            With the Cold War taking place and nuclear warfare on the rise, America was thrown into mass hysteria over its own personal safety in day to day life, the looming threat of a nuclear attack was in the back of nearly every American mind. Many so-called "nuclear drills" were created in order to prepare American civilians for a nuclear attack by Russia. These drills were constantly reinforced in schools all over America in order for the children to be prepared for a potential attack. This concept was obviously quite grim and hard to talk to children about in a casual manner, so methods were developed to make it less hard on the children of America. 


            One of these methods was known commonly as Bert the Turtle. Bert was a cartoon turtle that was used in a very famous informational "Duck and Cover" video shown in classrooms all over America. Bert was first seen on screen in January of 1952 and gained popularity from then on. Bert appeared in the video demonstrating the proper procedure to avoid danger and what actions to take in the event of a nuclear emergency. He would be pictured ducking and taking cover when he saw the light of the nuclear explosion or any other signs of danger. The video was created to help children learn from the example of what to do in these situations without causing them to become overly frightened by the looming idea of a nuclear attack at any minute. 


           Bert's film was directed by Anthony Rizzo and written by Raymond J. Mauer, these two men are now being honored for creating the concept of the simplified "Duck and Cover" that we can see still in school classrooms all over America. Their procedure was later adapted for other dangerous events such as earthquakes, which can be seen being taught in almost every classroom in California starting in grades as young as kindergarten. Bert's film was mass distributed to schools by Archer Productions and funded by the US Federal Civil Defense Administration, soon after its release, the film and Bert made their forever mark on American classrooms.

3 comments:

  1. I found this post both informative and interesting. After watching part of the short film, I wondered whether ducking and covering would actually protect in the event of a nuclear attack. I found that the effects of a nuclear bomb are so disastrous that the ravaging effects of radiation, heat, and wind produced wouldn't be easily prevented by ducking and covering. Rather, protective underground shelters would be required.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-unexpected-return-of-duck-and-cover/68776/

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  2. This is a really interesting post! Upon doing some extra research, I found out that there were some other ways in which children and students were prepared for the very real possibility of a nuclear war or attack during this period in American history. For example, New York City invested $159,000 dollars into its schools to make identification bracelets and dog tags that students were required to wear at all times. Schools also took advantage of their home economics courses to teach girls how to furnish bomb shelters as well as implementing nuclear war preparation into public school curriculum.

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    Replies
    1. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/02/the-ridiculous-history-of-cold-war-civil-defense.html

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