David Hoffman, filmmaker Talking about Duck and Cover the 19 fifties, One of the areas that I really care about.

I'm in high school.

During this period, the guy next to my family had a full out shelter in his back yard.

It was a hole with a big tank below it, and he told us all.

Hey, if it comes the big bomb, I'm going to jump in there with my family and locked the door and my father said, If I knock, will you let me in?

And the guy said, No, My father said, Well, I'm gonna pour cement on the top of your fallout shelter.

The whole thing seemed ridiculous to my family fallout shelters.

There was actually cans of sand in a lot of public institutions.

Like if you went to the bank of the school, you saw a can of sand in the corner.

We didn't know really what to do with it.

Do you throw it on the fire?

We're talking about nuclear attack here, we were told there's a pretty good chance that we're gonna have to duck and cover in the way that they show in these films Run to a curb and throw your bike and go underneath that curb.

Go behind the couch.

This stuff was nuts.

I mean, I was in New York City once the sirens go off and hundreds of thousands of people go into the subways as practice for the nuclear weapons when they come, this was really on June 10th 3 Office of Civil Defense conducted a national drill to test our preparedness.

Tens of millions of Americans participated.

The most rigorous test of America's civil defense is a simulated hydrogen bomb attacked and strikes and 75 key targets from coast to coast total.

The drill had two purposes.

To show us how to protect ourselves in the event of nuclear war and to show the Soviets that we were strong enough to survive a nuclear attack and fight back.

Nike missiles around New York are raised into firing position.

United States prepared for 10 35.

The banshee wail of the siren goes the warning, and the city prepares for survival.

Radio tuned with frequent.

There is a traffic plan for the evacuation of the city.

All cars in the downtown area follow the green lights.

New Yorkers have been conditioned by breakfast alerts.

They know what to do your civil defense.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon, another key points top defense years are airlifted to secret control centers, where they would direct America's defense and counterattack.

Soviets also produced civil defense films to convince their citizens that they could survive a nuclear war.

Films told Russians how to put on their gas masks on how to tamp down radiation by, say, like in the United States, they taught it what you have to do.

And we have the joke that if you will see this bright explosions around the sky, you have to fell on the ground, pulled some white material of top off you and slowly rolled toward cemetery.

And the question Why slowly?

Because you're must not create the pen.

Individuals apparently have been reluctant to build shelters.

You think the government's going to ultimately have to take care of this way, have submitted such a program as I say with within the executive branch of the government.

However, I would urge individuals who can afford it to build shoulders and building.

Right now, we practice once a week, hiding under our desks with their heads, like this.

So why am I wearing this hat?

Because that wasn't normal because it was crazy.

What was going on at that time.

I guess we still should be ducking and covering.

Except, boy, I don't know what that would be like today.

Tell me what you think.