Transcripts For CSPAN3 Cold War Anti-Communist Trading Cards

As they entered a typical store to buy Trading Cards children are often regarded as perhaps the most important symbolic guarantee of a nations future according to historians. Thats we do need to study them and these cards indeed draw on reflect and even foreshadow aspects of early cold war culture and even later period later per an events and rhetoric i look at the images first and then the text and indeed the importance of this but the importance of this combination can be seen in an interview with a collector and someone who remembers the cards in his youth. He wrote if you showed that card ghost city card 23 figure 2, which was used to promote this talk if you showed that card to a kid in the 50s, they would probably say yeah, thats what i dream about at night. Thats what i have nightmares about and so in 1951 the Bowman Company released a Collectible Card set sold with bubblegum entitled the childrens crusade against communism fight the red menace. So the question is what are Trading Cards for those of us who dont know a consumer. Object to be sold with a small inexpensive massproduced item primarily marketed to children and most of us know them as as sports cards in the postwar period after 1945 as a historians have studied consumer consumerism, which was linked as it is through much of American History with citizen where consumerism is tied with citizenship and in the cold war particularly the rapidly growing realm of suburbia where homeownership and rising purchases of domestic appliances cars refrigerators kitchens was a means of keeping up with the proverbial joneses the ability to buy and especially to choose what juan bought was also seen as an important facet of the american way of life and of american superiority over the communists and we see this again and again throughout cultural history in the cold war the cards were saul sold as a popular childrens commodity which draws them into form of citizenship. The fight the red menace cards feature on full color images even with even numbered cards depicting people and events linked to the United States and i numbered cards showing red or communist activities. Each card is numbered and titled and carries a short paragraph of text relating to the image on the card above the copyright information at the bottom of the card is written fight the red menace or red being the sun the sign of the soviets and it and so fight the red menace was in navy blue because the United States represented by blue is fighting and red menace in red the red and white stars depicted on the box and are repeated alongside the text and the first words on the first card reads invades south korea explain them as follows the red star of communism and the star of democracy are a life ordeal struggle around the world. Theres a heavy emphasis on korea because of the korean war which will go into earlier that began in 1950 the themes include western military herios heroes communist leaders Common People military hardware the geography of the cold war or how the cold war can become hot atomic war race and the United Nations and it includes pictures in text as ive said, but unlike disney as well see or cartoons like duck and cover that teach children how to survive nuclear attacks. This caught these cards were quite dark and textual analysis becomes to understanding the promise and threat of the cold war and as historians young can use tactics. Material culture art History History of the cold war childhood the senses propaganda in addition to all the topics that are mentioned on the cards themselves the Bowman Company intimated that the cards were intended to be educational quote we decided that children would be interested in anticommunant in the anticommunist series and we think it is good for them. We try to tell the children the difference between our way of life and the communist way by putting out a series of 48 full cult picture cards. They said bowmans claim to having educational goals is supported by the fact that an earlier set of cards by bowman called the horrors of war with similar themes was created in the belief that with similar themes was created that these were were created with the belief that through the cards could be directed a favorable interestingly towards peace and i here the red fight the red menace gum wrapper. So we start out with cold war and containment. This is an early picture of truman president truman with churchill at Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin the World Leaders at the Global Leaders at this point and looking pretty happy at the end of the world though. We new trouble was brewing certainly before the end of the war George Cannon wrote the the long telegram a famous document studied and is worth studying many times over and he wrote it from from russia, and its called long the long telegram because indeed its very long for a telegram spanning soviet culture and other other issues it became the basis for what was called the containment theory of dealing with the soviet. In other words if you contained the soviet union because of the nature of the people indeed the entire culture and political system would implode so it was known as the containment theory. However if we read the document there is lots of information about culture about peoples and even about the threats to americans via women religious organizations labor unions all of which we see in these cards. So truman articulated what was called the the truman doctrine which is key which which he which he announced and was key and announced that it was the duty of the United States to uphold Global Freedom and that communism must be contained that National Security depends on Nuclear Power a Strong Military and civilian preparedness to to mobilize in defense of peace. And in this in 1950, he initiated the federal Civil Defense administration, which was charged with creating a national Civil Defense program and the first director spoke enthusiastically of a new homefront for the cold war propelled by a growing consciousness of the need for Civil Defense the message of the early fcda propaganda proved relatively. Simple if americans embrace the concept of Civil Defense they could survive a nuclear war while the us military experimented with a variety of indoctrine is indoctrination projects to sculpt the perfect nuclear soldier the fdca arrived at this for the civilians. The organization launched a range of leaflets tours short films hoping to mold the civilian into a new theater of conflict, but it was operating within a constraint budget as things often are in the United States. So in order to silt cell disabled defense to the us the fcda used partnerships with corporations ie bowman and it increasingly turned to corporate alliances such as these and and it used a strategy of cooperative promotion in quotes so in this the director the first director of the organization added that we are grateful for the wholehearted cooperation and support of the many private Industries Associations and institutes, for example the booklets survival under atomic attack in 1951 concurrent concurrent with the launch of the bowman cards preached you can survive highlighting your chances of making a complete recovery from an atomic attack are much the same as for every day accidents. Another thing that was very important about the long telegram and the theory of containment was the idea of a religious cold the soviet atheists were versus the versus the religious and righteous americans and indeed and indeed truman said in our quest for righteousness. We must put on the armor of god. And so there was a religious bent to this cold war and the containment theory um in 1947 the we have the berlin we have the berlin airlift and we have here 194748 milk becomes a new weapon of democracy and here we see children are becoming very important in this cold war fight and indeed the famous candy bomber and as the soviets cut off food. And supplies to west berlin a cold war hot spot children the United States along with its allies brought in food and supplies on airplanes and one of the pilots decided to put parachutes on Hershey Candy bars and famously the children waited for the plane to come through to receive the candy bars. Um, but of course with the with russia having the atomic bomb so much changes and these these programs of indoctrinization and the the idea of atomic war becomes more and more prevalent and important with the korean war, of course, this all comes the tecomes the four because the cold the cold war has become hot. Um going back to this idea of the cold war become potentially becoming hot globally but also feeding into the important theme of the religious cold war. We have the launching of a private initiative and private is in quotes called the crusade for freedom, and it was known as a private organization, although it was heavily funded by the newly established Central Intelligence agency and dwight d eisenhower, who was then known as the famous general from World War Two and was not yet president. He launched a campaign to run to raise funds for radio programming books and other projects quote to fight the big lie of soviet communism the big truth. By america in Eastern Europe under the banner the crusade for freedom, although heavily subsidized by the Central Intelligence agency. It was billed as sponsored by private american citizens and much like a religious crusade this the idea was at this propaganda thats funded by the American People with men saying sure i want to fight communism but how and women were saying you mean i can fight communism and being encouraged to have meatless even meatless dinners in order to give their their grocery money to the crusade for freedom. It was heavily heavily subsidized by the government. Here we have other other advertisements again bringing in the religious. Give us this. They are daily truth the crusade for freedom funded Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty which blasted programming from news to jazz into soviet block countries and and russia and also the boil the boy scouts got very much involved signing and others as well signing freedom scrolls and the like which we can see on the page to the right. Um something familiar figures wander through the crusade for freedom advertisements including another future president Ronald Reagan if you go to youtube, and this is included in some of the resources that ive supplied you can see his Television Spot asking people to donate to the crusade for freedom and here are examples of billboards postcards fight communism with truth dollars and with truth dollars one penny would buy one minute of radio truth. They had little envelopes that you can see at the bottom of the screen where you could put your truth dollar and send it off stamps many and you know, the promotional activities were many and again this highlights this cooperation of the fdca. Between government and private corporations and and private foundations some of which were not so private. Included in the promotional activities of the crusade were for freedom was wonderful tour of the liberty bell which arrived in berlin as we recall the site of the berlin airlift and hundreds of children donated pennies in order to send the liberty bell to their cohort across the sea the children of germany and berlin west germany and berlin west berlin the other thing that the crusade for freedom did is it launched balloons that we see here and those balloons were filled with many things and there were many ideas for what could go into those balloons leaflets carried political messages, but there was also idea that american foods could be put into these balloons and dropped although 14 pounds of food. I might not be a good idea and a blue bibles were put into the balloons. They were called bible balloons many many things were put into these balloons and and launched from germany. They would float given weather weather patterns into sovietblock countries and distribute their wares. These balloon campaigns were heavily supported by boy scouts and children and the population in america. And here we see examples of a freedom balloon and two different types of freedom balloons that would distribute these items in east in Eastern Europe in this happens to be in in, colorado. Um, so one of the most important things with the atomic explosions was this idea of fear and fear management one historian writes officials. Hope that exposing citizens to selected images of atomic war would inoculate them getting them accustomed to horrible sites, so they would not run around screaming when the bombs came indeed Nuclear Anxiety had to be finally tuned as noted too much emphasis upon danger would either panic citizens or drive them to fatalism while too little would fail to stir the apathetic and the fcda thought that without an American Experience of a real atomic attack planners needed to create a vivid but not horrific snapshot of what what of what would of what one would look like attack. So there was something called operation q which indeed came later where private corporations worked with the government to create a town in las vegas, nevada. Just outside the town. It included mannequins Household Items jcpenney televisions furniture and whirlpool General Electric kitchens food and the like then they blew up the town and showed pictures on jcpenney used it an Advertising Campaigns Food Companies used it in their Advertising Campaigns to show that indeed clothing and other items can survive a nuclear a nuclear bomb and pictures like this were distributed. So and they and also these ideas were distributed to children famously the dock and cover video, which is also in your list of resources where birth the turtle hums and sings about the coming of the bomb and children are taught to duck and cover under their desks adults or to duck and cover women are to seek male help in order to learn how to duck and cover. The other thing that was marketed towards children were serials comic books and the like this is an exhibit from the National Museum of nuclear. Testing which you should go see if youre ever in las vegas. This is a these are this is kind of a smattering of the many different items they have there, but this is to me very interesting this kicks cereal. So you literally woke up in the morning to the bomb in and this is the box of cereal and indeed the kicks cereal came if you sent some box tops and if some pennies you could get a toy from the from from from eating enough of the kick cereal when you received the atom the nuclear bomb ring pictures on on this slide in the mail you could make it explode somehow and the company advertised. Youll see brilliant flashes of the inky darkness inside the atom chamber these frenzied vivid flashes are caused by the release energy of atoms. Its perfectly safe. We guarantee the can wear the kicks atomic bomb ring with complete safety the atomic materials inside the ring are harmless. So again, this is making the literally bringing the bomb into the home first thing for breakfast. They were also atomic fireball candies and you know a sweet treat. And atomic toys this is an energy lab and it came with four types of uranium or and all sorts of other tools for the enterprising young boy to to to play with nuclear energy. What about girls this tended to be more and more what you know, what what girls were taught to do obviously the kitchen going to nixon and khrushches famous kitchen debate, which is the talk of other talks. Heres a girl using technology. Shes on the phone there were there was an idea that girls could be scientists and certainly nurses but this was more likely what you find what you were going to find as a promotional advertisement for girls toys and indeed this fits right in with the fcda which um promoted that a domestic threat was essentially one of many household houses that suburban housewives could deal with famous for optimistic speeches the Deputy Director Catherine Howard a woman worth studying whos often forget in history. She promoted the housewife as homemakers of the land and a saviors of the nation keep. In the house clean and tidy served as a way to avoid burning it down in the event of Nuclear Explosion and by and and this continued to go into technology by 1962 monsanto sponsored the house of the future at an expo which featured an atoms for living kitchen complete with a microwave and ultrasonic dishwasher, but the idea was that the woman if the woman took care of the home and the later on the bomb. Or then she would say the nation and here we have for for both children for both men both young men and young women and also their parents disney and the cold war although later on disney made some promotional films about the atom. This is concurrent with the bowman Trading Cards and its again, ive left the the link to this cartoon in your resources. This is a cartoon called called cold war with goofy and here. Three is with his own home bomb, which is actually a solution potential