Nuclear War advert

I don't remember the advert but I do remember coming home from somewhere with a leaflet about what to do in the event of nuclear attack - the thing I always remember was the instruction to lime wash windows to reflect the glare ? ?

I remember asking my DF where to get the lime wash and how it worked. I can't remember how old I was, between 10 and 12 I think. I counted all the windows trying to work out how long it would take ?

Weren’t we told to hide under the kitchen table?

I remember Where the wind blows by Raymond Briggs.

A booklet was sent to every household in Britain. We were told to put bookcases against windows and fill them with earth.

I didn't think it would have done much good except to keep us occupied.

I must have lived through this, as a mother with two young children, but I have no memory whatsoever of seeing an advert or even the leaflet people have mentioned. I don’t recall it ever being a topic of conversation, either.

That advert was mentioned a while back here on Gransnet and I had absolutely no recollection of it. I was married with 2 small children in the early 80s. I can’t recall it at all. Maybe I’ve erased it from my memory.

Or maybe I’m just an absent minded old b****r.

Crossed posts SueDonim. Your memory sounds as good as mine ?

Visited the Secret Nuclear Bunker in the summer. It was interesting seeing all the equipment that had been left behind. However, I don't remember the advert or leaflet, or being particularly worried. I did start to take an interest in self-sufficiency so perhaps that was my response so that I could cope in case of an emergency.

I remember the advert and the booklet. It was a very scary time. There was also a film called, I think, The Day After which showed a realistic depiction of how things might go - riots, looting, thuggery, mass destruction and death. Now I believe we have modulated nuclear weapons which fit in a backpack to be used on the battlefield. It sometimes seems as though we really haven't come very far in terms of world peace.

I remember, around 1980, we all got booklets through our doors in Durham. These advised us to store flour and tinned fruit in the cupboard under our stairs. It was also where we were to hide in the event of an attack.

It obviously went right over the heads of some of us, Grannynannywanny!

Jaxjacky

I remember Where the wind blows by Raymond Briggs.

That was an excellent film. I felt so sad for the pair of them. In their little cottage, worrying about the milk. Wondering what to do. Trying to follow the advice.

I have no recollection at all of any booklet nor that advert (which looks incredibly amateurish, especially with what sounds like a tweeting canary in the background), in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s.
I do remember a tv fictional series called ‘The Survivors’ though, which followed various groups of survivors after a nuclear attack and how they dealt with encounters with other people.

Isn't it amazing that more than a few of us have no memory about this!

It was quite a big deal at the time.

I still remember 'Threads' (scary stuff) on TV - and earlier, in childhood, hearing the sirens. It was practice, I suppose, but stopped my parents in their tracks.

I remember it and I remember being very concerned, especially after the tv dramas- there were a few. But I was really concerned more recently when I read the book The Road, by Cormack McCarthy, it took me a while to get it off my mind.

Those who say they remember this 'advert' on TV - are you sure you didn't see it in a documentary or similar?

I don't think these were shown in the 70s, certainly not the 80s.

I think it's interesting how our perceptions change over time.
A few years ago my daughter,understandably, was very upset by the terrorist threat posed by ISIS. She commented how it must have been so much better growing up in the 1960s/70s.
I was born in 1961.
As a young child I remember hearing about the Vietnam war and being reassured by my mother it was far away.
I look back on the 1970s/80s with fondness and view as a time of relative simplicity. Of course the 1970s were my teenage years so i was more preoccupied with other things.
In reality we had terrorist attacks in the UK, industrial action etc. There were the American hostages in Iraq. The 1980s involved the apparent immediate threat of nuclear annihilation, Aids, riots ,recession etc.
I remember the Protect and Survive Leaflet as well as the Dont Die of Ignorance leaflet and campaign for Aids. I'm not sure how widely the video was shown. Certainly another one War Games was made in the 1960s and banned for many years as they didnt think the public could cope with the reality of the consequences of nuclear war! The drama Threads was truly one of the scariest things I have ever seen.
So at nearly 60 I am realising that no era was golden,except in our memories. The world is a chaotic place and all we can do is live the best lives we can!

I was born in 1954 and clearly remember everything you’ve mentioned Dorsetcupcake61. It baffles me that I have no recollection of this advert or leaflet. I’m beginning to wonder if my mind is playing tricks.

My school was shown a short black & white film depicting what to do if there was a nuclear attack - this was around 1963-4. The only thing that I remember was that if you got caught outside when the bomb went off, you should try and find a fox/rabbit hole to put your head in.

In my teens, I had seen the picture of the mushroom cloud over the testing zone and had nightmares about it. My Dad worked in an explosives factory and if there was a loud bang in the distance, I and many of my classmates would turn our heads in that direction. Would it be an explosion at the factory or would there be a mushroom cloud?

Remember being very scared during the Cuban missile crisis, when nuclear war seemed on the cards. I was 17, I tbink, and very worried that I might not see the next day.

I remember having a 1 to 5 talk at senior school giving advice on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. The idea was that if 1 person knew they could convey it to another 4. I think it was about 1959. The strange thing was that this talk was given exclusively to women I believe and between them they would cover the whole adult female population .

I remember this and my mum reassuring me it would never happen but to be prepared. Upset me for quite a while.