... Git-R-Done!


 Soviet workers utilize a leftover Mig-15 fighter jet to clear snow from railroad tracks near Moscow.  My Eastern Bloc friends would heartily applaud!
 
 

 

 

1958 ... double '6's


 ...brought into service 1958-59 two seat F-106B Convair 'Delta Dart'.  wiki
 
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... Hollywood blows up the world again (almost)!

 

Look at modern mythology and the blending of myth and fact. The specter of nuclear war has to be the most dark, and ominous theme. Before 1945 the office of the President of the United States was one of great power and influence but not of God-like reach. After the weaponization of the fundamental force of the Universe, the atom, it's control and use becomes Biblical in scope! Unleashing this power is unimaginable. That is; beyond the ability of any person to fully comprehend and understand. And yet, the largest engine of this hellfire is under the command of one person, one human being among all the billions. The President.

This drama, this mythology has one hero, one central character into whose hands is thrust the fate of the world. Since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, a preview which mercifully ended before the final curtain, this role has been magnified into a well worn and well known collective nightmare. Filled with magical devices, secret incantations and numberless servants of the great destruction. 

 

 



1952 ... Avro 'Vulcan' UK


 
LINKS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Vulcan 

 https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-history-of-the-avro-vulcan-bomber

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1952 ... 'Song of the End of the World'



 Take a LISTEN.. no doubt this is the most eerie sound ever devised by man. Even today, when they test the 'tornado sirens' I still check my watch and the day to be sure it is the scheduled test. For a small child in the late 1950's, these were indeed the opening chorus of a drama that would have no one alive to see the last act.

LINKS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Air-Raid_Siren

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/08/the-chrysler-air-raid-siren-was-so.html 

 

 


Face of the Cold War ... Korean War

 

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1959 ... 'Fallout: When and How to Protect Yourself'

 ... time to put some popcorn on the 'ol uranium cooker! 

A lot of these Cold War education films felt obligated to scare everyone into paying attention with some weird scary music at the start!

 


 



1950 ... "can anything be done?"


 illustration by Chesley Bonestell

(LINK)



... J. Robert Oppenheimer (cartoon)


 ... it seems that the mysterious 'J' at the front of his name actually stood for Julius. When asked about it he would laugh and tease that it "stood for nothing!" Did he think it sounded too Jewish for a 1940's America and the man in charge of the biggest most expensive government project in history? 

Or maybe he just didn't like the name Julius?                                      LINK

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... A Tour of Atomic New Mexico (NYTimes)

 Fun little number from the Travel Desk of the New York Times...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/travel/new-mexico-atomic.html?smid=url-share



1979 ... F - 5G 'Tigershark'

                                                   LINK

 

 

1950's ... gleam with Rheem!


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1962 ... 'The Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis'


 okay- so it's not the complete story of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it's at least the 1st of what may be 3 reels. Great stuff in somber tone and narration.

Boy, history sure looked great in black and white!

"... we will be in control!"


...after the smoke clears and you emerge from your shelter; it will be these five determining who gets food and water and who is left for the Atomic Zombies and the Giant Mutant Cockroaches!

 

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1952 ... Mig-19 'Farmer'


 LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19



1951 ... cute little 'Bristol' 171 (UK)


 ... helicopters just became operational at the end of WWII.

After that they couldn't develop them fast enough or build quick enough to keep up with the demand. 

Been like that ever since!



... new views for the B-47 'Stratojet'




... this is my artwork. My goal is to provide new visions of various aircraft and fill in the gaps left by early and inadequate photo technology.

 

 

Prints, posters, t-shirts, mugs etc. etc. can be purchased here:

https://3-james-vaughan.pixels.com/

 

 

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1952 ... portrait of President Eisenhower by Norman Rockwell


 ... don't mess with Ike!

 

 

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1955 ... and the winner is !


 ... dirt; lots and lots of dirt! That's the best way to ride out a nuclear blast. This is probably aftermath of one of the fifteen 'shots' during "Operation Teapot" during 1955 at the Nevada proving grounds. All sorts of 'blast-effects' were documented during this series of atomic bomb detonations; including what sorts of shelters worked best. We are looking at a reinforced concrete structure, mostly below grade, with a big mound of dirt piled on top.

 

note: don't be directly behind that door when the bomb goes off - it looks pretty thin and won't stop much of the 'hard radiation' x-rays and gamma rays coming from the instant of detonation.