Living With the Bomb

On August 6, 1945, the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

On August 9, the United States dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

For most Americans, the immediate reaction to the atomic bomb was relief; it had ended the war. But as the United States celebrated, it braced itself for the uncertain future of the Atomic Age. For the next two decades, the looming threat of Atomic war dominated American society.

The traveling exhibition, "Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow: Living with the Atomic Bomb, 1945-1965" examines the way in which Americans experienced the Atomic threat as part of their daily lives. The exhibit makes its East Coast debut at the Mercer Museum on Friday, April 6, and will run through May 25.

“We are excited to bring Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow to audiences in our region,” said Mercer Museum Executive Director, Doug Dolan. “The childhoods of many Baby Boomers were shaped by the Atomic Age.” 

Although the threat of Atomic annihilation eventually drifted to the background of American consciousness in the late 1960s, the Atomic Age left a legacy of governmental response and civic infrastructure that remains relevant today.

"Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow" features more than 75 original objects from the Atomic era, as well as large-scale graphics, radio broadcasts, and film. The exhibit presents a timeline and overview of America’s Atomic age and then examines more closely the way in which Americans received “atomic messages” at home, at school, in the community or at play. 

Mass merchandisers found new opportunities for using atomic imagery to add excitement to products and packaging. Some of the products on display in the exhibit include a Kix cereal “Atomic Bomb Ring,” “Dazey Atomic Ice Crusher,”  “Fallout Shelter Paper Doll Cutout Family” featuring a mom, dad, two kids, and a bomb shelter, Mad Magazine cover, atomic ray guns, movie posters, brochures and more.

The Mercer Museum will supplement the objects in the "Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow" exhibit with objects from its own collection including an air-raid instruction broadside, a Civil Defense booklet entitled “What We Can Do,” and a helmet worn by a World War II air raid warden. 

Several unique artifacts come from Bucks County residents, including a circa 1950’ “Atomic Babe” tractor (still in working condition), manufactured by Doylestown Machine Company, and an unopened container of Civil Defense survival biscuits.

“It is particularly appropriate that the 'Alert Today' exhibit should be unveiled in 2012, the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis,” said Cory Amsler, the Mercer Museum’s Vice President for Collections and Interpretation. “In 1962, area residents were deluging local Civil Defense centers with phone calls, and seeking plans for building their own home fallout shelters. Arguably, it is the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war.”

In conjunction with the "Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow" exhibit, the Mercer Museum will present:

• An “Atomic Coffee House” Retro Folk Concert on Saturday, April 28 from 7-9:30 p.m.
• A Cold War Era History Display in collaboration with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Cold War Historical Society, on Sunday, April 22, from noon-4 p.m.
• A Ladies’ Night 50’s Retro evening on Friday, May 11, from 7-10 p.m. 

A resource kit for teachers and educators is also available.

"Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow" is curated by Michael Scheibach, an independent collector in Independence, MO, and Leslie Przybylek, Curator of Humanities Exhibitions at Mid-America Arts Alliance.

The exhibition is toured by ExhibitsUSA, a national program of Mid-America Arts Alliance. ExhibitsUSA sends more than 25 exhibitions on tour to more than 100 small- and mid-sized communities every year. Mid-America is the oldest nonprofit regional arts organization in the United States. More information is available at www.maaa.org and www.eusa.org.