Sunday, September 11, 2011

Prepare For Armageddon With Free Civil Defense Pamphlets

I stumbled across the Digital Comic Museum archive over the weekend, and I'm really enjoying what they have there. Scans of hundreds upon hundreds of classic public domain Golden Age comics from the 40s and 50s, up to around 1959. Superheroes, horror, romance, westerns, combat, etc. Check this time sink out when you have a sec, and you'll never leave.

One section that caught my eye was the Government Pamphlets section. I poked around for some Civil Defense materials from the 1950, during the height of the Red Scare, and found three pieces that could be used as fodder for your End of Times game sessions. Don't forget to Duck and Cover, kids!

4 comments:

  1. These are great! I've looked through the Digital Comic Museum quite a bit but somehow managed to miss this section. I'll have to check these out and see if there is anything I can snag for post-apoc RPG art. Gotta love the public domain. Thanks, Sniderman!

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  2. Check out the comics posted in my very next post:

    http://savageafterworld.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-apocalyptic-comics-from-digital.html

    The covers alone should give you some great art!

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  3. In the late '80s, inspired by the book 'High Weirdness By Mail', some buddies and I went on a quest to find Houston's own Civil Defense Headquarters.

    It ended up being underground (of course) in downtown's tunnel system, and the place was a tiny, dark, dingy, wood-paneled room that looked more like a swinger's 1970s basement than a civic agency.

    The little old lady behind the counter started off utterly bewildered that people actually came to visit her--we may have been the first patrons in years--but then turned hostile when she realized that hoodlum teens were asking for pamphlets and literature about "surviving The Big One".

    She directed us to a coffee table covered in yellowing, curling papers--which were in turn covered in about an inch of dust--and told us to take what we wanted. ALL the documents were from the 50s and 60s, with the most interesting thing being a "How To Build A Bomb Shelter...In Your Very Own Backyard!!!" schematic/blueprint.

    We cleaned out her entire stockpile, and the scowly lady started to protest, but stopped when she realized she'd actually have to stand up to see us over the counter.

    The whole thing was a hoot. And I've still got all those docs in a box somewhere. I'll post 'em if I find 'em.

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  4. First up -- I had that same High Weirdness by Mail book. Ordered a zillion bizarre 'zines and such. (Also discovered Dr. Bronner's Soaps.) By the way, Rev. Stang will be at Con on the Cob next month!

    Please post those docs when you have a sec -- especially the Build It Yourself Shelter plans!

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