Catalogue Number
NMLH.1994.168.194/2
Object Name
Poster
Title
'H-BOMB tests spread cancer'
People
Eisenhower, Anthony Eden, Khrushchev
Events
The Arms Race
Date
1957
Description
Large screen-printed poster with a white background and black and red text. The top of the posted says "H-BOMB TESTS SPREAD CANCER" with a picture of an explosion, mostly likely from a Hydrogen bomb, underneath.
Hydrogen bombs were the world's first Thermonuclear weapons - they caused huge explosions and were thought to be considerably more powerful than atomic bombs. Underneath this image and statement, it says "children run the greatest risk" in red text. Next to this there is a black and white print of a child eating food. Underneath the "children run the greatest risk" statement, it says in black text, "H-Bomb tests poison our food. The risk to children is five times as great as for adults. For every H-bomb tested, between 1000 and 15,000 people may die of cancer." The bottom of the poster has large black text in capital letters saying "STOP THEM NOW." With smaller information at the bottom stating "The statements on this poster are based on the views of a body of scientific opinion." "communist party poster." There is publishing information on the bottom left, in smaller black text - "Printed by the Goodwin Press (T.U. all depts.), 135 Forthill Road N.4 CP/A/3/5/57."
The poster is slightly creased, and yellowed but in overall good condition. The back of the poster has the date "1957" handwritten and circled in blue pen. In 1957 Britain detonated its first Hydrogen bomb, which ignited debates and campaigns regarding nuclear weapons, and layed the foundation to campaign for nuclear disarmament.
This is a Cold War era poster - the cold war was an ongoing political, social and military rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies that developed after World War Two. This state of political hostility between countries, namely the Soviet Bloc countries and the Western powers, were characterised by threats, military threats, propaganda and other measures short of warfare. The official dates of the Cold War are from 1945-1990, but this has been disputed.
Multimedia
