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Those who lived through the Cold War era will remember the horrors of the time: Wearing identification tags to school, practicing duck-and-cover drills and facing the constant threat of nuclear war. Though we’re only a few decades removed from that generation, it can be hard for younger people to wrap their minds around those terrors.
A new exhibit at NYC’s Poster House titled “Fallout: Atoms for War & Peace” sheds light on the Nuclear Age, exploring its potential for scientific innovation and its use as a dangerous weapon. The exhibit chronicles the past through a visually stunning collection of 60 posters, including artwork by General Dynamics as well as activist pieces protesting nuclear war; it also offers important lessons for our future. “Fallout” is the debut point-counterpoint exhibition at Poster House, which is the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to the history of posters. Find the exhibit in the Flatiron District museum through September 7, 2025.
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First, some context. “Fallout” begins during the early 1950s in the aftermath of World War II. In 1952, the U.S. detonated the world’s first thermonuclear weapon (known as the hydrogen bomb), a device 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II. Its development was opposed by major figures like “father of the atomic bomb” Robert Oppenheimer who feared the Soviet Union would develop its own hydrogen bomb (which it did), and escalate the arms race in a potentially catastrophic fashion.
Shortly thereafter, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his “Atoms for Peace” speech, urging countries to use nuclear technology for power generation, not weapons. The speech inspired the United Nations to create a committee exploring peaceful uses for atomic energy. As part of that committee, more than 1,000 scientists representing 38 governments gathered in Geneva to discuss global energy requirements, the economic implications of nuclear energy, the function of nuclear reactors, research opportunities, and health and safety concerns.
The event also included an exhibition showcasing nuclear developments across the globe. The most exciting was a presentation by a company called General Dynamics, which displayed the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine against a background of sleek, modern posters created by famed designer Erik Nitsche. The corporate propaganda posters are stunning to see, especially together on one wall as Poster House has presented them.
“Most of the technology that they are promoting is classified, so it can’t be literal,” Poster House’s Executive Director Angelina Lippert says about Nitsche's abstract posters.
Nitsche’s posters were such a huge hit that he was asked to make another series, which the company sent out as corporate gifts. Around 1956, the general public could even pay a dollar to get a postcard-size pack of his posters.
“Can you imagine asking for a postcard pack from a weapons company?” Lippert asks. “But they were a big thing, and they are beautiful.”
Another poster in the show explores the concept of weather control through nuclear technology. Yet another poster uses photo collage to advertise mini nuclear reactors. Another section explores propaganda peddled about the aftermath of nuclear fallout; don't miss the staggering video alleging that keeping your home painted and tidy could protect your family.
As the exhibition continues into its next section—the counter-point segment—it’s grounded in the history of another Eisenhower speech. This one refers to his final speech before leaving office in 1961. In it, he warned about the military industrial complex. In 1953, the U.S. had 1,000 nuclear warheads; when he left office in 1961, it had 23,000. That increase happened even while Eisenhower was trying to slow it down, curator Tim Medland explains.
“He'd been trying to stop it,” Medland says, noting the increasing numbers. “And he was the president. That's saying something.”
The very next year was the Cuban Missile Crisis.
“That’s the first time humans around the world get to have this complex of, ‘oh, we might all die here,’” Medland adds. “People of a certain age, all have memories of this type of event. ... Our job is to tell stories, and if we're doing a good job, people want to tell their stories, too.”
“Our job is to tell stories, and if we’re doing a good job, people want to tell their stories, too.”
The exhibition features American and European posters, which focus on Soviet missiles as the problem; conversely it also includes Czech posters, which call out American missiles. Another section features Peter Kennard posters, which subvert traditional messages. In one, for example, he shows Queen Victoria and Margaret Thatcher holding a missile. You’ll also see several posters from a 1982 ban-the-bomb march in New York City where one million people marched from Central Park to the U.N. building.
Over the years since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. has decreased its number of nuclear weapons, but in 2026, many nuclear agreements will expire, and some countries are considering making more bombs, Medland explains.
“We’ve hit an escalation point again and people have forgotten, lots of people,” Medland says. “This [exhibit] can explain some of what people did do and what they had to live with, and how they raised their voices to say to their governments, ‘that's not what we want.’”
Lippert describes the exhibit as “a road map” to help those who didn’t live through the atomic age get a basic understanding of how we got to where we are today.
“It shows a pathway to hope.”
“It’s actually a very hopeful show because it shows how the threat has been really, really dire before, and the world has come together to get through that,” she adds. “It shows a pathway to hope.”
“Fallout: Atoms for War & Peace” is on view now at The Poster House, at 119 West 23rd Street, through September 7, 2025. Admission is $15 per person.