The Red Menace: What We Were Told to Fear Before Islam
by R J Evans, Oct 5, 2008
What were we told to fear before radical Islam appeared? In the fifties and sixties the perceived threat was from communism. Take a journey back in to history and have a look at some anti-communist materials of the day. As one enemy fades another appears.
Image Source
"Employees lose their respect for a company that fails to provide decent facilities for their comfort" goes the by-line for this advertisement. Yes, quite possibly, but does that really mean that they are going to turn into rampaging Bolsheviks because the paper towels at work are rough on their hands? This apparently was a real danger back in the fifties and sixties. Fortunately the introduction of soft tissues on a massive scale helped to avoid the commie takeover of the western world. Phew!
Image Source
Communism was considered a huge threat to the stability of the west. Civilization as we knew it was at risk. So, of course, this menace had to be fought. What better way than to donate "Truth Dollars" to help Radio Free Europe operate. Then, those poor folks behind the Iron Curtain could hear all about the failings of the system under which they lived. The USA's own brand of democracy was obviously destined to spread throughout the world and liberate its various peoples. Strange how that was exactly how the communists saw their own ideology spreading over the globe.
Image Source
When we look back, how could we fail to realize that the four beatmen of the apocalypse were responsible for the spread of communism throughout the known world? These revolutionary Liverpudlians hypnotized people with their radically political lyrics and helped spread the subversive message of communism. Nikita Khrushchev was known to write their lyrics, such as the insidious, "We will crush you, yeah, yeah, yeah." Perhaps the Pussycat Dolls are actually Islamic extremists. Who can say!
Image Source
In the 1950s people were paranoid not only about the threat of being taken over by communists but by being labeled as such themselves. SO it was that the Cincinnati Reds baseball team felt obliged to rename themselves "The Redlegs". So, only their lower bodies were communist then?
Image Source
In 1960 many people feared that America would go the way of other communist countries, such as Poland and China. To halt the spread of the red menace even comic books were enlisted in to the fight. Where fifteen years before threat had been from Japanese imperialism and European fascism the sixties was where the communists took center stage as the bogey men of their time. Islamic Fundamentalists may well be today's menace but you have to wonder what the people at the top will scare us with in twenty years time!
Image Source
Apparently in the fifties and sixties people were so scared of the threat from communism that they forgot all about their punctuation marks. They had to be told of the evil of this ideology. So, the word was spread that in commie countries people fight in the street, women are attacked and throttled in broad daylight and there is brutality from the police. This must have scared the hell out of the average US citizen as it couldn't have sounded like any of their own cities in any way, shape or form.
Image Source
This 1956 advert from Canada exhorts the young men of that nation to get off their behinds and go train to become better athletes than their communist counterparts. The fact that sporting excellence is good propaganda for any nation failed to encourage the Canadian government to sponsor its athletes as communist countries had done.
Image Source - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcostin/106686639/in/pool-coldwarfears
Close on the heels of the red menace must of course come red torture. The simple word "red" was enough to strike terror in the hearts of the average trashy novel reader. This could almost be called The Manchurian Paperback. Kidnap, imprisonment and brain washing - sound familiar?
At least the paranoia had some good results. This postcard from the sixties encourages people to use their vote. In this instance the sentiments may be produced by fear of communism but what better way to prolong the life of democracies by encouraging people to use their vote. Hopefully, not to vote for the communist party, of course!
We zoom up to 2005 for the last example. This is a strange one. It has very direct references to the aesthetics of soviet era propaganda adverts but is intended to warn people to watch out for suspect packages, left (no doubt) by you know who! The similarities are obviously intentional but to combine this message and look in today's climate is rather odd! Old habits die hard, we can only suppose!
What were we told to fear before radical Islam appeared? In the fifties and sixties the perceived threat was from communism. Take a journey back in to history and have a look at some anti-communist materials of the day. As one enemy fades another appears.
Image Source
"Employees lose their respect for a company that fails to provide decent facilities for their comfort" goes the by-line for this advertisement. Yes, quite possibly, but does that really mean that they are going to turn into rampaging Bolsheviks because the paper towels at work are rough on their hands? This apparently was a real danger back in the fifties and sixties. Fortunately the introduction of soft tissues on a massive scale helped to avoid the commie takeover of the western world. Phew!
Image Source
Communism was considered a huge threat to the stability of the west. Civilization as we knew it was at risk. So, of course, this menace had to be fought. What better way than to donate "Truth Dollars" to help Radio Free Europe operate. Then, those poor folks behind the Iron Curtain could hear all about the failings of the system under which they lived. The USA's own brand of democracy was obviously destined to spread throughout the world and liberate its various peoples. Strange how that was exactly how the communists saw their own ideology spreading over the globe.
Image Source
When we look back, how could we fail to realize that the four beatmen of the apocalypse were responsible for the spread of communism throughout the known world? These revolutionary Liverpudlians hypnotized people with their radically political lyrics and helped spread the subversive message of communism. Nikita Khrushchev was known to write their lyrics, such as the insidious, "We will crush you, yeah, yeah, yeah." Perhaps the Pussycat Dolls are actually Islamic extremists. Who can say!
Image Source
In the 1950s people were paranoid not only about the threat of being taken over by communists but by being labeled as such themselves. SO it was that the Cincinnati Reds baseball team felt obliged to rename themselves "The Redlegs". So, only their lower bodies were communist then?
Image Source
In 1960 many people feared that America would go the way of other communist countries, such as Poland and China. To halt the spread of the red menace even comic books were enlisted in to the fight. Where fifteen years before threat had been from Japanese imperialism and European fascism the sixties was where the communists took center stage as the bogey men of their time. Islamic Fundamentalists may well be today's menace but you have to wonder what the people at the top will scare us with in twenty years time!
Image Source
Apparently in the fifties and sixties people were so scared of the threat from communism that they forgot all about their punctuation marks. They had to be told of the evil of this ideology. So, the word was spread that in commie countries people fight in the street, women are attacked and throttled in broad daylight and there is brutality from the police. This must have scared the hell out of the average US citizen as it couldn't have sounded like any of their own cities in any way, shape or form.
Image Source
This 1956 advert from Canada exhorts the young men of that nation to get off their behinds and go train to become better athletes than their communist counterparts. The fact that sporting excellence is good propaganda for any nation failed to encourage the Canadian government to sponsor its athletes as communist countries had done.
Image Source - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcostin/106686639/in/pool-coldwarfears
Close on the heels of the red menace must of course come red torture. The simple word "red" was enough to strike terror in the hearts of the average trashy novel reader. This could almost be called The Manchurian Paperback. Kidnap, imprisonment and brain washing - sound familiar?
At least the paranoia had some good results. This postcard from the sixties encourages people to use their vote. In this instance the sentiments may be produced by fear of communism but what better way to prolong the life of democracies by encouraging people to use their vote. Hopefully, not to vote for the communist party, of course!
We zoom up to 2005 for the last example. This is a strange one. It has very direct references to the aesthetics of soviet era propaganda adverts but is intended to warn people to watch out for suspect packages, left (no doubt) by you know who! The similarities are obviously intentional but to combine this message and look in today's climate is rather odd! Old habits die hard, we can only suppose!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by maria guimil on -
Hello friends:-)
You can find images about the article @
http://www.socyberty.com/History/The-Red-Menace-What-We-Were-Told-t...
thanks
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