Children of the 1950s grew up at a time in history when the Cold War was heating up to the point where nuclear war was an imminent possibility. The Soviet Union had detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1949, and suddenly there were two enemy superpowers ready to drop their bombs on each other.

Students participated in “atomic bomb drills” in school and learned how to “duck and cover” just in case.

For further protection, in 1952 the practice began of issuing the children what were called “Identification Tags,” metal tags that looked just like the “Dog Tags” issued to the soldiers. It was decided that this method would be better than cards, fingerprinting and even tattoos because those could be destroyed in a nuclear attack.

Millions of these tags were issued throughout the U.S.

Television commercials were presented to urge all school districts to participate in this campaign. In one such commercial, a boy speaks about how his tag would help the soldiers identify his body.

Many adults adopted the practice of wearing these tags, as well. They could go to the grocery store, fill out a card and mail it. The card had a drawing of an atomic bomb exploding.

Most of the children didn’t understand the complete ramifications of this program, but it’s a lesson that reminds us of the terror and paranoia that dominated the lives of citizens during this time period of history.

• Professor James Pinkerton is a retired educator who loves to share the mystery in our history. He can be reached at pinkertonjames1914@gmail.com.