Many communities were building very large, public fallout shelters intended for thousands
of people. But what if there wasn't a public shelter nearby, or if it became too overcrowded
by people freaking out over the commies trying to kill us? What if you and your family just
couldn't stand people? What if your neighbor Ima Jean just smelled too much like cats?
Were there any steps that you and your loner family could take to protect yourselves from
that freaky nuclear fallout?
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, many families constructed personal fallout shelters in right
in their very own backyard. Companies looking to capitalize on the public hysteria marketed
several different family models for homeowners hoping to protect their families from a nuclear
Armageddon. These private shelters ranged from a cheap $13.50 foxhole kit all the way
up to the very expensive $5,000 deluxe model which featured beds, a phone, toilet, and
a Geiger counter for detecting radiation levels.
Many families constructed their shelters in the middle of the night in an effort to conceal
the facility from their nosey neighbors. They feared that their sleazy neighbors, who did
not have shelters, would swarm their property in an emergency if they knew a shelter was
there. They might even eat all of your Doritos.
Many families could not afford the fancy commercially-produced shelters, so there were a number of do-it-yourself
methods for survivalists to undertake their very own shelter construction. One popular
method was to turn your already existing basement into a shelter by reinforcing it. Many military
surplus stores sold air filters, flashlights, fallout protections suits, first aid kits,
and giant barrels of water for people to use for supplying their own shelter. And these
types of shelters were also much easier to hide from your creepy Cat Lady neighbor.
Civil Defense films created by the government encouraged the public to maintain a two week
supply of drinking water and non-perishable food in their basements. They also recommended
having a battery-powered radio tuned to one of the two Civil Defense CONELRAD stations:
640 or 1240 on the AM dial. this was long before these stations were taken over to become
the oldies stations that they are today. There is no longer a big threat of the Ruskies nuking
us, but these stations play music from the era when that threat was real. How cool is
that?
Today, most family fallout shelters have been removed or dismantled, but some might still
be found in homes around America. However, many people of today live in homes with the
remnants of these onetime fallout shelters in them, but they have no idea what they were
once used for. They've been converted back into basements where people put their Chuck
Norris Total Gym that they bought during an infomercial but will never use.
Nevertheless, some do know what these places were once used for, and these storage facilities
can serve as a lingering reminder of what living through the Cold War might have been
like.
Well, that is all for now. If you enjoyed this content, please like, share, and subscribe.
And remember, a video a day keeps that failing grade away