When I need some quality advice, and quality building products, I find myself drifting over to Heights Lumber. They’ve been there longer than I’ve been alive and that’s saying something! Nevertheless, I was recently researching a hot consumer item from the 1950’s and 1960’s, and discovered a newspaper ad from their 1961 advertisement in the Evening News. I don’t know if Glen has any old stock tucked away, but they did offer the Kelsey-Hayes model back then.

What I’m talking about is the fallout shelter. Back during the Cold War era, those of my age group will remember how we were taught to duck and cover, sheltering in place. I was never sure if this was to protect and save us or just give the survivors of an atomic blast an easy means to get a body count. I’m sincerely glad we never found out.

A number of firms, in the best sense of capitalism, saw a need, maybe a demand, and filled it! The home fallout shelter! Yup! You could get a brochure to educate yourself on the advantages of having one and how to build your own little bit of isolation. There were many television shows of the era, my favorite being the Twilight Zone episode, which exploited how basic human nature would prevail in a crisis like this. On a comical note, there was also a Happy Days episode which poked fun at the concept.

Being well trained in elementary school on how to assemble and respond to drill commands, I believe I could still assume the position, though my joints might creak and crack, and getting back up could present a few issues.
The advertising for these home units touted a sense of calm, though the world outside was in the midst of the Apocalypse. The depicted family was always immaculately attired and relaxed, canned goods and water neatly stored, the interior of the shelter well-appointed with the latest furniture and appliances (I guess they wanted us to believe you’d still have electrical power after the blast), and the children playing board games, totally oblivious to the world ending everywhere beyond their shelter door except possibly for those wise neighbors who also chose to build their own private shelter.

For the younger readers, you need to remember, phones were rotary and required lines. Televisions were tube powered and took time to warm up. Games were played on brightly laminated cardboard playing fields. Pong had yet to be invented (You can Google it if you don’t know what it was). The new radios were more advanced than the older tube type and now ran with transistors!

Even back then, using the “old” math, it didn’t take anyone with some common sense long with a pencil and paper (calculators had yet to be invented, remember), to determine even if they found themselves unharmed after the nuclear blast, it wasn’t going to be too long before they were clawing at each other over the last can of peaches or Dinty Moore stew. Heaven help their pets if they were brought in with the family as well.

When there’s nothing else, a banquet of poodle and noodles could sounds mighty good.

So, we all need to remember, every day is what we make it, and we need to learn from the past. Take time to make positive, educated decisions and work together for a greater future.

If anyone finds one of these fallout shelters in their homes from prior occupants, I would love to see a photo! Eh, just a word of caution, you might want to knock a couple times before entering just in case they really, really stocked up on food and water and are still waiting for the radiation to fade. You never know.