The 1960s are back again for a California couple who discovered a bomb shelter in the yard at their new home. They opened the metal door, climbed down the ladder, and found a fully stocked bunker. It had been built in 1961 by a nuclear engineer who stocked it with supplies to last for several weeks for four people. The 1960s bottles, boxes, clothing, and tin foil (sorry, no aluminum foil then) were in good condition. The contents of another bomb shelter found in 2010 were given to a historical society that displays them as relics of the cold war. Our suggestion to the owners: Give the contents to a charity or find an auction house that will sell them as a group lot. Don’t let this historical “document” be destroyed. To keep people alive underground for weeks with an air supply must have required a special type of construction.
Photo: Huffingtonpost.com | Mae Ryan / KPCC
please no one (particularly younger people) assume that one of these shelters would have gotten a family through a nuclear attack…..at most it would have sustained the horrible effects of such a war for a few days. We had one or two of these in our city in Louisiana a few miles from a SAC base…in time they became teen late night hideouts so I got the see the reality of them…..It was a gallant effort but “those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it”
Looks like the one my dad made under our house. Part of it is still there.
Aluminum foil was invented in the early 20th century in Europe
Came into common usage befor WWII and after that war iot was the wrap of choice of most households
My dad put in a bomb shelter under our detached garage back in the 60s. I just emptied it out. It was very damp so nothing was of use. We dumped a rusted cabinet, bed and a wine barrel. Everybody jokes when I tell them about the bomb shelter but if a tornado was coming through I know I would be safe.
Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil goes back to 1947, according to Wikipedia. I was sure we’d used it in the ’50s and ’60s.