Message from the President- September 7, 1961 LIFE



As Hydrogen-Bombs, a thousand times more powerful than Atomic-bombs, became the threat; hiding in a corner of the basement for a couple of days was no longer an option. Instead of a bomb, or blast shelter, a true 'Fallout Shelter' which provided shielding against radiation was needed. It was estimated two weeks minimum before fallout 'decayed' to safe levels.
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The Kennedy administration began an all-out campaign to convince suburbanites to built their own private fallout shelters. Often presented as a do-it-yourself addition to the family homestead.
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Above we see the logical exstension of the corner of the basement approach with masonry walls and ceiling thick enough to stop most fallout danger.
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Good thing they've got a ping pong table so that in a week the "rads" will be low enough for a quick game outside the shelter. Are those 5 gal. cans of water? Maybe it's gasoline for burning the neighbors bodies so they don't come back as atomic-zombies. If only the neighbors had listened and built a nice cozy shelter like this!"

... Sept. 7, 1961 Life magazine.


Dad scans the skies for Russian bombers. Cold War Dads did that a lot.
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Those who built "backyard" shelters buried or mounded with earth quickly discovered they were very efficent at collecting mold, mildew and ground water. Covered pipes worked well during a few hours of the London Blitz but a two week stay could be impossible.

... Sept. 7, 1961 Life magazine.


Huh-oh. little Jimmy hears a strange scratching at the outer door. Wish Dad had followed the minister's advice and put a shotgun in the shelter. Maybe this shovel will be enough to deal with old Mrs. Betz.-------------------------------------------------------
link to "The Shelter" from 1961 Twilight Zonehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ei7Gr-0uNU&featu
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Rod Serling Prologue-"What you are about to watch is a nightmare. It is not meant to be prophetic, it need not happen, it's the fervent and urgent prayer of all men of good will that it shall never happen. But in this place, in this moment, it does happen. This is the Twilight Zone."

... more mutations!


Sedan shot- Project Plowshare


Ol' Eddie Teller was a big proponent of the "peaceful use of nuclear weapons". Yes sir, cheapest way to move millions of tons of earth in a millisecond. Proposed was the building of canals, harbors and... well anything else you need a really big hole for.
But the "clean" atomic weapons necessary never came to fruition. They were not very powerful and conversely, very expensive. Regular bombs could make a big hole if they were buried, like this 330 ft. deep 1,100 ft. wide crater made by a 104 kiloton device in 1962. But this big ol' hole is very radioactive and spread a whole hell of a lot of fallout dust all over the nice neighbors- in 20 states.
So it works out that that Edward Teller's really big holes had to be really, really far away from anywhere they would do anyone any good.
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here comes the kid with the projector-
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whoa! too cool! a virtual 360 site of the crater!
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for all you kids who like to fly around on google earth

the third leg of the TRIAD

U.S.S. Connecticut, nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, breaks ice somewhere at the polar ice cap. Note: raise periscopes and antenna masts for dramatic photographic effect AFTER breaking through ice!
Nice illustration: in real photos atomic submarines never have the cool red and blue lighting we see in "Hunt for Red October".


Of the 744 B-52s built just 76 remain on active duty. This old Stratofortress is being rebuilt for display at the Goletta Air and Space Museum http://www.air-and-space.com/

Brooding monster of the apocalypse. Boeing B-52H. Photo by: Felipe Dutra