“Almost every newspaper and every magazine in the country had articles on nuclear war and fallout shelters.” Cold War conversions Some magazine called that the question, ‘To dig or not to dig,’” says Kenneth Rose, a professor at California State University Chico and author of the book One Nation Underground: The Fallout Shelter in American Culture.
“There’s this huge national debate of whether or not to build a shelter. I know that you will want to do no less.”Īlthough some historians say the speech was mainly meant to intimidate Khrushchev, one effect was to stoke public anxieties about nuclear war. “In the coming months, I hope to let every citizen know what steps he can take without delay to protect his family in case of attack. But the time to start is now,” Kennedy said. “In contrast to our friends in Europe, the need for this kind of protection is new to our shores. Kennedy addressed the nation, pumping up the Civil Defense budget and urging Americans to prepare. “It was just an eerie time,” says Addams.Ĭold War preparation really got hot in 1961, when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened to cut off Western access to Berlin, then a divided city.
As apartment dwellers, her family had to have faith in public shelters. And they had those little signs that were saying that you go here, like in the subway, or certain other areas.”Īddams says those who had the money and a little property could build their own bunkers.
“People were buying and making fallout shelters, and trying to find out where we could go if there was an attack and all that kind of stuff.
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