Fallout Shelter Handbook

Object number2000.039.0001

Date1962

ClassificationsBooks

Author Chuck West

ObjectBook

Credit LineThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection

MediumPaper, Newsprint, Metal

Dimensions9 1/4 × 6 5/8 × 5/16 in. (23.5 × 16.8 × 0.8 cm)

Terms

Collections

DescriptionFallout Shelter Handbook written by Chuck West. The handbook was published by Fawcett Publications, Inc., in 1962 and is 144 pages. The book originally cost 75 cents. The illustration on the full-color paper cover shows a family of three in a fully furnished underground bunker. The list of chapters on the cover includes: "Diets and Food Kits, Evacuation Techniques, Surviving an Atomic Attack, Sources of Water Supply, Underground Shelters You Can Build or Buy, Basement and Garage Shelters, Above-Ground Shelters, Medical Hints and First Aid, and Fallout Detection Devices" This type of information was distributed during the Cold War to help families prepare for the event of a nuclear threat or attack. This image is not available online larger than a thumbnail to protect the copyright of its creator(s). For a more detailed examination of this item, please schedule an appointment in the Museum’s Reading Room.

Curatorial Commentary

Inside this fascinating Fallout Shelter Handbook is an advertisement (with mail-in coupon) for an additional booklet that offered detailed plans on how people could build their own fallout shelter out of waterproof plywood with either a concrete block (for basement shelter) or sand or gravel (for an above-ground shelter). Pressure-treated plywood, so claimed the ad, offered short-term protection at the lowest cost. The 34-page booklet, advertised for twenty-five cents, provided working drawings and a materials list. It was offered for sale by - not surprisingly - the Douglas Fir Plywood Association in Tacoma, Washington. - Stephen Fagin, Curator