The
Private Bomb Shelter

In 1955 the optimistic man in charge of the Federal Civil Defense Administration in Washington, Val Peterson, declared with a broad smile that anyone can survive an atomic blast if they are out of the maximum destruction range “(2/3rds of a mile for an A-Bomb; 4 miles for [an] H-Bomb) and if they can get to an adequate shelter in time”.

With that hopeful thought in mind the editors of People Today Magazine ran with this consumer report concerning various bomb shelter plans that were commercially available to the American public that year.

“The most elaborate of five government-approved home bomb shelters is a combination tunnel and emergency exit in reinforced concrete, extending outward under ground from cellar walls It holds six persons and offers maximum protection from all effects of an atomic explosion… But the FCDA (Federal Civil Defense Administration) also recommends a practical type type that can be put together by any do-it-yourselfer for around $20.00.”

Additional magazine and newspaper articles about the Cold War may be read on this page.