Fifty years ago today, January 12, 1964, 26 Chicago-area volunteers, most of them in their 50’s and 60’s, were locked in the basement of the Lombard Village Hall as part of a fallout shelter test. Under the scenario, a nuclear bomb had detonated in Keokuk, Iowa, and the prevailing winds were delivering the fallout over the Chicago area. The test was covered by that day’s Chicago Tribune, from which this photo was taken.
After settling into a routine and singing the National Anthem while facing a 48-star flag found in the basement, the group played a game to get acquainted. A Catholic priest served as a medic, and treated a man found to have entered the shelter with an overdose of radioactivity. The group eagerly lined up for their first meal of survival crackers, but after tasting them, the enthusiasm for the second meal was clearly dampened. One prudent woman brought with her a thermos of coffee, undoubtedly to the great envy of other participants.
The group elected an advisory council, and various jobs were assigned. In charge of handing out the rations was a 54 year old man who had previously served as an air raid warden during World War 2 in Mannheim, Germany. The veteran of Allied air raids opined that he knew how important it was to be prepared.
The only contact that the group had with the outside world was in the form of simulated radio broadcasts, in which they were informed that retaliatory strikes had been carried out.
The Priest/Medic was to say Mass on Sunday morning, and shortly thereafter, the experiment was to come to an end. The next day’s paper reported on the volunteers’ emergence from the shelter. It also reported that the latecomer’s condition proved fatal. Interestingly, while the priest was serving a medical officer, a chiropractor was serving as religious officer. The priest summoned the chiropractor to administer last rites to the unfortunate gentleman.
For another fallout shelter occupancy experiment, see my earlier post.
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