Your One Defense Against Fallout
Artist
Designer Unknown
Printer
U.S. Government Printing Office
Date1959
Dimensions11 1/4 x 21 in. (28.6 x 53.3 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Lucinda & David Pollack
Object numberPH.7896
DescriptionFallout shelters were frequently promoted in the United States as a necessary investment to protect one’s family in the event of a nuclear attack. In reality, these small bunkers would not have provided significant protection in a blast zone, nor would people have time to get to one in most scenarios. By the 1960s, the U.S. government was making fewer efforts to promote fallout shelters or mass evacuation as knowledge around the impact of nuclear warfare indicated that most people would die anyway. Alternatively, its attention shifted to plans that allowed for key government figures to seek safety in remote locations.
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