I grew up during the Cold War, in the 50's. Nuclear war was a real possibility as far as my dad was concerned. He got involved in a company that sold fallout shelters and he had one built in our backyard, free of charge, as a demonstration model, as a showroom model for making deals to sell them to people in the community, which was Henderson, Nevada at the time. There was a big war-manufacturing plant there, a Titanium plant, a horribly ugly smelling stinging black sooty thing in the middle of the desert and everybody was convinced it would be a target for nuclear attack and we should all have fallout shelters. (Number 1)
(Number 2) During this period, between 1948 and 1960, the phrase "Better Red Than Dead" referred to the "red" Soviet Army. The John Birch Society was big at the time and people were pretty much whacked out on the extreme right wing, Republican Christian conservative world view. It sucked then and it sucks now, but I was too young to know that it sucked back then. (Number 3)
(Number 4) I got to see the atom bomb tested out in the Nevada desert maybe three times, maybe four times. The first couple tests, we would all drive to Boulder Highway and sit up there and wait and watch. Las Vegas is in a desert valley and Henderson is above it, up above it on the way to Boulder City. So we'd sit up there on the Highway with a picnic basket and sit in the car, or get out and sit on the hood of the car and wait for the test. Then we'd hear the countdown on the radio and then we'd see the airplane bomber flying over the desert if we had binoculars and then we'd see the blast, feel the earth shake, and watch the mushroom cloud rise up higher and higher and blow away over towards Utah. We didnt really care about the radioactive dust since the cloud blew towards Utah where greater numbers of people got cancer than anywhere else. (Number 5)
(Number 6) We watched the tests for a few years. I saw maybe three more. Then they started doing underground tests and we'd sit up there on Boulder Highway and feel the earth shake but we wouldnt see the mushroom cloud anymore. We were disappointed. My dad used these tests to stir up interest in his part time fallout shelter business. Some of the principals of the company got arrested for fraud and for swindling old people out of their money by selling the shelters but never installing them. My dad was OK. He didnt do anything illegal. He ended up selling his house many years later to his other son and they used the fallout shelter as a spare guest room for friends when they come to visit. (Number 7)
(Number 2) During this period, between 1948 and 1960, the phrase "Better Red Than Dead" referred to the "red" Soviet Army. The John Birch Society was big at the time and people were pretty much whacked out on the extreme right wing, Republican Christian conservative world view. It sucked then and it sucks now, but I was too young to know that it sucked back then. (Number 3)
(Number 4) I got to see the atom bomb tested out in the Nevada desert maybe three times, maybe four times. The first couple tests, we would all drive to Boulder Highway and sit up there and wait and watch. Las Vegas is in a desert valley and Henderson is above it, up above it on the way to Boulder City. So we'd sit up there on the Highway with a picnic basket and sit in the car, or get out and sit on the hood of the car and wait for the test. Then we'd hear the countdown on the radio and then we'd see the airplane bomber flying over the desert if we had binoculars and then we'd see the blast, feel the earth shake, and watch the mushroom cloud rise up higher and higher and blow away over towards Utah. We didnt really care about the radioactive dust since the cloud blew towards Utah where greater numbers of people got cancer than anywhere else. (Number 5)
(Number 6) We watched the tests for a few years. I saw maybe three more. Then they started doing underground tests and we'd sit up there on Boulder Highway and feel the earth shake but we wouldnt see the mushroom cloud anymore. We were disappointed. My dad used these tests to stir up interest in his part time fallout shelter business. Some of the principals of the company got arrested for fraud and for swindling old people out of their money by selling the shelters but never installing them. My dad was OK. He didnt do anything illegal. He ended up selling his house many years later to his other son and they used the fallout shelter as a spare guest room for friends when they come to visit. (Number 7)
