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Surviving The Bomb In Seattle

March 17th, 2008 @ 12:49 am by Cliffe | Sorted Photo Exposureborder
Tim Ellis of the Seattle Bubble Blog sent me this quaint Cold War-era Seattle Civil Defense Manual circa 1951 explaining how exactly to survive an atomic bomb. Specifics include how to build your own personal bomb shelter, tips for the aftermath of a blast (”wait at least one hour to give lingering radiation some chance to die down!”), which areas/landmarks would be hit first (no harshing on Tacoma and Everett!), how it kills you, and more. The pamphlet is rounded out with a long list of “subversive organizations” from the House Un-American Activities Committee. I don’t see France on the list. We can start mining the rich irony in the comments. How many modern day parallels can YOU draw? Thanks for sending this in, Tim.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 1. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 2.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 3. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 4.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 5. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 6.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 7. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 8.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 9. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 10.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 11. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 12.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 13. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 14.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 15. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 16.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 17. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 18.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 19. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 20.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 21. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 22.
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Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 23. Seattle Civil Defense Manual including “The Atom Bomb And Your Survival,” 1951. Page 24.

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9 Responses:

  1. Mark Kruger wrote:
    March 17th, 2008 @ 8:14 am

    I always knew those Commies wanted to nuke the Ballard fishing fleet…

  2. didi wrote:
    March 17th, 2008 @ 3:03 pm

    I love Cold War propaganda! They are always great for a good laugh.

  3. josh wrote:
    March 17th, 2008 @ 6:01 pm

    amazing find! great to have on hand, just in case

  4. Ben Lukoff wrote:
    March 17th, 2008 @ 6:55 pm

    This is awesome! And hey, it might have been propaganda, but the fears were very real… Cliffe, would you like to see a map of evacuation routes? I have one somewhere and could scan it…..

  5. Ben Lukoff wrote:
    March 18th, 2008 @ 11:05 pm

    Odd..it’s not where I thought it was. Perhaps I only ever saw it at the MOHAI Library. Darn!

  6. Cliffe wrote:
    March 19th, 2008 @ 11:44 am

    I’d love to see it. Let us know if you find it.

    Cliffe

  7. billvb wrote:
    March 19th, 2008 @ 3:04 pm

    Hey, look, the ACLU hadn’t made it on The Enemies from Within list yet.

  8. Matt G wrote:
    March 24th, 2008 @ 3:28 pm

    Great find.

    You can still see fallout shelter signs all over downtown. The one I’ve been inside of (I believe it’s Xplore Fitness) certainly doesn’t have a fallout shelter anymore. But I wonder if any of the shelters are still in working order.

  9. Chloe Soleil wrote:
    March 25th, 2008 @ 9:17 pm

    I’m glad the US of A has staid the course and not given into these commie bastards. Make no mistake, Fidel (commie), Bin Laden (commie/muslim), and Saddam (commie/dictator) lunched together and they hate America, just like the Liberals do.

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