Fort Lauderdale and Broward County fallout shelter craze in the 1960s

 

By Jane Feehan

Fallout shelters dominated controversial topics in South Florida and the nation in the late 1950s and early 1960s. People feared a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union when its leader, Nikita Khrushchev, sought to expand his sphere of influence by testing atomic bombs in 1958 and then shipping nuclear missiles to Cuba in 1962.  

Fears launched a few fallout shelter businesses in Miami and in Broward County (search this blog for Fallout Shelters a Miami Growth Biz in the 1960s). Homeowners served as the target audience for the defense product, but governments considered them essential to civil defense. In 1962, the Broward County Courthouse had already been recognized as first fallout shelter in Fort Lauderdale.

In 1963, both private and public entities were recognized for their civic duty by the Broward County Civil Defense Council. Commendations were awarded to people representing Broward County hotels, a variety of businesses and a few hospitals for their participation. 

The list below may reflect savvy public relations rather than civic inclinations for some:

Yankee Clipper Hotel; Pier 66 (planned but not yet built); Governors’ Club Hotel; Marlin Beach Hotel; Jolly Roger Hotel; Holiday Hotel; Boca Key Hotel; Sun Tower (motel-hotel); Esquire Hotel;  Sears Roebuck and Company (Searstown built in 1955); First National Bank; Homeowners Life Insurance Co.; New Blount Building; Las Olas Plaza; Burdines Department Store; Dania Jai Alai Palace; Gulfstream Racing Association; Illini Cooperative Apartments; Southern Bell Telephone Company; North Broward Hospital District; South Broward Hospital District; Holy Cross Hospital; City of Fort Lauderdale.

Supplies for shelters were ordered by the defense council and included food, water, sanitary supplies and radiation equipment (compare that to a list we'd have today). It was estimated that the supplied shelters could accommodate about 43,000 people for 15 days.

However, interest in building fallout shelters was waning even before the Cuba crisis. A nationwide study revealed that many thought the best protection would be a simple hole in the ground. City dwellers took a fatalistic stance since they would likely be the first target of a nuclear attack; others thought businesses were cashing in on fear more than anything else.

Complacency slowed nuclear defense preparations by the mid-to late 1960s—especially with the 1964 movie, Dr. Strangelove. A satire that poked fun at nuclear "paranoia," the film may have helped take out the air of the fallout shelter movement.  

However, it didn’t stop a Fort Lauderdale News reporter in 1964 from suggesting a fallout shelter as an ideal Christmas gift for the family member who has everything. Some of those shelters may serve as hurricane shelters today ...

 Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 3, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 19, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 30, 1963  

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 19,1964

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 12, 1965

Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s; Broward County in the 1960s, fallout shelters

Fallout Shelters a Miami Growth Biz in the 1960s

Shelter sign in NYC

The Cold War heated up to nearly white hot during the early 1960s. The Soviet Union resumed testing of A-bombs in 1958 and continued into the new decade. They began building the Berlin War in August 1961 to mark their sphere of influence in Europe. 

President John F. Kennedy decided one of the most effective steps the U.S. could take to show that it stood firm in Europe was to immediately develop an air raid shelter program.

Kennedy wanted to convince the Kremlin that the American people (far more cohesive then) were willing to undergo an atomic war if necessary rather than to back away from the Russians in Europe. JFK told Americans it would be possible to organize or build shelters quickly by reinforcing public buildings and constructing safe havens at individual homes.

American entrepreneurs smelled a new opportunity and turned home shelter building into a growth business. By September 1961, 19 manufacturers in Miami were approved by the Dade County Office of Civil Defense to build home fallout shelters.

Newspapers published articles about companies and their offerings and pages were filled with advertising. Shelters ran from $1,195 to $2,495 and could be constructed to protect from six to 12 people in fortifications that ranged in size from 10 feet by 8 feet to 14 by 16 feet.  Some could be installed adjacent to a house or in a garage (there weren’t many basements in South Florida). All qualified for financing under FHA’s Title 1 home improvement program.

Shelter advertisements nearly shouted with:

No down payment!

All forms of financing!

Shelters - use as playrooms or for storage!

Adequate shielding is the only effective means of preventing radiation casualties!

Do it yourself, just send $1 for plans!

Ancillary businesses opened to manufacture appliances for shelters and devices to power ventilation blowers, TVs and lighting.

By the mid - to late 1960s, fears diminished and, as with Dr. Strangelove, Americans learned to stop worrying and to love the bomb. Perhaps some today are used as hurricane shelters but more than likely, most are gone.

Sources:

Palm Beach Post, July, 17, 1961

Miami News, Sept. 24. 1961

Miami News, Nov. 16, 1961

Tags: Miami business in 1960s, Miami during the cold war, Fallout shelter business