Blast from the Past
NEEHAH, WISCONSIN—Although this is a story from May of this year, it represents another story of life imitating art. Sort of.
The Zwick family knew that the previous owner had built a bomb shelter when they moved in over ten years previous. It was not until 2010, however, that they decided to open the 50-year-old, eight-foot by ten-foot chamber to see what was inside. Unlike Blast From the Past, the family did not find a family living inside waiting for the fallout from the Cuban missile crisis to subside. Surely fortunate as well, they did not find the bodies of a family who were waiting for the fallout from the Cuban missile crisis to subside.
The Mail Online reported:
“We assumed it was just this empty space,” homeowner Carol Hollar-Zwick told the Appleton Post-Crescent.
The boxes, old military ammunition crates, contained markings that suggested there might be explosives inside, so the family called the local branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Agents opened the crates to find… Hawaiian Punch.
Goodies from the past.
“It was all of what you would expect to find in a 1960s fallout shelter. It was food, clothing, medical supplies, tools, flashlights, batteries – items that you would want to have in a shelter if you planned to live there for two weeks.”
Everything remained remarkably well-preserved, thanks to the airtight containers the supplies were kept in.
The items were donated to the Neehan Historical Society which just happens to have an exhibit about the cold war fear of the bomb.
Matinee was another comedy about the cold war era featuring a bomb shelter. It was set in Florida at the height of the Cuban missile crisis.
Source: Mail Online
