Artifact of the Month, January 2024
Radiation Kit
2008.3.5 Gift of Carolyn and Robert Bond

Could $25 buy you peace of mind?

Maybe it could if you were buying this item. This 1960s radiation kit, commonly found in fallout shelters, was an essential survival tool during the Cold War Era. Fallout shelters gained mainstream popularity during the 1950s due to the development and threatening presence of nuclear weaponry. The only problem with a fallout shelter is trying to figure out when it’s safe to leave, and most equipment used to detect radiation is too expensive or difficult for the average American to use. Luckily, the Bendix Corporation stepped in and created the Family Radiation Detection Kit, designed to be portable and easy to read at a glance. Stocking this item in their shelter gave American citizens peace of mind in uncertain times. It detects whether radiation is present in the air after a nuclear attack and tracks personal exposure. Individuals affected by radiation can become sick or die if they are exposed to too much.

 The original owner of this kit also kept a copy of an article by the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Walter F. Libby. The article was printed in Redding’s Record Searchlight in 1961 and is from a 15-part series published nationwide. The series was intended to soothe the public with instructions on everything you might need to know to live through a nuclear attack, including instructions on building your fallout shelter and how to clean up your residence safely.

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