Though in case you are wondering.....
I have been collecting Civil Defense stuff since 1978 and I've been
exploring fallout shelters etc almost as long. My interest in Civil Defense started with my interest
in World War II when I was a kid. I guess my interest officially started
when I began noticing Fallout Shelter signs. As a kid I associated them with the
air raid shelters of World War II. The photo at right was taken in 2002.
I am standing under the Fallout Shelter sign that began all of this. This
shelter sign is located in a medical building in Dallas. I would always
check out the sign when my mom took me to the doctor. When I looked at
that sign I would always think to myself "I wonder what's down there." Thinking
back on it now I probably should have just gone down the stairs to the basement
and looked. If I would have done that I would have discovered my first stocked
shelter at a much earlier age than I did because the city of Dallas CD and
that shelter fully stocked.
My collection started in 1978 with an envelope full of CD stuff I received from the Dallas Office Of Emergency Preparedness. My collection has been growing ever since and has become almost unmanageable with the space I have. I have received many generous donations from Emergency Management folks and others over the last few years and I would like to thank all of them. My collection wouldn't be nearly what it is today without the great items (mainly radiation instruments) they have sent to me. I have even received some items from a couple of US Air Force bases. Thanks to everyone for everything!!! Now if I could just find somewhere to display all this stuff.
Other...No, I'm not a "survivalist" (whatever that is) who has a bomb shelter in my backyard although I wouldn't mind having a bomb shelter because it would be nice to run the family down into if there was ever a large tornado approaching. Also if it was large enough it would make a cool recording studio.
I have other historical interests such as World War II/Cold War/Aircraft history/early naval history etc., neon signs, basic electronics, music (banging on a guitar, I wouldn't actually call it playing), any mechanical nonsense (I'm a "machinist" now but spent 12 years in the zany world of automotive service) and, of course, my family.
One more thing...If anyone who might be reading this is ever involved in making a Cold
War related documentary or history piece keep in mind there was so much
more to Civil Defense than Bert The Turtle and Duck And Cover. Bert's
cool but he's everywhere. I guess Bert's the most convenient thing
to pull out of the can when putting something together. That's why you
won't find Bert here because he's everywhere else.