cold war again

Coasts. They weren't just to let planters know where city lights were but also the submarine and ship navigation purposes. See the film 1941. ARPAnet host #3 was later placed 3 miles from the real shelling some nearly some 3 decades later.

Civil Defense wasn't just useful for nuclear attack and tornados. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and all kinds of natural disasters have those things useful: "with enough shovels", "polyethylene sheeting and duct tape...", etc. I too had duck and cover drills.

The reality is that under real thermonuclear attack most of this would not be useful. But the LDS (Mormons) have the right idea for stockpiling family home emergencies. And I have seen quite a number of Swiss shelters (every man being a soldier, and getting on trains with guys doing their annual 3 weeks).

What I remember my mom saying she doing when she was young was saving tooth paste tubes so that the metal could be used in planes. The reality is this, like duck and cover, were more social behaviors to reduce panic: it was busy work. Amusingly none of you have cited the Moscow line joke about going off to die and "not wanting to cause a panic."

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