Civil Defense Collection

[Jason G]

This is the Civil Defense/Homefront display that my wife has graciously allowed me to put up in our dining room. I'm now hooked on home front and civil defense stuff!

 

 

The large poster is from the Office of Civilian Defense (OCD). It's marked US Government Printing Office 1941-0-423671

 

The two armbands are both from Maryland Civil Defense. The smaller on in the frame is a plastic type likely dating from the early 1960's. The bottom one is WWII era.

The Air Raid warden poster is likely a window placard.

 

 

 

Maryland Civil Defense Instruction sheets. The one on the far left is Civil Defense instructions for motorists, signed by Maryland Governor T. McKeldin, who was governor in the late 1950's. The other pamphlet is also from the 1960's and is from my local Frederick County Civil Defense, detailing Air Raid instructions. It also says "Please post in a prominent place", and gives details of where to contact the local Office of Civil Defense, at Winchester Hall in Frederick.

 

 

 

 

The Long "Buy Defense Bonds" dates from WWII. I picked it up for a dollar at a public sale back in the 1990's.

I absolutely loved the little boy wearing the early Medal of Honor ad from the 11 December 1943 Saturday Evening Post. It says, "He knows why this Christmas we should buy War Bonds".

The picture to the right is a WWI "Welcome home" with the soldier hugging his mother while the girlfriend (?) waits in the background....boy is THAT one wishful thinking LOL.

In the center is a small shadowbox containing sand from Iwo Jima...wife made that for us, I got the sand from a contest for Marines.

[Jason G]

One of my absolute FAVORITE Civil Defense posters, with a great visual as well as 'wow' effect...

 

"It CAN happen here!" The photo is of the Bikini atoll test but still is striking in this context. It's a 'recruiting' poster for the Washington County Maryland Civil Defense.

 

 

 

Civil Defense Helmet. This one is not only for the scarce WWII "Civil Defense Command" section, it's for New York City.

 

Interior of the NYC CDC helmet. The leather has about had it, these are hard to find with good leather in them, I've found. The liner is fabric and secured to the helmet with rivets, which aren't visible from the outside. There are NO markings on the interior, either on the liner or the helmet itself.

 

[Jason G]

 

The last CD helmet I have. This one is for an Air Raid Warden, the decal is about 45 percent gone. The liner is the same, and unmarked.

 

 

 

 

Civil Defense Armbands. Both of these came from a local estate in Frederick County, Maryland, for a "Messenger". One is plastic, the other, cloth.

 

 

 

This one is sort of different, it's all a silk type of material with printed lettering. An ebay pickup from Fargo, North Dakota, likely of the WWII period, but it could be 1950's...just can't be sure.

[Jason G]

 

A window sticker decal for the Civil Air Patrol (most likely) or the High School Victory Corps (?) Air section, perhaps. Made by the Superior Decalcomania Company of Dallas, Texas.

 

Here's the reverse:

 

[Brian Keith]

Nice Collection, I like CD stuff also, there is a lot of it out there and not so much interest. I think if you look close on your helmets, usually on the back underside of the rim it is stamped, "OCD" and probably some number, if I recall correctly. The one's with the decals are pretty hard to find. Interesting that there are a lot of M1917 and M1917 A1 helmets painted up for CD use. There are probably some nut jobs out there who try to remove those marking to make it a "combat" helmet, thus, messing it up.

Thanks for showing us your things.

BKW

[Jason G]

Thank you very much. I noticed there wasn't much in the way of Civil Defense stuff being displayed, so I thought "What the heck". I didn't show my Civil Defense Radiation Detectors (Mint in box from my old police department) and a minty CD Medical supplies box I found curbside full of trash I cleaned out.

 

I looked and looked for those OCD stamps without success. I even took them outside in the sun. Nada. Either they don't have any, I'm too blind to see em...or they are so faint I can't make them out.

 

The '17 helmets I've seen painted up for sale lately have gone for crazy (IMO) prices on ebay, most of them have no liner, painted white, sometimes a good decal, sometimes not. Once recently sold for over 50 bucks and it was in 'relic' condition IMO, BUT...it had the 'Messenger' lightning bolt decal in good shape. I guess that's why it went so well. I dunno, but no way was I paying that much for a shell. Maybe I was wrong and later I'll kick myself, but not right now LOL.

[Homefrontguy]

Great Items in your collection. Thanks for sharing. I also like Civilian Defense items and pick them up when I see one I like. One way that sometimes helps distinguish between WWII era items and CD items from the Cold War era would be the wording. During WWII, it was the Civilian Defense and after WWII it was Civil Defense. I think both are fascinating material to collect whether its those instructions on how to extinguish an incendiary bomb from WWII or Bert the Turtle telling us to Duck and Cover in the 1950s. My Grandfather was discharged from the military in 1941 after being stationed in Hawaii and then served as an Air Raid Warden during the war while working for the PRR. Sadly, I dont have his items but have found nearly everything he told me he had so that gives me a personal perspective.

 

Jim

[BEAST]

Very nice! One question though; when did Civilian Defense become Civil Defense? I thought it was a post WWII change.

[Jason G]

Thanks, guys, much appreciated. This is sort of an under-collected area of WWII and beyond, which is one of the reasons I started getting some of the things. I also recently found a First Aid guide for Civil Defense, and a minty civilian gas mask in the original issue box. I'll try and post those tomorrow (I forgot them when I was taking pics....)

 

I do have to make a correction, on the helmets, as is readily apparent, my description should read the rivets ARE visible from the outside of the helmet. I wrote "aren't" for some reason.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Jim on the change of terms. That does help! That would also make that silk looking armband POST WWII, using that definition.

[gwb123]

Jeez... I won't sleep tonight! I've just had a bunch of Cold War flashbacks from the 1960s!

 

Like the time the teachers told us to bring a white bed sheet to school so we could all practice our nuclear defense drills. This was based on the idea that a white covering would reduce the effects of the thermal burst. Of course, living less than 25 miles from the center of Philadelphia I am sure that the radiation alone would have been deadly enough. Even as a kid I considered that bedsheet a shroud!

 

Get this... if we were extra well behaved at our Cub Scout meeting, we got to hold it inside our leader's family bomb shelter! Pretty neat... except after about an hour the claustrophobia set in. Imagine spending, oh I don't know, three weeks in a round tank smaller than most kids bedrooms!

 

I had at one time the official Office of Civil Defense pamphlet on family shelter design. All kinds of diagrams and tips about how to build a breathing vent without the rain coming in. Another volume you might want to look for is The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, published about 1962. It is Government Printing Office publication, and you might find a copy in a reference library. Wonderful graphs and photos from the 1950's bomb tests. One of my cousins used it for a science fair project that included a diarama if a house being incinerated (remember when science fairs accpeted diaramas? Now kids actually go out and actually measure background radiation!)

 

Thanks for the memories! LOL!

[Plant#4]

My mother tells this story, so be kind. When the school teacher told the kids they were to gather in the hallway during an atomic attack, my sister said "My brother and sister and I are to go straight home" The teacher said "Oh no, you are to stay here." This caused quite a stir at my home. My mother went to the school the next day and proceeded to tell the teacher and the principal that her children were instructed to come home right away, with NO delay. The principal said "Thats not allowed" , my mom informed him what he says does not matter because her children were coming straight home....period. He said "Why is that?" she said "Because we are all going to die together" The principal proceeded to tell my mom that that would be O.K. , that drill at the school wasn't held again. This took place in the early 1960s. Dave

[BEAST]

OK, I am going away from discussing the actual collection, but here is a great Civil Defense film on YouTube; "DUCK AND COVER" . It is a classic!

[DMD]

Trivia Quiz Time!!!

 

What is the significance of the numbers 640 and 1240?

[US Victory Museum]

640 Hz & 1240 Hz Amplitude Modulation Frequencies.

 

"This is not a drill! REPEAT! This is not a drill. Tune in to frequency 1240 AM or 640 AM for

instructions how how to kiss you backside goodbye!"

[Brian Keith]

That reminds me, on some radios of the era, there is a small CD emblem on the dial for those frequencies. Something else to look for.

BKW

[Jim Baker]

Crazy.....

 

I'm at the age where we were right at the end of those drills. We would have to go into the hallway and duck and cover along the inside walls.

 

My Dad was also at Operation Crossroads. It must have been neat to see one go off (from a distance).

 

Jason,

 

Could you please take a close up of this poster?

 

 

Thanks,

Jim

[BEAST]

Here is a little history from the Sate of Indiana's website:

 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Office of Civilian Defense by executive order in May 1941. President Roosevelt gave the agency the authority to meet a wide range of needs including the protection of the civilian population, the maintenance of morale, and the promotion of volunteer involvement in defense. It was also charged with ensuring that federal agencies responded to community needs resulting from the war.

 

Under the Civilian Protection section of President Roosevelt's plan the following volunteer services and functions were created:

 

Air Raid Wardens

Rescue Party

Auxiliary Police

Medical Corps

Bomb Squad

Nurses' Aides Corps

Auxiliary Firemen

Messengers

Fire Watchers

Drivers Corps

Road Repair Crew

Emergency Food and Housing

Decontamination Corps

Demolition and Clearance Crew

 

Indiana was part of the Fifth OCD Region, which also consisted of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio.

 

In June of 1944 the nine regional offices that coordinated the work of state and local defense organizations were closed. An executive order on June 4, 1945 terminated the Office of Civilian Defense.

 

And some post WWII history from Wikipedia:

 

"The "Federal Civil Defense Administration" (FCDA) was organized by democratic president Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) on December 1, 1950, and became an official government agency in January 1951. The agency flooded the country with posters, programs, and information about communism and the threat of nuclear attacks. This included instructions for holding air raid drills in schools and detailed plans on how to build a bomb shelter. Nevertheless, experts ridiculed the agency as almost totally ineffective."

[DMD]

Trivia Quiz Time!!!

 

What is the significance of the numbers 640 and 1240?

 

640 and 1240 were the AM broadcast frequencies for CONELRAD, the predecessor of today's Emergency Broadcast System.

 

CONELRAD stood for Control of Electromagnetic Radiation. All commercial radio broadcast stations were to shut down, and emergency information could be found across the nation on 640 kHz and 1240 kHz. This kept the Russian bombers from using a city's radio station as a homing aid.

 

As Brian said, radios made during the early 60s had the CD symbol on the dial.

[Jason G]

Jim...I"ll try and get better pic of this, (closeup) this weekend. I"m working today and have my 17 year old daughters birthday dinner tonite, so I"m kinda tapped right now, but will try and work on it this weekend. I might be able to get it out of the frame, can't remember how I have it in there. It's a great piece, tho.

 

If I would have been on yesterday I would have said "CONELRAD" as well! There is a website out there that has some broadcast stuff from testing of those systems, as soon as I get the chance, I'll post it.

[Jason G]

OK, for Bill, here is the closeup of the Liberty bond ad.

There are two photos, hopefully you can get what you need. If not let me know and I'll try to use my daughters better camera.

 

 

 

The ad was sponsored by the General Tire and Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio.

[Jim Baker]

Thanks Jason!

 

Great poster.

[Jason G]

You are welcome. It's probably one of THE most moving posters/war art I've ever seen.

[gwb123]

I did a little more digging and low and behold one of my favorite Government pamphlets of all time.

 

Back in the 1960's this was the answer to "Daddy, why don't we have a pool in the back yard?".

 

Coincidently, the bomb shelter craze happened about the same time as the do it yourself home builder movement was beginning. (Think Popular Mechanics!) While the Government provided basic publications like these, many home owners were constantly tweaking and accessorizing their bomb shelters with supplies, comforts, electrical lights, etc. There were stockage lists you could obtain for two weeks, three months, etc. worth of supplies.

 

I love the nomenclature on these... that and the DOD stamp on the blueprints makes you feel you are really doing something official!

 

The Cub Scout meetings I referred to took place in something similar to the "Steel Igloo Shelter" that was attached by tunnel to our leader's basement. I always wondered what he would do if the house collapsed around the entrance of the shelter. (?)

[gwb123]

And some more! The perfect use for all that spare room in the basement! Duck and Cover!

[Fred Borgmann]

And some more! The perfect use for all that spare room in the basement! Duck and Cover!

 

If you guys are going to get serious about Civil Defense keep your eyes open for the CD badges. There are a ton of them out there issued on regional, state county and local levels plus some factories and private groups. Here is just one example from my collection.