What would you do if your family found a secret door in your house or backyard? Would you be excited or scared? Maybe you'd find something creepy, like a skeleton, or even something exciting—like hidden treasure!
After World War II, Americans braced themselves for the threat of nuclear war. The Truman and Eisenhower administrations released educational materials that warned citizens about the threat of atomic bombs. They wanted US citizens to be prepared. Part of these precautionary measures included building fallout shelters to protect families in the event of nuclear war.
The Wisconsin-based Zwick family household had one such structure from that time period in their own backyard.
The Zwicks knew they had a door to a Cold War-era bomb shelter hidden under shrubs in their garden, but they'd never bothered to open it before. It went untouched for 10 years until the day they decided that they couldn't wait any longer. They pried open a door that led to their eight-by-10-foot bunkers down below. Floating in five feet of stagnant water was something they never expected to find!
Scroll down to see the surprising contents locked away for decades in that fallout shelter.
Please SHARE this incredibly story with someone who might remember when Americans were building fallout shelters like these in homes across our nation.
Before they could get inside the fallout shelter, the Zwick family had to clear away bushes that had grown over it and remove the lock.
The doors had not been opened for nearly 50 years!
They assumed it was an empty space, so they were very surprised to see that it had items inside.
They climbed into the dingy shelter to retrieve the items.
Considering that the shelter had been unopened for 50 years, they were a little wary of what they might find.
Doesn't look like a fun place to hang out, but the things they found are really incredible!
The shelter had several army boxes of rations and survival supplies. The boxes are basically time capsules of the year 1960!
The boxes were built to withstand nuclear war, so their contents were in impeccable shape!
Do you remember when paper towel packaging looked like this?
The boxes held contents that looked exactly the same as they had in 1960. This box makes it seem like candy was a major necessity for survival.
To be fair, I'd probably put candy in my fallout shelter too. Nothing relieves stress like chocolate.
Fortunately, no one ever needed the fallout shelter, so 50 years later, we have a perfectly preserved time capsule.
Remember Tang? I bet this brings back a bunch of memories for some people.
They even found a bucket of clean drinking water. Did your family have one of these fallout shelters?
Please SHARE this article with someone else who will remember this time. Also, enjoy the video below. It's a P.S.A. from the 50s instructing families on the benefits of having a fallout shelter.
Please SHARE these incredible finds from the Zwick's family fallout shelter with everyone you know!
