“Carbohydrate supplement” - Fallout Shelter Food
The threat of atomic warfare loomed large in Cold War America. By 1961, the majority of Americans believed that Russia would initiate a nuclear attack within the next five years. Three million of them had modified their homes in some way to protect them from nuclear fallout. Nine million had stockpiled food.
On October 6, 1961, John F. Kennedy urged families to build their own fallout shelters as a precaution against a nuclear attack by Russia. These shelters were not intended to withstand a nuclear blast; instead, they were intended to minimize human casualties by sheltering people from radioactive debris for up to two weeks.
Also in 1961, the Office of Civil Defense received $169 million to locate and mark potential group fallout shelters in existing public and private buildings.
The Civil Defense also provided supplies to stock these public shelters, including water, medical supplies, sanitation kits (chemical toilets), and food rations. The food rations took the form of crackers, biscuits, bulgar wafers and carbohydrate supplement (hard candy, meant to add flavor and break the monotony of the carbohydrate-based rations). The goal was to provide each inhabitant 10,000 calories over a two-week stay (700 calories/day).
The carbohydrate supplement tin in the Illinois State Museum’s collection was issued to Heyworth High School by the Office of Civil Defense in 1963 and discovered decades later under the high school’s stage. The High School donated it to the McLean County Museum, who transferred it to the Illinois State Museum in 2013.
For more information on public fallout shelters, check out this Civil Defense film from 1965: