Abstract

In 1961 families across the United States witnessed the sudden growth of one of the most remarkable consumer products of the Cold War, the home fallout shelter. This article charts the rise and fall of domestic sales for home fallout shelters from the anticipated market boom in 1961 to bust by 1963. By investigating the growth in the number of shelter salesmen, the public backlash against their sales techniques, the growth of fly by night practitioners, and the eventual decline of the home shelter market, this article exposes the limitations of consumer capitalism in mobilizing and sustaining popular support for national security policy agendas.