Civil Defense Supply

Civil Defense Supply

Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits consisted of 22 inch high by 16 inch diameter fiberboard drums filled with sanitation supplies. These drums and were to serve as the shelter chemical toilets until the water drums were emptied and became available to be used as toilets.

Sanitation kits came in two types. Pictured above are the Sanitation Kit III and Sanitation Kit IV. I have only found listings in CD information for these two types of shelter sanitation kits. The SKIII kit was to supply 25 persons for 2 weeks. The SKIV was to supply 50 persons for 2 weeks.

The SK III was issued in far fewer numbers than the SK IV. I believe the SK III was probably dropped from the program because there was really no need to have two different types of kits. That’s just speculation, but it makes sense to me.

In a search through the City of Dallas archives I found a good example that shows the difference in the numbers of SKIIIs and SKIVs that were issued. In a City Of Dallas Office Memorandum dated 27 March, 1963 there was an itemized list of the total number of shelter supplies shipped to Dallas in the city’s first shipment of supplies. The numbers of sanitation kits shipped to Dallas in the first shipment were 2383 SKIVs and only 31 SKIIIs. With the March 1963 date of the memo that shows a shipment to Dallas which was early in the shelter program. With the numbers shown in that shipment it’s probably safe to assume the numbers were similarly low for SKIIIs to other cities as well. I guess that’s why it took me forever to finally find one of the things. And then I had to get it on ebay. Details of each kit contents shown below. Click all images to see larger!

The Federal CD Guide Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits section is downloadable here.
Federal Civil Defense Guide, Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 7, July 1967, Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits. PDF File

Sanitation Kit Contents List

Later Issue SK IV Kits had no Hand Cleaner and 70 Cups and Lids Instead of 80.

Sanitation Kit III

Inside the SKIII there are 2 boxes with the supplies and a plastic toilet seat. The SKIV is packed similar to this but the 10 toilet paper rolls are put in the bottom of the drum with the boxes on top of the rolls. In the SKIII the 5 toilet paper rolls are in one of the boxes and the boxes are a little longer than the SKIV. If this doesn’t sound like Civil Defense collector minutiae nothing does 🙂 I think everything is visible in the above photo of the supplies in the box. The only thing that isn’t is the siphon tube which is in the brown envelope with the can opener sitting on top of it. All the supplies can be seen in a little better photo in the SKIV section below.

This SKIII kit drum was manufactured by the Greif Bros. Cooperage Corp. 1962. The kit is complete except for the hand cleaner. The “OK” on the label was most likely put on when the hand cleaner was removed. More info on the hand cleaner removal below in the SKIV section.

Sanitation Kit IV

Here is a 1963 issue SK IV drum (on left) with an undated SK IV drum (on right) showing a contents list with no hand cleaner and 70 cups and lids instead of 80 like earlier drums. I have another SK IV drum that is undated but still lists hand cleaner on the label. The Civil Defense 1964 Annual Statistical Report SK contents list is identical to the contents list on the right drum in the above photo so that is good enough for me to date the right kit as a 1964.
Thanks goes out to Doug in Ohio for pointing this label thing out to me. In 30+ years of collecting this junk I had never noticed the difference until he pointed it out to me.

Contents Of A 1963 Issue SK IV Sanitation Kit

Here are the contents of a 1963 dated SKIV laid out for display. The kit is complete with new-condition (see “problems” section below) hand cleaner can.

Prototype Sanitation Kit

Pictured above is a U.S. Army photo of a prototype sanitation kit. I call this kit a “prototype” because the contents of this kit almost matches the early supply contents list I have titled “Standard Supplies For The Fallout Shelter.” (Click link to view Adobe PDF file) I say “almost matches” because the “Standard Supplies” list shows 20 rolls of toilet paper where this photo shows 10 rolls. Since the drum size on the list is the same drum size as the standard sanitation kit drum the quantity of 20 rolls of t.p. must be an error. There is no way 20 rolls of t.p. could fit into the drum with everything else. I have never seen a sanitation kit contents list in any other civil defense material that matches the contents in the “Standard Supplies” list or the kit in the photo above. It’s also interesting to note that there is no contents list on the drum label like later sanitation kits and that the label states “Supplies 25 Persons For 14 Days” instead of “Supplies 25 Persons” like later SK IIIs.

The prototype kit contents are similar to the SKIII and SKIV except there are plastic canteens instead of cups and lids, a large sheet of plastic described as a “privacy screen,” a roll of twine and water purification tablets. Water purification tablets were stocked in the fallout shelter medical kits.

An early issue (Feb 1962) fiberboard water drum pictured on the water drum page mentions filling plastic canteens on the water dispensing instructions. These canteens mentioned would have been from the sanitation kit. This makes me wonder if any early type sanitation kits were ever actually issued. Maybe some are out there somewhere.

Sanitation Kit Information From DOD OCD 1964 Annual Statistical Report

These photos are from page 27 of the DOD OCD 1964 Annual Statistical Report. See page 27 here 1964 Annual Statistical Report Page 27 I thought it was interesting to find out that the Sanitation Kits were all purchased from Workshops For The Blind. I always believed that the manufacturer named on the front of the drum assembled the kits. From this information it appears that they simply made the drums and the Workshops assembled the kits from an inventory of supplies.

Sanitation Kit Problems

Very early on in the fallout shelter program the sanitation kits issued to community fallout shelters had problems with leaking hand cleaner cans which resulted in the release of a bulletin from Civil Defense. The bulletin dated November 6, 1964 covered the cause and instructed for the removal of the hand cleaner cans during normal inspections. I found a copy of the bulletin at the Dallas City Archives when I was going through their old civil defense files a while back. I guess it’s really more than anyone would ever want to know about sanitation kit hand cleaner but here it is anyway.

Bulletin no. 65—8 November 6, 1964

Subject: Sanitation Kit Hand Cleaner

Routine inspections of warehouse stocks of the sanitation kits have indicated the existence of a number of leaking cans of waterless hand cleaner. This discovery prompted the office of civil defense to initiate laboratory tests to determine the cause of the leakage and to develop remedial action.

A summary of the results of the laboratory investigations is as follows:

(a) The cleaner will withstand a considerable period of storage at moderate, fairly uniform temperatures, but will separate into cream and liquid layers after exposure for 16 hours to 10 degrees F. The flash point of the separated liquid when removed from the can is 124 degrees F. The material tends to deteriorate at a temperature level of 120 degrees F, but at a relatively slow rate. Cyclic temperaturechanges within the range of 32 degrees to 120 degrees F accelerate the rate of deterioration.

(b) The cans in which the cleaner is packaged are adequate for the purpose as long as the cleaner remains emulsified. However, the liquid organic solvent component of the separated cleaner tends to soften and penetrate the seam sealing compound of the cans. Cans which have separated may be identified by a “sloshing and clunking” sound made when shaking the can.

As a result of the laboratory tests, it is concluded that deterioration of the hand cleaner may eventually be expected if exposed to extreme temperatures or cyclic variations. The separated solvent may ultimately penetrate the sealing compound in the can and damage other materials in the sanitation kit. Although the separated material will clean the hands, it is less effective and becomes progress ively less satisfactory as the cream tends to harden and the solvent is lost.

Action has been initiated by the Office of Civil Defense to remove all waterless hand cleaner from sanitation kits in Federal warehouses. Plans are being made for the use of this material where found to be in good condition by Federal activities before deterioration has made the product unserviceable. the hand cleaner will not presently be replaced. A project has been initiated for the development of a more suitable material or an alternative method of cleaning the hands. The soap presently contained in the medical kit provides a material for cleaning purposes.

Recommended guidance for the local civil defense directors with respect to the water less hand cleaner in sanitation kits now placed in public fallout shelters is as follows:

(a) remove all hand cleaner from sanitation kits during normal inspection.
(b) dispose of hand cleaner found to be separated or leaking and develop an equitable use for the material in good condition in accordance with local regulations for locally owner materials.

Signed
Bill Parker
Regional Director

A number of sanitation kits I have found over the years had the hand cleaner removed and the “hand cleaner” marked over on the kit label. Notice on the SK III I have pictured, at the top of this page, that there is a big OK with a red dot next to the “hand cleaner” written in red on the front label of the kit drum. A few kits I have found with the hand cleaner still in them did have the problems exactly as described in the above bulletin. Later kits had no hand cleaner. The kits I have seen without hand cleaner listed on the label had no date on the drum. I believe these kits are late 1963 or 1964 issue kits. As I mention above, the 1964 Annual Statistal Report sanitation kit contents list shows no hand cleaner. Since this business with the hand cleaner started with the release of the sanitation kits I have always considered kits that have had the hand cleaner removed as complete kits.

Hand-Written Note By Dallas CD about Leaking Sanitation Kit Commode Chemicals

I also discovered another interesting thing in my search at the Dallas City Archives. Well, I guess it’s not that interesting but I thought it was because it’s a hand written note from someone at Dallas Civil Defense and it does show the work that was involved in stocking and maintaining shelter supplies by a local CD office. The note discussed inspection of sanitation kits for leaking commode chemical. Evidently they are referring to the iodine liquid chemical included in some sanitation kits. Here is what was written in the note.

DCD 26.9
We have checked 536 sanitation kits in 10 shelters.
Of these, only about 50 were found to contain the
commode chemical listed as being stored in all
sanitation kits. In these kits In checking these kits,
5 were found to be damaged by leakage of the
commode chemical. In each case where the
commode chemical was leaking the plastic container
in which it is stored was found to be packed
that it rested against the sharp metal edge of
the hand cleaner container.
All other sanitation kits checked were in good
condition.

MKT warehouse – 2 damaged
Sanger Harris Shop. Ctr. – damaged
Southland Center – 2 damaged

Until early 2012 I had never encountered a sanitation kit with a different type of commode chemical other than the chemical packets shown in photos on this page. I recovered 22 sanitation kits from a building in Dallas that were about to be thrown away. Of the 22 kits I noticed one had damaged boxes when I opened it. Turns out it had the type of chemical referred to in the above note. See photo.

As it turned out three of the kits, all dated 1962, had this iodine liquid chemical inside the one kit box. The chemical bottle pictured was resting against the hand cleaner can just as described in the above old Dallas CD office note but it was also upside down in the kit box. How it hadn’t completely leaked out over the years is a mystery to me because the other two bottles had leaked. One had emptied completely. Here’s the result.

I would be willing to bet this kit has been like this for a VERY long time. From the way the hand-written note reads it appears that Dallas CD was asked to inspect kits for this specific problem. I found no other documentation as to who might have requested the inspection though. I have never seen a bulletin issued by Civil Defense about leaking commode chemical but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one issued.

SKIV Drum and Water Drum in “Commode Mode”

Here are the SKIV Drum and Water Drum outfitted for your full toileting comfort. The seat on the top is packaged in the Sanitation Kit drum with the rest of the kit contents. Needless to say with the fiber drum, if the plastic liner had even a pinhole sized leak, things would get nasty quickly when the fiber board started getting soaked. As soon as the water drums were emptied they were to be used as the toilet drums.

Grandma’s pantry

A woman as she takes an inventory of supplies for her household’s fallout shelter.

The National Archives

In 1955, during the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration, the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) urged every family to keep a seven-day supply of food and water on hand in case of an atomic emergency. To encourage people to build this stash of provisions, the FCDA launched an initiative called “Grandma’s Pantry,” based around slogans like “Grandma was always ready for an emergency.”

The government produced 1,000 Grandma’s Pantry exhibits to use in stores and at fairs. According to a 2017 story in Eater in 2017, the department store giant Sears, Roebuck and Co. exhibited 500 of them in its stores, alongside shelves lined with fallout shelter-friendly consumer foods like Hawaiian Punch, Campbell’s Soup, Tang drink mix, candy bars and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

Super Typhoon Rolly Donations Line and Focal Person

Hits: 11

Bilang tugon sa mga tawag at pagpapahayag ng kagustuhan ng mga kababayan natin na magbigay at magpadala ng tulong sa mga nasalanta ni Bagyong ROLLY, activated nang muli ang ating Donations line and focal person. Paalala lang po: Mag-iingat sa mga bogus solicitation. Nasa larawan po ang mga opisyal na numero at bank account ng NDRRMC.

1. Office of Civil Defense Emergency Telecommunications Team in Virac, Catanduanes
2. 4th Quarter Full Council Meeting on 30 October 2020
3. NDRRMC HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING ANEW; BRACES FOR TY ROLLY; TD ATSANI
4. Ininspeksyon kahapon ni Civil Defense Administrator Usec Ricardo B Jalad ang bagong tayo na 3-in-1 facility ng OCD sa Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija
5. NDRRMC COMMISSIONS HWTC-DONATED MOBILE WATER TREATMENT UNIT
6. OCD observes IDDRR 2020, calls for public engagement in disaster risk governance

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Civil Defense Supply

Community Fallout Shelters were stocked with 2 different types of Medical Supply Kits. The Medical Kit-A was to supply 50-65 persons and the Medical Kit-C to supply 300-325 persons. This page contains descriptions and a contents list of each type of kit.

The Medical Kit A in the above photo had never been opened when I found it so it’s a good example to show here. The tape was split, dried and flaking off but the box had never been opened. It was kind of like opening a time capsule when I first flipped up the box flaps. The first two thumbnail photos below were taken as I opened the box for the first time. After going through the kit I repackaged it as it was and resealed it with new paper-type tape similar to what it was originally sealed with. Click photos to see larger.

Medial Kit A Contents

Here are the Medical Kit A contents. The can of alcohol actually has about half of the alcohol still in it. This is the only kit I have ever seen with alcohol still in the can. The alcohol evaporates out of the cans over the years. The list of contents of each type of kit is at the bottom of this page if you want to read a detailed inventory. The big box at the left rear of the picture is the purified cotton and the the white package at the right rear is the package of gauze pads. The smaller white envelope package near the gauze is the pack of cotton tipped swabs (q-tips). Etc. Click photo to see larger.

Early Version Medical Kit A

Here is another U.S. Army photo showing an early version of a shelter supply item. This photo appears to have been taken the same time as the early water drum and sanitation kit photos I have on those pages. All are U.S. Army Photographs but this photo is dated, 15 February 1962 and has a caption on the back. The back of this photo reads.

This kit consists of medical items to care for the day to day common ailments of 50 persons during confinement in the restricted environment of a shelter for 14 days in the abcsence of specifically trained personel. Medical items are consistant with the recommendation listed in the office of Civil Defense Family Guide,-Emergency Health Care manual approved by the American Medical Association. 15 February 1962 Photo by Harold Wise, PHC USC

The quality of the photo scan isn’t good enough to make out the labels on the packages so the contents can’t be exactly matched to the med kit A contents list but there are three thermometers in the photo. The later med kit A only has one thermometer. In the early shelter supply make-up list the med kit A is listed as having three thermometers. These three early version (water drum, sanitation kit, med kit A) kit photos all seem to match the early shelter supply list I have linked above.

Medical Kit C

The Medical Kit C is essentially 6 Medical Kit As in one box and was designated to supply “300-325 Shelter Occupants.” This particular kit is interesting because the expiration dates for the medicines are still legible on the side of the box. All the Medical Kit A boxes I have seen have had the expiration dates marked over. I found a CD Program Guidance bulletin dated March 25, 1966 stating that the expiration dates are “misleading” and that “these dates should be disregarded and, if desired, may be obliterated” hence the marked over dates on the Med Kit A boxes I have seen. To see a PDF file of that bulletin click here. Civil Defense Program Guidance Bulletin for Civil Defense Medical Kits.
Click photos to see larger.

Inside the Medical Kit C

All of the same items found in the Medical Kit A but larger quantities. See kit contents list below.
Click photo to see larger.

The Federal CD Guide Fallout Shelter Medical Kit section is downloadable here.
Federal Civil Defense Guide, Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 8, July 1967, Fallout Shelter Medical Kit. PDF File

Fallout Shelter Medical Kit Contents

Source – January 1965 Federal Civil Defense Guide Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 1

Was there a Medical Kit B?

I have a copy of a document that was sent to me several years ago by another CD collector. I can’t remember now where he said that he found it but it’s particularly interesting in that it appears to be a very early description of the supplies to be stocked in community shelters. The title of the document is “Standard Supplies For The Fallout Shelter” and it has “ANNEX E” at the bottom of each page. I thought it might be part of the Federal Civil Defense Guide but it doesn’t have “FCDG” anywhere on it. The second sentence of the first paragraph of the document reads “The further development of packaging and material will cause this paper to be amended as development dictates.” That reads like it’s a preliminary document which was expected to be amended pretty quickly.

Anyway, I mention this document here because it lists a Medical Kit B. The Medical Kit B it lists was to be for 100 persons. It also lists an A Kit and a C Kit. The reason I don’t include the Medical Kit B in the contents list above is because the contents list for the medical kits in the document is a quite a bit different than what was to be the final version of the shelter medical kits seen on this page. The January 1965 Federal Civil Defense Guide Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 1 lists the medical kit contents as seen above and doesn’t mention and “B” kit so I consider the Jan. 1965 FCGD Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 1 the “final word” on the make-up of the fallout shelter medical kits.

Civil Defense Supply

Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits consisted of 22 inch high by 16 inch diameter fiberboard drums filled with sanitation supplies. These drums and were to serve as the shelter chemical toilets until the water drums were emptied and became available to be used as toilets.

Sanitation kits came in two types. Pictured above are the Sanitation Kit III and Sanitation Kit IV. I have only found listings in CD information for these two types of shelter sanitation kits. The SKIII kit was to supply 25 persons for 2 weeks. The SKIV was to supply 50 persons for 2 weeks.

The SK III was issued in far fewer numbers than the SK IV. I believe the SK III was probably dropped from the program because there was really no need to have two different types of kits. That’s just speculation, but it makes sense to me.

In a search through the City of Dallas archives I found a good example that shows the difference in the numbers of SKIIIs and SKIVs that were issued. In a City Of Dallas Office Memorandum dated 27 March, 1963 there was an itemized list of the total number of shelter supplies shipped to Dallas in the city’s first shipment of supplies. The numbers of sanitation kits shipped to Dallas in the first shipment were 2383 SKIVs and only 31 SKIIIs. With the March 1963 date of the memo that shows a shipment to Dallas which was early in the shelter program. With the numbers shown in that shipment it’s probably safe to assume the numbers were similarly low for SKIIIs to other cities as well. I guess that’s why it took me forever to finally find one of the things. And then I had to get it on ebay. Details of each kit contents shown below. Click all images to see larger!

The Federal CD Guide Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits section is downloadable here.
Federal Civil Defense Guide, Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 7, July 1967, Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits. PDF File

Sanitation Kit Contents List

Later Issue SK IV Kits had no Hand Cleaner and 70 Cups and Lids Instead of 80.

Sanitation Kit III

Inside the SKIII there are 2 boxes with the supplies and a plastic toilet seat. The SKIV is packed similar to this but the 10 toilet paper rolls are put in the bottom of the drum with the boxes on top of the rolls. In the SKIII the 5 toilet paper rolls are in one of the boxes and the boxes are a little longer than the SKIV. If this doesn’t sound like Civil Defense collector minutiae nothing does 🙂 I think everything is visible in the above photo of the supplies in the box. The only thing that isn’t is the siphon tube which is in the brown envelope with the can opener sitting on top of it. All the supplies can be seen in a little better photo in the SKIV section below.

This SKIII kit drum was manufactured by the Greif Bros. Cooperage Corp. 1962. The kit is complete except for the hand cleaner. The “OK” on the label was most likely put on when the hand cleaner was removed. More info on the hand cleaner removal below in the SKIV section.

Sanitation Kit IV

Here is a 1963 issue SK IV drum (on left) with an undated SK IV drum (on right) showing a contents list with no hand cleaner and 70 cups and lids instead of 80 like earlier drums. I have another SK IV drum that is undated but still lists hand cleaner on the label. The Civil Defense 1964 Annual Statistical Report SK contents list is identical to the contents list on the right drum in the above photo so that is good enough for me to date the right kit as a 1964.
Thanks goes out to Doug in Ohio for pointing this label thing out to me. In 30+ years of collecting this junk I had never noticed the difference until he pointed it out to me.

Contents Of A 1963 Issue SK IV Sanitation Kit

Here are the contents of a 1963 dated SKIV laid out for display. The kit is complete with new-condition (see “problems” section below) hand cleaner can.

Prototype Sanitation Kit

Pictured above is a U.S. Army photo of a prototype sanitation kit. I call this kit a “prototype” because the contents of this kit almost matches the early supply contents list I have titled “Standard Supplies For The Fallout Shelter.” (Click link to view Adobe PDF file) I say “almost matches” because the “Standard Supplies” list shows 20 rolls of toilet paper where this photo shows 10 rolls. Since the drum size on the list is the same drum size as the standard sanitation kit drum the quantity of 20 rolls of t.p. must be an error. There is no way 20 rolls of t.p. could fit into the drum with everything else. I have never seen a sanitation kit contents list in any other civil defense material that matches the contents in the “Standard Supplies” list or the kit in the photo above. It’s also interesting to note that there is no contents list on the drum label like later sanitation kits and that the label states “Supplies 25 Persons For 14 Days” instead of “Supplies 25 Persons” like later SK IIIs.

The prototype kit contents are similar to the SKIII and SKIV except there are plastic canteens instead of cups and lids, a large sheet of plastic described as a “privacy screen,” a roll of twine and water purification tablets. Water purification tablets were stocked in the fallout shelter medical kits.

An early issue (Feb 1962) fiberboard water drum pictured on the water drum page mentions filling plastic canteens on the water dispensing instructions. These canteens mentioned would have been from the sanitation kit. This makes me wonder if any early type sanitation kits were ever actually issued. Maybe some are out there somewhere.

Sanitation Kit Information From DOD OCD 1964 Annual Statistical Report

These photos are from page 27 of the DOD OCD 1964 Annual Statistical Report. See page 27 here 1964 Annual Statistical Report Page 27 I thought it was interesting to find out that the Sanitation Kits were all purchased from Workshops For The Blind. I always believed that the manufacturer named on the front of the drum assembled the kits. From this information it appears that they simply made the drums and the Workshops assembled the kits from an inventory of supplies.

Sanitation Kit Problems

Very early on in the fallout shelter program the sanitation kits issued to community fallout shelters had problems with leaking hand cleaner cans which resulted in the release of a bulletin from Civil Defense. The bulletin dated November 6, 1964 covered the cause and instructed for the removal of the hand cleaner cans during normal inspections. I found a copy of the bulletin at the Dallas City Archives when I was going through their old civil defense files a while back. I guess it’s really more than anyone would ever want to know about sanitation kit hand cleaner but here it is anyway.

Bulletin no. 65—8 November 6, 1964

Subject: Sanitation Kit Hand Cleaner

Routine inspections of warehouse stocks of the sanitation kits have indicated the existence of a number of leaking cans of waterless hand cleaner. This discovery prompted the office of civil defense to initiate laboratory tests to determine the cause of the leakage and to develop remedial action.

A summary of the results of the laboratory investigations is as follows:

(a) The cleaner will withstand a considerable period of storage at moderate, fairly uniform temperatures, but will separate into cream and liquid layers after exposure for 16 hours to 10 degrees F. The flash point of the separated liquid when removed from the can is 124 degrees F. The material tends to deteriorate at a temperature level of 120 degrees F, but at a relatively slow rate. Cyclic temperaturechanges within the range of 32 degrees to 120 degrees F accelerate the rate of deterioration.

(b) The cans in which the cleaner is packaged are adequate for the purpose as long as the cleaner remains emulsified. However, the liquid organic solvent component of the separated cleaner tends to soften and penetrate the seam sealing compound of the cans. Cans which have separated may be identified by a “sloshing and clunking” sound made when shaking the can.

As a result of the laboratory tests, it is concluded that deterioration of the hand cleaner may eventually be expected if exposed to extreme temperatures or cyclic variations. The separated solvent may ultimately penetrate the sealing compound in the can and damage other materials in the sanitation kit. Although the separated material will clean the hands, it is less effective and becomes progress ively less satisfactory as the cream tends to harden and the solvent is lost.

Action has been initiated by the Office of Civil Defense to remove all waterless hand cleaner from sanitation kits in Federal warehouses. Plans are being made for the use of this material where found to be in good condition by Federal activities before deterioration has made the product unserviceable. the hand cleaner will not presently be replaced. A project has been initiated for the development of a more suitable material or an alternative method of cleaning the hands. The soap presently contained in the medical kit provides a material for cleaning purposes.

Recommended guidance for the local civil defense directors with respect to the water less hand cleaner in sanitation kits now placed in public fallout shelters is as follows:

(a) remove all hand cleaner from sanitation kits during normal inspection.
(b) dispose of hand cleaner found to be separated or leaking and develop an equitable use for the material in good condition in accordance with local regulations for locally owner materials.

Signed
Bill Parker
Regional Director

A number of sanitation kits I have found over the years had the hand cleaner removed and the “hand cleaner” marked over on the kit label. Notice on the SK III I have pictured, at the top of this page, that there is a big OK with a red dot next to the “hand cleaner” written in red on the front label of the kit drum. A few kits I have found with the hand cleaner still in them did have the problems exactly as described in the above bulletin. Later kits had no hand cleaner. The kits I have seen without hand cleaner listed on the label had no date on the drum. I believe these kits are late 1963 or 1964 issue kits. As I mention above, the 1964 Annual Statistal Report sanitation kit contents list shows no hand cleaner. Since this business with the hand cleaner started with the release of the sanitation kits I have always considered kits that have had the hand cleaner removed as complete kits.

Hand-Written Note By Dallas CD about Leaking Sanitation Kit Commode Chemicals

I also discovered another interesting thing in my search at the Dallas City Archives. Well, I guess it’s not that interesting but I thought it was because it’s a hand written note from someone at Dallas Civil Defense and it does show the work that was involved in stocking and maintaining shelter supplies by a local CD office. The note discussed inspection of sanitation kits for leaking commode chemical. Evidently they are referring to the iodine liquid chemical included in some sanitation kits. Here is what was written in the note.

DCD 26.9
We have checked 536 sanitation kits in 10 shelters.
Of these, only about 50 were found to contain the
commode chemical listed as being stored in all
sanitation kits. In these kits In checking these kits,
5 were found to be damaged by leakage of the
commode chemical. In each case where the
commode chemical was leaking the plastic container
in which it is stored was found to be packed
that it rested against the sharp metal edge of
the hand cleaner container.
All other sanitation kits checked were in good
condition.

MKT warehouse – 2 damaged
Sanger Harris Shop. Ctr. – damaged
Southland Center – 2 damaged

Until early 2012 I had never encountered a sanitation kit with a different type of commode chemical other than the chemical packets shown in photos on this page. I recovered 22 sanitation kits from a building in Dallas that were about to be thrown away. Of the 22 kits I noticed one had damaged boxes when I opened it. Turns out it had the type of chemical referred to in the above note. See photo.

As it turned out three of the kits, all dated 1962, had this iodine liquid chemical inside the one kit box. The chemical bottle pictured was resting against the hand cleaner can just as described in the above old Dallas CD office note but it was also upside down in the kit box. How it hadn’t completely leaked out over the years is a mystery to me because the other two bottles had leaked. One had emptied completely. Here’s the result.

I would be willing to bet this kit has been like this for a VERY long time. From the way the hand-written note reads it appears that Dallas CD was asked to inspect kits for this specific problem. I found no other documentation as to who might have requested the inspection though. I have never seen a bulletin issued by Civil Defense about leaking commode chemical but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one issued.

SKIV Drum and Water Drum in “Commode Mode”

Here are the SKIV Drum and Water Drum outfitted for your full toileting comfort. The seat on the top is packaged in the Sanitation Kit drum with the rest of the kit contents. Needless to say with the fiber drum, if the plastic liner had even a pinhole sized leak, things would get nasty quickly when the fiber board started getting soaked. As soon as the water drums were emptied they were to be used as the toilet drums.

‘Multi-purpose food’

View of food, sanitation and survival supplies issued by the U.S. Defense Department for stocking a 50-person public bomb fallout shelter during the Cold War, 1962.

Pictorial Parade/Getty Images

General Mills also developed its own fallout shelter offering—though it bore little resemblance to actual food. The granulated synthetic protein known as Multi-Purpose Food came in a large white can and was included in the Emergency Pak Food and Water kits that consumers like Dr. Robert Parman, of Topeka, Kansas, purchased in the early 1960s.

According to the Kansas Historical Society, the three kits Parman bought to stock his family’s fallout shelter in 1961 (he later donated one to the Kansas Museum of History) were manufactured by a company called Surviv-All, Inc., of New York City. Along with the sand-like Multi-Purpose Food, they contained 24 pint-size cans of water, which was supposedly enough sustenance to keep survivors alive for two weeks—the amount of time civil defense authorities estimated it would take before radiation levels dropped low enough for people to emerge from their shelters and forage for food.

NDRRMC Executive Director and Civil Defense Administrator, Usec Ricardo B Jalad, expresses support to the 2020 Observance of the World Tsunami Awareness Day

Hits: 4

NDRRMC Executive Director and Civil Defense Administrator, Usec Ricardo B Jalad, expresses support to the 2020 Observance of the World Tsunami Awareness Day and affirms commitment to the strengthening of preparedness against the threat of Tsunami to coastal communities in the archipelago. #WTAD2020 #TsunamiResilience

Civil Defense Supply

Community Fallout Shelters were stocked with 2 different types of Medical Supply Kits. The Medical Kit-A was to supply 50-65 persons and the Medical Kit-C to supply 300-325 persons. This page contains descriptions and a contents list of each type of kit.

The Medical Kit A in the above photo had never been opened when I found it so it’s a good example to show here. The tape was split, dried and flaking off but the box had never been opened. It was kind of like opening a time capsule when I first flipped up the box flaps. The first two thumbnail photos below were taken as I opened the box for the first time. After going through the kit I repackaged it as it was and resealed it with new paper-type tape similar to what it was originally sealed with. Click photos to see larger.

Medial Kit A Contents

Here are the Medical Kit A contents. The can of alcohol actually has about half of the alcohol still in it. This is the only kit I have ever seen with alcohol still in the can. The alcohol evaporates out of the cans over the years. The list of contents of each type of kit is at the bottom of this page if you want to read a detailed inventory. The big box at the left rear of the picture is the purified cotton and the the white package at the right rear is the package of gauze pads. The smaller white envelope package near the gauze is the pack of cotton tipped swabs (q-tips). Etc. Click photo to see larger.

Early Version Medical Kit A

Here is another U.S. Army photo showing an early version of a shelter supply item. This photo appears to have been taken the same time as the early water drum and sanitation kit photos I have on those pages. All are U.S. Army Photographs but this photo is dated, 15 February 1962 and has a caption on the back. The back of this photo reads.

This kit consists of medical items to care for the day to day common ailments of 50 persons during confinement in the restricted environment of a shelter for 14 days in the abcsence of specifically trained personel. Medical items are consistant with the recommendation listed in the office of Civil Defense Family Guide,-Emergency Health Care manual approved by the American Medical Association. 15 February 1962 Photo by Harold Wise, PHC USC

The quality of the photo scan isn’t good enough to make out the labels on the packages so the contents can’t be exactly matched to the med kit A contents list but there are three thermometers in the photo. The later med kit A only has one thermometer. In the early shelter supply make-up list the med kit A is listed as having three thermometers. These three early version (water drum, sanitation kit, med kit A) kit photos all seem to match the early shelter supply list I have linked above.

Medical Kit C

The Medical Kit C is essentially 6 Medical Kit As in one box and was designated to supply “300-325 Shelter Occupants.” This particular kit is interesting because the expiration dates for the medicines are still legible on the side of the box. All the Medical Kit A boxes I have seen have had the expiration dates marked over. I found a CD Program Guidance bulletin dated March 25, 1966 stating that the expiration dates are “misleading” and that “these dates should be disregarded and, if desired, may be obliterated” hence the marked over dates on the Med Kit A boxes I have seen. To see a PDF file of that bulletin click here. Civil Defense Program Guidance Bulletin for Civil Defense Medical Kits.
Click photos to see larger.

Inside the Medical Kit C

All of the same items found in the Medical Kit A but larger quantities. See kit contents list below.
Click photo to see larger.

The Federal CD Guide Fallout Shelter Medical Kit section is downloadable here.
Federal Civil Defense Guide, Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 8, July 1967, Fallout Shelter Medical Kit. PDF File

Fallout Shelter Medical Kit Contents

Source – January 1965 Federal Civil Defense Guide Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 1

Was there a Medical Kit B?

I have a copy of a document that was sent to me several years ago by another CD collector. I can’t remember now where he said that he found it but it’s particularly interesting in that it appears to be a very early description of the supplies to be stocked in community shelters. The title of the document is “Standard Supplies For The Fallout Shelter” and it has “ANNEX E” at the bottom of each page. I thought it might be part of the Federal Civil Defense Guide but it doesn’t have “FCDG” anywhere on it. The second sentence of the first paragraph of the document reads “The further development of packaging and material will cause this paper to be amended as development dictates.” That reads like it’s a preliminary document which was expected to be amended pretty quickly.

Anyway, I mention this document here because it lists a Medical Kit B. The Medical Kit B it lists was to be for 100 persons. It also lists an A Kit and a C Kit. The reason I don’t include the Medical Kit B in the contents list above is because the contents list for the medical kits in the document is a quite a bit different than what was to be the final version of the shelter medical kits seen on this page. The January 1965 Federal Civil Defense Guide Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 1 lists the medical kit contents as seen above and doesn’t mention and “B” kit so I consider the Jan. 1965 FCGD Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 1 the “final word” on the make-up of the fallout shelter medical kits.

Civil Defense Supply

Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits consisted of 22 inch high by 16 inch diameter fiberboard drums filled with sanitation supplies. These drums and were to serve as the shelter chemical toilets until the water drums were emptied and became available to be used as toilets.

Sanitation kits came in two types. Pictured above are the Sanitation Kit III and Sanitation Kit IV. I have only found listings in CD information for these two types of shelter sanitation kits. The SKIII kit was to supply 25 persons for 2 weeks. The SKIV was to supply 50 persons for 2 weeks.

The SK III was issued in far fewer numbers than the SK IV. I believe the SK III was probably dropped from the program because there was really no need to have two different types of kits. That’s just speculation, but it makes sense to me.

In a search through the City of Dallas archives I found a good example that shows the difference in the numbers of SKIIIs and SKIVs that were issued. In a City Of Dallas Office Memorandum dated 27 March, 1963 there was an itemized list of the total number of shelter supplies shipped to Dallas in the city’s first shipment of supplies. The numbers of sanitation kits shipped to Dallas in the first shipment were 2383 SKIVs and only 31 SKIIIs. With the March 1963 date of the memo that shows a shipment to Dallas which was early in the shelter program. With the numbers shown in that shipment it’s probably safe to assume the numbers were similarly low for SKIIIs to other cities as well. I guess that’s why it took me forever to finally find one of the things. And then I had to get it on ebay. Details of each kit contents shown below. Click all images to see larger!

The Federal CD Guide Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits section is downloadable here.
Federal Civil Defense Guide, Part D, Chapter 2, Appendix 7, July 1967, Fallout Shelter Sanitation Kits. PDF File

Sanitation Kit Contents List

Later Issue SK IV Kits had no Hand Cleaner and 70 Cups and Lids Instead of 80.

Sanitation Kit III

Inside the SKIII there are 2 boxes with the supplies and a plastic toilet seat. The SKIV is packed similar to this but the 10 toilet paper rolls are put in the bottom of the drum with the boxes on top of the rolls. In the SKIII the 5 toilet paper rolls are in one of the boxes and the boxes are a little longer than the SKIV. If this doesn’t sound like Civil Defense collector minutiae nothing does 🙂 I think everything is visible in the above photo of the supplies in the box. The only thing that isn’t is the siphon tube which is in the brown envelope with the can opener sitting on top of it. All the supplies can be seen in a little better photo in the SKIV section below.

This SKIII kit drum was manufactured by the Greif Bros. Cooperage Corp. 1962. The kit is complete except for the hand cleaner. The “OK” on the label was most likely put on when the hand cleaner was removed. More info on the hand cleaner removal below in the SKIV section.

Sanitation Kit IV

Here is a 1963 issue SK IV drum (on left) with an undated SK IV drum (on right) showing a contents list with no hand cleaner and 70 cups and lids instead of 80 like earlier drums. I have another SK IV drum that is undated but still lists hand cleaner on the label. The Civil Defense 1964 Annual Statistical Report SK contents list is identical to the contents list on the right drum in the above photo so that is good enough for me to date the right kit as a 1964.
Thanks goes out to Doug in Ohio for pointing this label thing out to me. In 30+ years of collecting this junk I had never noticed the difference until he pointed it out to me.

Contents Of A 1963 Issue SK IV Sanitation Kit

Here are the contents of a 1963 dated SKIV laid out for display. The kit is complete with new-condition (see “problems” section below) hand cleaner can.

Prototype Sanitation Kit

Pictured above is a U.S. Army photo of a prototype sanitation kit. I call this kit a “prototype” because the contents of this kit almost matches the early supply contents list I have titled “Standard Supplies For The Fallout Shelter.” (Click link to view Adobe PDF file) I say “almost matches” because the “Standard Supplies” list shows 20 rolls of toilet paper where this photo shows 10 rolls. Since the drum size on the list is the same drum size as the standard sanitation kit drum the quantity of 20 rolls of t.p. must be an error. There is no way 20 rolls of t.p. could fit into the drum with everything else. I have never seen a sanitation kit contents list in any other civil defense material that matches the contents in the “Standard Supplies” list or the kit in the photo above. It’s also interesting to note that there is no contents list on the drum label like later sanitation kits and that the label states “Supplies 25 Persons For 14 Days” instead of “Supplies 25 Persons” like later SK IIIs.

The prototype kit contents are similar to the SKIII and SKIV except there are plastic canteens instead of cups and lids, a large sheet of plastic described as a “privacy screen,” a roll of twine and water purification tablets. Water purification tablets were stocked in the fallout shelter medical kits.

An early issue (Feb 1962) fiberboard water drum pictured on the water drum page mentions filling plastic canteens on the water dispensing instructions. These canteens mentioned would have been from the sanitation kit. This makes me wonder if any early type sanitation kits were ever actually issued. Maybe some are out there somewhere.

Sanitation Kit Information From DOD OCD 1964 Annual Statistical Report

These photos are from page 27 of the DOD OCD 1964 Annual Statistical Report. See page 27 here 1964 Annual Statistical Report Page 27 I thought it was interesting to find out that the Sanitation Kits were all purchased from Workshops For The Blind. I always believed that the manufacturer named on the front of the drum assembled the kits. From this information it appears that they simply made the drums and the Workshops assembled the kits from an inventory of supplies.

Sanitation Kit Problems

Very early on in the fallout shelter program the sanitation kits issued to community fallout shelters had problems with leaking hand cleaner cans which resulted in the release of a bulletin from Civil Defense. The bulletin dated November 6, 1964 covered the cause and instructed for the removal of the hand cleaner cans during normal inspections. I found a copy of the bulletin at the Dallas City Archives when I was going through their old civil defense files a while back. I guess it’s really more than anyone would ever want to know about sanitation kit hand cleaner but here it is anyway.

Bulletin no. 65—8 November 6, 1964

Subject: Sanitation Kit Hand Cleaner

Routine inspections of warehouse stocks of the sanitation kits have indicated the existence of a number of leaking cans of waterless hand cleaner. This discovery prompted the office of civil defense to initiate laboratory tests to determine the cause of the leakage and to develop remedial action.

A summary of the results of the laboratory investigations is as follows:

(a) The cleaner will withstand a considerable period of storage at moderate, fairly uniform temperatures, but will separate into cream and liquid layers after exposure for 16 hours to 10 degrees F. The flash point of the separated liquid when removed from the can is 124 degrees F. The material tends to deteriorate at a temperature level of 120 degrees F, but at a relatively slow rate. Cyclic temperaturechanges within the range of 32 degrees to 120 degrees F accelerate the rate of deterioration.

(b) The cans in which the cleaner is packaged are adequate for the purpose as long as the cleaner remains emulsified. However, the liquid organic solvent component of the separated cleaner tends to soften and penetrate the seam sealing compound of the cans. Cans which have separated may be identified by a “sloshing and clunking” sound made when shaking the can.

As a result of the laboratory tests, it is concluded that deterioration of the hand cleaner may eventually be expected if exposed to extreme temperatures or cyclic variations. The separated solvent may ultimately penetrate the sealing compound in the can and damage other materials in the sanitation kit. Although the separated material will clean the hands, it is less effective and becomes progress ively less satisfactory as the cream tends to harden and the solvent is lost.

Action has been initiated by the Office of Civil Defense to remove all waterless hand cleaner from sanitation kits in Federal warehouses. Plans are being made for the use of this material where found to be in good condition by Federal activities before deterioration has made the product unserviceable. the hand cleaner will not presently be replaced. A project has been initiated for the development of a more suitable material or an alternative method of cleaning the hands. The soap presently contained in the medical kit provides a material for cleaning purposes.

Recommended guidance for the local civil defense directors with respect to the water less hand cleaner in sanitation kits now placed in public fallout shelters is as follows:

(a) remove all hand cleaner from sanitation kits during normal inspection.
(b) dispose of hand cleaner found to be separated or leaking and develop an equitable use for the material in good condition in accordance with local regulations for locally owner materials.

Signed
Bill Parker
Regional Director

A number of sanitation kits I have found over the years had the hand cleaner removed and the “hand cleaner” marked over on the kit label. Notice on the SK III I have pictured, at the top of this page, that there is a big OK with a red dot next to the “hand cleaner” written in red on the front label of the kit drum. A few kits I have found with the hand cleaner still in them did have the problems exactly as described in the above bulletin. Later kits had no hand cleaner. The kits I have seen without hand cleaner listed on the label had no date on the drum. I believe these kits are late 1963 or 1964 issue kits. As I mention above, the 1964 Annual Statistal Report sanitation kit contents list shows no hand cleaner. Since this business with the hand cleaner started with the release of the sanitation kits I have always considered kits that have had the hand cleaner removed as complete kits.

Hand-Written Note By Dallas CD about Leaking Sanitation Kit Commode Chemicals

I also discovered another interesting thing in my search at the Dallas City Archives. Well, I guess it’s not that interesting but I thought it was because it’s a hand written note from someone at Dallas Civil Defense and it does show the work that was involved in stocking and maintaining shelter supplies by a local CD office. The note discussed inspection of sanitation kits for leaking commode chemical. Evidently they are referring to the iodine liquid chemical included in some sanitation kits. Here is what was written in the note.

DCD 26.9
We have checked 536 sanitation kits in 10 shelters.
Of these, only about 50 were found to contain the
commode chemical listed as being stored in all
sanitation kits. In these kits In checking these kits,
5 were found to be damaged by leakage of the
commode chemical. In each case where the
commode chemical was leaking the plastic container
in which it is stored was found to be packed
that it rested against the sharp metal edge of
the hand cleaner container.
All other sanitation kits checked were in good
condition.

MKT warehouse – 2 damaged
Sanger Harris Shop. Ctr. – damaged
Southland Center – 2 damaged

Until early 2012 I had never encountered a sanitation kit with a different type of commode chemical other than the chemical packets shown in photos on this page. I recovered 22 sanitation kits from a building in Dallas that were about to be thrown away. Of the 22 kits I noticed one had damaged boxes when I opened it. Turns out it had the type of chemical referred to in the above note. See photo.

As it turned out three of the kits, all dated 1962, had this iodine liquid chemical inside the one kit box. The chemical bottle pictured was resting against the hand cleaner can just as described in the above old Dallas CD office note but it was also upside down in the kit box. How it hadn’t completely leaked out over the years is a mystery to me because the other two bottles had leaked. One had emptied completely. Here’s the result.

I would be willing to bet this kit has been like this for a VERY long time. From the way the hand-written note reads it appears that Dallas CD was asked to inspect kits for this specific problem. I found no other documentation as to who might have requested the inspection though. I have never seen a bulletin issued by Civil Defense about leaking commode chemical but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t one issued.

SKIV Drum and Water Drum in “Commode Mode”

Here are the SKIV Drum and Water Drum outfitted for your full toileting comfort. The seat on the top is packaged in the Sanitation Kit drum with the rest of the kit contents. Needless to say with the fiber drum, if the plastic liner had even a pinhole sized leak, things would get nasty quickly when the fiber board started getting soaked. As soon as the water drums were emptied they were to be used as the toilet drums.