Very Scary Times
The Cold War Comes to Hamden
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For those who could afford them, fallout shelters were below-ground backyard sanctuaries designed to protect the family from radioactive fallout following a nuclear exchange.
Chief V. Paul Leddy and State Civil Defense Director William Schatzman are pictured inside the fence at this 1961 fallout shelter display at the Hamden Plaza. Fire Marshal Albert Purce (back to the camera) is seen in the foreground. The fire officer on the right appears to be Chief Thomas Collins of the New Haven Fire Department.
Four weeks after this photo was taken, the Soviet Union tested a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb in the atmosphere, which only escalated the fears of an already worried populace. Fortunately, the questionable efficacy of fallout shelters was never put to the test in a real wartime situation. But we came very close one year later in what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was a very scary time, indeed.
Posted 2/14/11
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| October 4, 1961 - Hamden Plaza (CLICK to enlarge - Photo by I.A. Sneiderman) |
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| A year earlier, then-CD Director Leddy, inspects another fallout shelter (CLICK to enlarge) |
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JOE WAS THERE!
February 17, 2011 - We want to thank regular website visitor, Sgt. Joe Murray (Hamden Police Dept, Ret.), who immediately recognized the 1961 Hamden Plaza fallout shelter photo. He was there! Joe, only five years old at the time, is pictured in the lower left with his mom, Jean Murray (in the white coat).
Jean Murray was a Hamden school crossing guard from 1960 until 1979. But most Hamden fire retirees probably remember her as the really nice lady who was Hamden's Animal Control Officer from 1979 until her retirement in 2006. Joe, who was also well known to most Hamden firefighters, joined the Hamden Police Department in 1979 and served for 27 years.
In his email to the website, Joe noted that right above his mom's head in the photo is the Murray family car, a red 1961 Chevrolet Bel-Air. Nice! Even though he was only five at the time, Joe says he thinks he remembers that day. Like many other kids who grew up in Hamden, Joe spent a lot of time in the Plaza and remembers many of the earlier stores that were located there.
Zemel Brothers, in the larger photo below, sold household appliances. The Union & New Haven Trust Co. bank is pictured at the end of the northern wing of the Plaza. It became Union Trust in 1970, and is now Wachovia Bank. The old brick building seen across Dixwell Avenue was the W.I. Clark Co., which specialized in heavy construction equipment. A 1974 fire did extensive damage to some of the equipment stored there.
Jean Murray is well and still lives in Hamden. From 1998 until his retirement in 2006, Sgt. Joe Murray was in charge of Central Communications.
Posted 2/17/11
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| October 4, 1961 - Jean Murray (in white coat) with 5-year old son and future HPD Sergeant, Joe, at the fallout shelter demonstration in the Hamden Plaza. (Photo by I.A. Sneiderman) |
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