Cold War Reminiscences
The Semi-Official FB-8 Virtual Museum Page @ raiNeT.net
Welcome to the Semi-Official FB-8 Virtual Museum Page !
Mission Statement
We all are looking forward to moving to our exciting new facilities in College Park (although some misfits, it must be said, dare to call it a 'dump'..., and, on second thought, it really appears to be a bad move, with this great Urban Renaissance goin' on in the Nation's capital and whatnot...).
Now, be this as it may, whether you think this is a 'Big Deal' or not -- please help raiNeT.net to conserve our history, i. e., our personal as well as -- at the grassroots level -- our Nation's history. Much damage has already been done and irreplaceable losses have occurred in a series of brutal cultural cleansings, ooops, I mean in a series of well-considered laboratory clean-ups -- in any case, if you have any documents or items in your lab, that you think should be preserved for future generations, please e-mail the dedicated raiNeT.net museum-team. We'll be right with you, scanning, photographing, lomographing, taking whatever means necessary !
T H A N K Y O U !
The Virtual Collection
Fallout Shelter In This Corridor
Fairly ubiquitous throughout the building, in various styles, for example, saying only 'Fallout Shelter', but with two arrows pointing downwards. Ever figured out why in this corridor and not another ? Ever wondered why the 'capacity' field was left blank ? Thank God the commies never attacked... .
DOD FS NO. 2 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED OR USED WITHOUT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PERMISSION). Actual size 10 in x 14 in (25.4 cm x 35.6 cm)
Matchbox from a time when men were still real men, women real women,
and matches real wooden matches that actually worked !
Probably one of the last items of its kind in the lower 48 states. Found in a drawer in John's lab (room 4826), dates from the second half of the 20th century (estimated), paperboard, actual size: 2 in x 1.4 in (5.1 cm x 3.5 cm)
Civil Defense Instructions revised 6-67 [i.e., 1967]
This chart was sent to 'ALL FDA - HEADQUARTER EMPLOYEES' on January 26, 1968, by E. R. Lannon, Assistant Commissioner for Administration (cf. below), and following his instructions it was 'kept for future reference' to this very day in what is now Kim's lab (room 4016). Actually, it wasn't merely 'kept', it was posted on the door !
Printed on the back side of the commissioner's memo on heavy-weight paper, this historic document is in rather poor shape, due to decades of exposure to corrosive laboratory fumes. GSA DC 68-645, actual size: 10.5 in x 8 in (26.7 cm x 20.3 cm)
United States Government Memorandum dated January 26, 1968
Memo on the reverse side of the Civil Defense Instructions chart (cf. above). This long forgotten letter was discovered when we scanned the chart for the virtual collection. Kinda strange that it apparently took them six months (from June '67 to January '68) to get this revised chart to the places where it was most needed. Imagine what could have happened... .
I Have a Rocket in my Pocket ...
At some point during that paranoid 20th century, the Center was involved, under some sort of super-secret Inter-Agency Agreement, in the development of a water-propelled anti-ballistic missile interceptor rocket. Officially, the project was grounded by a timid Senate concerned about violating some obscure international treaties; however, according to a high-level source inside the Agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the device suffered from a serious design flaw, guiding it towards the Nation's soil rather than towards the incoming missiles (which fortunately didn't come in, in the first place...).
In any case, 'We could have done better', as George Pauli, director of the Division of Product Policy at the FDA’s Office of Premarket Approval, told Food Chemical News in an interview (FCN, March 26, 2001, page 31) -- but now it is, of course, history... .
And here are some water rocket links ...
[coming soon]