July 24, 1962, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern
Back in the Cold War days, when fears were rampant that the Soviet Union could annihilate us with the push of a button, Civil Defense planning was all the rage. Cities had active bomb shelter programs and Civil Defense coordinators. Remember the duck and cover drills? And who out there remembers "CONELRAD?"
CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was a former method of emergency broadcasting to the public in the event of enemy attack. It was intended to allow continuous broadcast of civil defense information to the public using radio or TV stations. Eventually, CONELRAD was replaced by the Emergency Broadcast System.
You may remember the AM radios of the time had little red or white triangles at these frequency markers, to make it easier to tune in to CONELRAD broadcasts, should the need arise.
We were told at the height of the Cold War that the calm, soothing voice we would hear on CONALRAD in the event of a national emergency would be that of Arthur Godfrey. His radio chit chat show and melodious deep baritone voice was heard by millions each day.
ReplyDeleteJim Krahenbuhl