If there was a blast in the past, Tisdale would have been prepared, for in the late 1950s, the town was chosen as a reception area for evacuees from a nuclear war.
As part of that effort, the town’s emergency measures organization received a portable kitchen unit in 1958 to cook meals for the evacuees.
“At the end of the Cold War concern, the equipment was supposedly sent back to the federal government, but Tisdale’s ended up being stored in the basement of [St. Therese] hospital,” said Joanne Messer, the Tisdale and District Museum’s president. “When the old hospital was destroyed, it was moved over to the new hospital and eventually they wanted to get rid of it and it ended up in the basement of the Civic Center.”
Eventually, the town didn’t want the unit either, so they called the museum to take a look at it.
“We became aware of it a number of years ago, but it was only last year that we had the time and the ability to take it out of the boxes, have a look at it and realize that we had a part of Canadian and Tisdale history that was very unique,” Messer said.
So unique, in fact, that it’s only one of two complete kitchen units in the entire country. The other is in storage in Nelson, B.C. Even the Civil Defense Museum in Edmonton, which has put together a display using bits and pieces gathered from across the country, doesn’t have a complete unit.
“We have the entire collection, which means that it’s a considerable benefit to us as a community,” Messer said. “We now have it set up so that people can actually see it and realize the impact that part of our history had on us.”
The unit has piqued interest from museums across the country. The Civil Defense Museum plans to come and video the entire set. CTV is also coming to town Dec. 6 to do a story on the unit.
Messer said the unit, which is now displayed at the museum, is a good teaching tool.
“Many, many people have forgotten about the Cold War and the implications,” she said, adding that there’s many out there that aren’t old enough to have experienced the ideological conflict firsthand.
Even for those that are old enough to remember, the unit serves as a reminder.
“It’s amazing how many people look at the display and remember some of the details they experienced during those years, hiding under their desks, listening to the siren go off as a practice for possible nuclear attack,” Messer said. “It brings back a lot of people in that generation.”
