The 1959 'Go-Go' White Sox and the air-raid sirens

The Hawaii missile alert reminded me of this. I was nine and living on the South side.
The fire house was on the next block. It was scary.

The 1959 'Go-Go' White Sox and the air-raid sirens
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Fire Commissioner Robert J. Quinn ordered a celebratory five-minute sounding of the city's air-raid sirens. The late-night wail, at a time when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's threat to bury America was still fresh, frightened tens of thousands of area residents. Many rushed to the streets. Others herded hysterical children to shelter. "We had seven children under 9 and woke them all up when the sirens screamed," said Mrs. Earl Gough of the South Side. "We said Hail Marys together in the basement."

Quinn apologized but also argued that the incident provided "a very good test" of the area's readiness, which he found wanting. Mayor Richard J. Daley claimed Quinn acted in accordance with a City Council proclamation that "there shall be whistles and sirens blowing and there shall be great happiness when the White Sox win the pennant."

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/chi-chicagodays-whitesox1959-story-story.html