Yes, absolutely! Two of the big factors they wanted to look at when conducting the highly controlled nuclear weapons tests were to examine human survivability and structural survivability. In other words, how well, and at what distance, could humans and structures of different materials survive the blast wave and heat wave from a nuclear detonation (as well as other effects like radiation exposure for example). These studies were very important to study blast dynamics, as well as survivability options.

Have you ever seen how many people laugh at the concept of "Duck and Cover", acting like it was ludicrous because there was no way you could survive a nuclear detonation by jumping under a desk or table?

For the uninitiated, the "duck and cover" principle was a term employed in a series of civil defense films started in the 1950s (watch the above linked video to see "Bert the Turtle" in action), largely aimed at children in schools, but adults as well to educate on what to do in case of a nuclear war. This was during the Cold War remember, where the threat of nuclear war was deemed a very real possibility, so civil defense was doing its job and trying to give people the best survivability chance if all hell broke lose and nukes started flying.

Now, it might sound ridiculous to dive under your desk if a nuke goes off, thinking that desk is going to protect you. However, studies like the one you are asking about, using real houses and mannequins and appliances/furniture inside, demonstrated that for a person in an occupied dwelling that was a certain distance away from the ground zero detonation point, the biggest danger was actually from the roof collapsing on your head due to the structure being hit by the incoming blast wave. The best option to protect yourself in that case was to get to a door jamb or get under something sturdy - like a well-built table or desk, and it could save your life if the roof/walls partially collapsed, significantly increasing your chance of surviving.

Of course, if the detonation was of sufficient yield and you were close enough to ground zero, no desk or door jamb is gonna save you, but blast waves at that insane magnitude can travel significant distances and cover immense areas, and even cause massive structural damage well outside the zone of lethality from the blast/heat wave itself (like an earthquake effect). The "duck and cover" principle could save your life, and was not simply used to placate the masses if you were close (but not too close) to a nuke going off as many think.

These studies were really important to also determine emergency civil rescue response in case of a nuclear detonation, because it allowed the testers to see at what distance from ground zero different types of materials withstood a blast to allow occupants inside to survive.

So, to TLDR - they were not wasting that stuff to just blow it up, they were testing it to see how well (or how poorly) those types of structures could stand up to the incredible energy of a nuclear detonation, and at what distance could be deemed survivable for a person inside.

Most of those tests were part of Operation Cue, a special civil defense related set of nuclear testing in 1955. They wanted to know how best to survive a nuclear attack, and what life might be like after one. They did nuclear tests not only on houses and manikins, but also foodstuffs (including beer), file cabinets (to see if written records would survive), animals, you name it.

As for "wasting" the stuff — it was a scientific experiment involving nuclear weapons. The cost of the appliances, houses, manikins, etc. was trivial compared to the cost of the weapons that were expended in the experiment.

Yes, and you can find the films at Internet Archive. I love the one where Mom whips up dinner after from the irradiated food.

The "duck and cover" routine also addressed the danger of flying glass a tremendous distance from Ground Zero. The drills were immortalized, in Los Angeles City Schools, at least, as a protection from similar dangers from earthqukes.