
In 1950s Vegas Exploding A-Bombs Were Cause For a Party - marvindanig
http://www.yournewszonenetwork.com/2015/04/in-1950s-vegas-exploding-bombs-were.html
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volkfish55
Amazing, I would never have thought commercialization would reach these
levels. Interesting to see what majority of American population thought of the
nuclear bomb in general and what studies if any were done by the government in
terms of the harmful effects of nuclear radiation.

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tomjakubowski
The decade or so following WWII were a strange time in the US. The federal
government made itself the only legal purchaser of uranium ore and
artificially raised prices to incentivize mining, leading to a brief "Uranium
Rush" [1]. Popular songs were sung about uranium prospectors [2]. There were
even a couple of educational board games and toys -- with real uranium and
other sources of ionizing radiation! -- made to teach kids about uranium and
uranium mining [3].

[1]: [http://national-radiation-instrument-
catalog.com/new_page_14...](http://national-radiation-instrument-
catalog.com/new_page_14.htm)

[2]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ANI6oj8p2M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ANI6oj8p2M)

[3]: [http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-terrifying-age-of-radioactive-
toy...](http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-terrifying-age-of-radioactive-toys-for-
kids-1501777693)

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cafard
The USGS would assay your samples. A relative who worked there once had the
job of reporting to a prospector that while his sample was nicely radioactive,
the radioactive chemicals did not occur in nature. I think the prospector may
then have threatened to complain to his congressman.

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yolesaber
The picaresque novel "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me" by Richard
Farina (classmate of Tom Pynchon's) has an incredible scene where a traveling
student drinks martinis in Vegas with rich oilmen as they watch the bombs go
off before dawn. At first I thought this was pure fiction, but it's incredible
to know that scene was based on a terrifying reality.

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cafard
In Wright Morris's novel _Ceremony at Lone Tree_ , a fellow driving from Baja
California to Nebraska stops off at a motel where the clerk notes him down as
"Wake before Bomb", i.e. to be awakened in time to see a test. In the event,
the test is canceled.

