"SAFE" RADIOACTIVE TOYS FROM 1940S AND 1950S
From the age when anything "atomic" was hip and modern and people weren't aware of dangers from radioactivity. Some of these toys were made in millions and some are very rare and valuable collectibles.
Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy
by Labby Alfred Carlton Gilbert, available from 1951 to 1952
"Safe" atom chamber
Geiger counter
The set came with four types of uranium ore, a beta-alpha source (Pb-210), a pure beta source (Ru-106), a gamma source (Zn-65?), a spinthariscope, a cloud chamber with its own short-lived alpha source (Po-210), an electroscope, a geiger counter, a manual, a comic book (Dagwood Splits the Atom) and a government manual "Prospecting for Uranium."
Kix Atomic Bomb Ring
known as The Lone Ranger Atomic Ring, a Kix cereal promotion from 1947
The instructions stated that "you'll see brilliant flashes of light in the inky darkness inside the atom chamber. These vivid flashes are caused by the released energy of atoms. PERFECTLY SAFE - We guarantee you can wear the KIX Atomic "Bomb" Ring with complete safety. The atomic materials inside the ring are harmless."
Basically it was a tiny spinthariscope: when the red tail fin was taken off, you could look through the ring and observe some scintillations caused by nuclear reactions of polonium-alpha particles on a zinc sulfide screen. One million rings were made, and these were the most popular premium rings ever.
jeeez
ReplyDelete...completely unaware
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