Atomic-Themed Beauty Queens
At Mental Floss, a brief look back on a moment in American history when atomic bombs seemed awesome, and people held rooftop atomic test viewing parties, and women dreamed of becoming Miss Atomic Bomb. For example:
El Rancho Vegas held one of the earliest atomic blast picnics in 1952. Their picnic had an accompanying beauty pageant, which was won by Candyce King, a showgirl at the Last Frontier Hotel. King apparently donned an atomic bomb style hairdo that required a toilet paper roll and two cans of hairspray for support.
In addition to the normal beauty queen trappings, King was presented with a ten pound bag of mushrooms (because you know, mushroom cloud) by the Pennsylvania Mushroom Growers Association.
This decade also brought us atomic bomb hairdos, atomic energy lab playsets for children, and more. Check out this photo set at Retronaut, of atom bomb tests as seen from Los Angeles in the ’50s: the last one’s all like, “5:20 A.M.! A-Bomb Sunrise!” Here, also, is some crazy footage from a little bit later, a 1962 American weapons test where we blew up a hydrogen bomb in space.
Photo via James Vaughn/flickr