Dec 1: Be the envy of your friends with Porter’s Chemcraft Master Laboratory. Now with Atomic Energy!

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 2 Gift Idea Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer from 1919-1980, but ultimately lost out to foreign manufacturing competition. Their high-end toys were common staples for catalog and department store retailers such as Sears. This callout is from page 384 of the 1962 Sears Christmas catalog advertising a Colonial Metal House with a fallout shelter for only $5.97 ($50.87 in current dollars) to be part of Blueberry Lane in your own housing development. On other models, the fallout shelter is the garage. But there’s no need for driving when you must shelter in… Read more: Atomic Toys: Colonial Metal House with fallout shelter

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 3 Gift Idea Ideal’s exact replica of the U.S. Army’s Atomic Cannon will give you the firepower you need to blast your friends. Over 4 feet long, it comes with six soft-tipped shells for loading into the cannon complete with adjustable firing ranges. This 1958 beauty is only $7.98 ($71.06 in today’s dollars, and much cheaper than the $7.6MM to purchase a real one!). Ideal Toy Company produced toys and dolls from 1909 to 1997, including a wide variety of military toys.

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 4 Gift Idea The Polaris Nuclear Sub was a bargain at only $6.98. It’s guaranteed to provide hours of imaginative play in the sturdily constructed 200 lb. test material. Like most of the things you could buy in the back of a comic book, the Polaris Nuclear Sub was long on description, mystery, and marketing. And once delivered, usually disappointing — comes with real working torpedoes and rockets! Real periscope! Electrically lit control panel! It’s just that the ad never mentions that it’s a play set made of cardboard and plastic parts that you need to… Read more: Atomic Toys: Polaris Nuclear Submarine

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 5 Gift Ideas Running a toy train set around the tree during the holidays brings an air of nostalgia to kids of all ages. Share the joy you experienced with the young ‘uns in your life by introducing them to these fabulous Atomic Energy Commission toy trains. What kid hasn’t dreamed of tending to their own uranium ore cars? Can’t dig a bomb shelter in your backyard? You can be one of the travelers in your own Mobile Fallout Shelter. Know that you’re doing your part for the Cold War by transporting Spent Fuel Rods to… Read more: Atomic Toys: Atomic Trains

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 6 Gift Idea More fun than Slim Pickens had riding an H-Bomb to the netherworld, your kid can scoot down the street on this Little Boy while the neighbors run for cover, as the world has certainly come to an end! At the end of World War II, the military had a surplus problem, including hundreds of 100-lb. practice bombs. What else can you do with a 35-1/2 inch practice bomb? Make it into a ride upon scooter, of course! With all steel construction, rubber tires, and a handle grip, these sold, at their peak for… Read more: Atomic Toys: Jet-Mobile Ride Upon Bomb

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 7 Gift Idea This ring spinthariscope was available beginning 1946 by sending in a boxtop of Kix cereal plus 15¢ (only $1.73 in 2019 dollars) to receive a seething scientific sensation. With it, you could see atoms smashed to smithereens! Go to a dark room, take off the red plastic tail fin, wait until your eyes adjust to the darkness, then peer into the unknown of the warhead and see frenzied flashes of light caused by the released energy of atoms splitting like crazy. This small spinthariscope had polonium alpha particles that struck a zinc sulfide… Read more: Atomic Toys: Lone Ranger Atom Bomb Ring

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 8 Gift Idea With this toy plane, you can bomb the daylights out of targets including a railway gun, tank, field artillery, truck convoy, and supply dump. Score points by dropping the metal bomb from the United States Air Force plane’s all metal bomb release. Dive bomb for the glory of the Cold War. Circle ’round and give that tank its due! Better take care of that railway gun before it takes care of you! The Atom Bomber was manufactured in the late 1940s by Thomas Toy (Thomas Manufacturing Corp.). Made of plastic parts, the bomb… Read more: Atomic Toys: Atom Bomber

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 9 Gift Ideas As the Cold War became prominent after World War II, numerous toys and games became available to young children. The popularity of military toys helped children to express the events in the adult world by acting out what they saw in movies and on TV. Similarly, these Giant Atomic Bombs were shaped like rockets which held a cap on its tip that exploded when it struck a hard surface. The display box reassured parents that it’s a safe, harmless cap shooting toy, and did not actually contain any radioactive materials. The “bombs” were… Read more: Atomic Toys: Giant Atomic Bomb

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 10 Gift Idea Safe! Exciting! Instructive! And you might even get a $10,000 reward from the government for finding uranium! The A.C. Gilbert Company released a variety of instructive lab kits in the 1950s for kids to conduct radiation experiments for a reasonable price. The Geiger Counter was included with their Atomic Energy Lab, but could also be purchased separately. In the 1950s, we were positively gaga over Geiger counters and finding uranium — the biggest gold rush since, well, the gold rush. For only $21 ($223.55 in 2019 dollars), you could get this working Geiger… Read more: Atomic Toys: Gilbert U-239 Geiger Counter

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 11 Gift Idea Uranium Rush was an “exciting new electric game for the family” produced by Gardner Games in the 1950s. In fact, this was an Educator Approved Prestige Toy and selected as one of 104 Outstanding Toys of 1955. For only $2.95 ($24.01 in 2019 dollars), you could join the prospecting hoards. All the players begin with $15,000, then spin the arrow to determine where on the board the player can prospect. Stake a claim for only $1000! You can test the claim to make sure it’s belching with uranium using the Geiger Counter. Touch… Read more: Atomic Toys: Uranium Rush

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 12 Gift Idea Let’s practice dropping atom bombs! Test your aim! A thrill a second! Cyclone action! It’s not for enormous destruction, just enormous pleasure! Mutoscope’s 1946 arcade game, “Atomic Bomber,” allowed coin-droppers to line up a set of cross hairs to colored dots on the rotating drum. If a hit is achieved, a “bomb blast” is see on the backglass of the machine, or the Reflectograph. With lots of atomic jargon in the sales brochure, the marketers practically guaranteed an outlet for “Atomic Thinking” and “chain-reaction” sales of the arcade game. For an interesting video… Read more: Atomic Toys: Atomic Bomber

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 13 Gift Idea Atomic Robot Man is coming to take over your city. Look out, he’s walking down the center of the street. Run away before he runs amok! The original Atomic Robot Man was released shortly after World War II in Japan, where there was a well-established tin toy business. Robot toys were indicative of the times, where we suddenly lived in a world with atomic bombs and rockets. The next frontier with all this technology was robots, doing the work of humans. Modern versions of this tin toy can be found for about $15… Read more: Atomic Toys: Atomic Robot Man

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 14 Gift Ideas Not only will Homer deliver your nuclear waste for free, just like Amazon, you can also zing along a Hot Wheels orange track in your living room! Don’t forget to look inside and check out the view through the lens on the back of the truck. In the early ’90s soon after the Simpsons first aired, the world had gone nuts for all things Homer and Bart. Don’t have a cow, man, just pretend nuclear waste is fun and exciting, or you can eat my shorts. Cowa-nuclear-bunga, dude! You could pick this up… Read more: Atomic Toys: Homer Simpson Hot Wheels Nuclear Waste Van

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 15 Gift Ideas G.I. Joe moved from the battlefield to the adventure field, fighting such adversaries as ecological disasters and wild animals instead of other humans. Joe was now part of the Adventure Team, ready for action and adventures in the jungles, desserts, mountains, oceans, and radioactive landscapes. Need a clean up in Hanford? Spill some radiation at Oak Ridge? Drop some uranium ore in Los Alamos? Never fear, as Joe’s ready to detect some radiation with his green jump suit, handy belt with secure container, goggles, and pincer arm to get that pesky (simulated) uranium… Read more: Atomic Toys: G.I. Joe Radiation Detection Action Set

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 16 Gift Ideas Doctor Dreadful is a series of edible food labs to make gross, disgusting, strange, weird, and wacky foods and drinks you can enjoy. Looks gross! Tastes great! In 1996, Tyco developed a series of three Radioactive Experiments including the Nuclear Freeze, the Nuclear Explosion, and the Nuclear Blob — promising foaming drinks or bubbling blobs that taste delicious. To conduct the experiments, you simply mix the Nuclear Explosion parts together (in pouches), and, ta-da — foaming, blobbing, goopy messes of tasty sugar. For just $3.96 (or $6.49 in 2019 dollars), you can gross… Read more: Atomic Toys: Doctor Dreadful Radioactive Experiments

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 17 Gift Idea You might recognize the “B-29” and lead bomb from the Atom Bomber. You’d be right! Let’s re-purpose these little buddies to drop bombs on ships! Hit the target, and the battleship explodes (harmlessly) into 8 parts! Continuing with the tradition of harmlessly bombing things, this 1953 playset reminds parents that the atom bomb doesn’t actually explode things. Your kids are safe when playing with the lead atom bomb. The battleship reassembles simply, for bombing over and over again. It promises hours of endless military fun. Pretend you’re dropping Gilda from Dave’s Dream with… Read more: Atomic Toys: Bomb a Ship

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 18 Gift Ideas Who doesn’t enjoy the radioactive antics of our modern anti-hero, Homer Simpson, and his pals at the nuclear power plant? Playmates created these play sets in 2000 including the glow-in-the-dark radioactive Homer, the interactive nuclear power plant environment, and the nuclear power plant lunch room with Frank Grimes. Complete with all the controls for creating your own nuclear meltdown, Homer has his protective suit and necessary donuts. Frank Grimes has set out all the necessities for a Homer-ific lunch of pink icing donuts, sandwiches, and fruit. These interactive sets were so named because… Read more: Atomic Toys: Simpson’s Playmates Radioactive Sets

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 19 Gift Idea Be the coolest kid on the block with your Buck Rogers U-235 Atomic Pistol! This absolutely harmless cap gun comes complete with a uranium concentrating magazine, atomic power release chamber, fission rate indicator, neutron blast initiator, and more! After World War II, Daisy created the U-235 Atomic Pistol, reflecting the current fascination with atomic energy, and was available with a blue finish, unfinished steel or gold. When the trigger (neutron blast initiator) is pulled, the sparking chamber (caps) lights up and blasts your enemies with a loud pop! Ready for Christmas in 1946,… Read more: Atomic Toys: Buck Rogers U-235 Atomic Pistol

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 20 Gift Idea This 1958 Uranium Hauler from Nylint is a great value for any of your small hauling needs, whether in the sandbox, the basement, or the San Rafael Swell outside Green River, Utah. You’re ready with this all-steel rear dumper with powerful hydraulic cylinder, strong enough to lift and dump a heaping load of wet sand when the latch lever is released. Built to last, the No. 2700 Uranium Hauler was only $7.98 in 1958 (only $71.02 in 2019 dollars). But it was built to last…forever! Just like the glow from the uranium you’ll… Read more: Atomic Toys: Uranium Hauler

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 21 Gift Idea Traveling in 1956 was tons of fun as long as you didn’t do anything to make your dad turn the car around! What better way to prevent disappointed dads than staying occupied with 15 different games for kids from six to sixty. Among the games included Town and Country Bingo, Rainbow Bingo, and Guided Missiles. Who wouldn’t have fun creating boxes with your sister and making “strike” claims for uranium? You can have up to 4 games on a graphically-rich sheet of paper complete with a geiger counter, headphones, and a shovel. Keep… Read more: Atomic Toys: Fun for the Road – Uranium Strike!

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 22 Gift Idea Watch Freedom and Commie lock horns and battle for the soul of humanity. Can Commie’s horn of classless social structure hold up against Freedom’s hooves of capitalist opportunity? Play and find out. Remember when the bad guys wore red and the good guys wore red, white, and blue? Complete with a scythe and hammer tattooed on his thigh, Commie is ready for action against Freedom, with mother-loving stars and bars waving proudly. Teach your kids all about the cold war by re-enacting some of the greatest moments: Berlin blockade and airlift, Francis Gary… Read more: Atomic Toys: Cold War Unicorns

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 23 Gift Idea The A.C. Gilbert Company was known for creating the Erector Set and American Flyer trains, but quickly jumped on the atomic bandwagon with such classics as the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory and an entry in their classic Gilbert Problem Puzzles called “Atomic Bomb.” Created in 1945, this dexterity puzzle game is one of the earliest toys and games with an atomic theme. The boxed problem puzzle set includes printed litho cards with such games as Ring a Tail, Radio Tube Trick, Hungry Pup, Trap a Sap, Topsy Turvy Rivets, and Atomic Bomb.… Read more: Atomic Toys: Gilbert Problem Puzzles with Atomic Bomb

Atomic Advent Calendar: Day 24 Gift Idea In the 1950s, Louis Marx and Company produced the Linemar Atomic Reactor through its Linemar line of tin toys manufactured in Japan. This operating steam engine is complete with water tank and boiler (the reactor dome with safety valve), fuel to heat the water (Esbit tablets), and battery (for the lighted cooling tower). The cylinder oscillates with an oiler on the steam chest. To keep things safe, a guard rail surrounds the engine. Selling for approximately $19.95 in the mid 1950s (about $193 in 2019 dollars), this was an investment for lots of… Read more: Atomic Toys: Atomic Reactor Steam Plant

In 2019, in the before-times of the pandemic, we put together a daily listing that we called the Atomic Advent. It featured toys, games, and activity sets created as a result of the new atomic bomb and Cold War. These range from uranium mining games, to GI Joe uranium set, to the atomic chemistry sets, to Homer Simpson’s atomic van, and more. We’ve turned these posts into a fun, interactive Advent Calendar to help with your countdown for the holiday season. Check back each day from December 1 to 24, for a different door to open to your wildest atomic… Read more: Atomic Advent Calendar Gift Ideas