Atomic Bomb Casino

7/26/2022by admin

Throughout the 1950s, atomic detonations brought countless tourists to Sin City — and helped make it what it is today.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesA group of gamblers stand on Fremont Street in Las Vegas watch the early morning sky illuminate from an atomic blast, which was detonated at a test site some 75 miles away. May 1955.

The threat of nuclear annihilation throughout the Cold War, its early years especially, might conjure up images of schoolchildren being told to “duck and cover” under their desks in the event of an attack. However, in classic American fashion, (understandable) fear wasn’t the only reaction. In addition to the terrified people who built bomb shelters in their backyards, there were also plenty of enterprising individuals who saw the silver (or perhaps green) lining of the Atomic Age.

Intense Footage of Fake Towns Used for 1950s Nuclear Tests How 1950s Las Vegas Sold Atomic Bomb Tests as Tourism Between 1950 and 1960, the population of Las Vegas grew by 161%-partly due to the. Kulka could only look on in horror as the bomb dropped to the floor, pushed open the bomb bay doors, and fell 15,000 feet toward rural South Carolina. Florence Museum Fortunately for the entire East Coast, the bomb's fission core was stored in a separate part of the plane, meaning that it wasn't technically armed. Atomic Saloon Show Returning Soon A Must-See Las Vegas Show “Blazing Saddles” meets “America’s Got Talent” meets “Westworld.” From the creators of 'Absinthe' and 'Opium', Atomic Saloon Show is Vegas-meets-Vaudeville with acrobatics, aerial stunts, singing, and stand up comedy routines. In the 1970s, the population doubled again, prompting casino owner Benny Binion to declare, “The best thing to happen to Vegas was the Atomic Bomb.” Museum admission is $12 for adults, $9 for children. Open seven days a week, it is located at 755 E. Las Vegas, NV 89119.

In 1951 (the same year that the original “duck and cover” PSA came out), the United States government began its first nuclear testing in the desert area about 75 miles north of Las Vegas. Although the location was chosen for its isolation, the blast from this first test detonation could be seen as far away as San Francisco.

Footage of atomic tests conducted in Nevada in 1955.

Back in the 1950s, Las Vegas was not quite the same glitzy tourism magnet that it is today. In fact, part of the reason that Nevada was chosen for the nuclear test site was because, at the time, Las Vegas’ population was small enough (under 40,000).

However, in keeping with the wily business acumen that would turn a tiny desert strip into a multi-billion dollar industry, Vegas property owners quickly realized that people would pay good money to watch these bomb tests from the relative safety of a hotel or bar.

Atomic Tourism

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesGuests at the Last Frontier hotel in Las Vegas watch the mushroom from a detonation about 75 miles away. May 8, 1953.

With people clamoring to gaze at mushroom clouds, the Las Vegas tourism industry somewhat shifted, and establishments like the Horseshoe Club and the Desert Inn had unwittingly hit the atomic tourism jackpot. Their north-facing rooms gave fascinated guests an unobstructed view of the desert and the testing site.

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And both the proprietors of these places and others soon embraced atomic tourism completely. Bar owner Joe Sobchik, for one, quickly renamed his “Virginia’s Eatery” to “Atomic Cafe” and fed his guests “top-secret atomic cocktails” as they gaped at the deadly mushroom clouds from the bar’s roof.

Bomb-watching became so popular that the city published detonation times in advance so that thrill-seeking tourists could be sure they had the best view and would be able to take photos. Meanwhile, one showgirl at the Sands casino was dubbed “Miss Atomic Bomb.” Las Vegas officially had atomic fever.

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Thanks to the new atomic tourism industry as well as the federal funding and jobs brought in by the Nevada test site, Las Vegas’ population doubled within a decade, leading Horshoe Club casino owner Benny Binion to proclaim that “the best thing to happen to Vegas was the Atomic Bomb.”

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The Cost

PinterestA Horseshoe Club advertisement touting its excellent views of nuclear tests.

Part of what made atomic tourism so appealing to tourists was the thrill of being so close to such deadly power. Of course, there was also a very real danger that made the detonations much more than the glorified fireworks show they were touted as.

By 1992, the United States government had finally done enough testing to realize the negative effects of the radiation on both the soldiers and nearby residents and moved all testing underground, effectively bringing Las Vegas’ age of atomic tourism to an end.

Today, given all that is known about the dangers of nuclear radiation, it seems absolutely absurd that families would drive out to the areas around the test site and have picnics while watching nuclear weapons explode. But at the time, that’s precisely what happened.

Bettmann/Contributor/Getty ImagesEarly morning bathers at a hotel pool in Las Vegas stop to watch the mushroom cloud of an atomic detonation at a test site about 75 miles from the city. May 8, 1953.

Between 1951 and 1992, there were more than 900 documented nuclear detonations at the Las Vegas test site. And a trip to the area today is a sober reminder of just how devastating those tests were.

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Modern nuclear tourists still bus out to the desert to see the 1,280 foot-wide crater left by one 1962 test as well as the remnants of “Doom Town,” a fake town populated with mannequins that was purposefully destroyed by a bomb in order to test how an American town would withstand an actual atomic attack.

This modern atomic tourism is obviously very different from the carefree, glamorous spectacle that atomic tourism was during the 1950s. But it’s nevertheless clear that Las Vegas wouldn’t be exactly the same without nuclear testing. The city’s National Atomic Testing Museum may not be as popular a destination as the casinos, but it may say almost as much about why Las Vegas is what it is today.

Next, have a look at some abandoned nuclear test sites that humans destroyed even worse than Chernobyl. Then, check out the most fascinating photos from the 1950s.

Atomic Bomb Casino

Fill-Ins: Events, Places, Things to Know‎ > ‎

Hiroshima, Out of The Ashes


Emperor Hirohito - the supreme leader of the Japanese people who was believed by some to be the descendant of the Japanese gods. He ruled Japan before and during WWII when the nation went to war in China and later against the United States and England. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, government ministers went to Hirohito and begged him to surrender and end the war before Japan was totally destroyed. He agreed and recorded a message that was played over the radio on August 15, 1945. He served as emperor from 1926 until his death in 1989. As part of Japan's surrender in WWII, he was allowed to remain as emperor even though many believe that he was fully involved in Japan's decisions to wage war and commit atrocities in China and the Pacific.

Harry S. Truman - was the President of the United States at the end of WWII. He took over for President Franklin D. Roosevelt who died in April 1945 - just before Germany surrendered. Truman had been Vice-President under Roosevelt, but knew nothing about the atomic bomb project until July. Truman was elected President in 1948 and served until January 1953. Until his dying day, Truman insisted that dropping the atomic bombs was necessary in order to end the war and save both American and Japanese lives.

PLACES
Hiroshima - Japanese city that was chosen as the first to be targeted with an atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, a U.S. plan dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima - destroying most of the city and killing well over 100,000 people. The city was slowly rebuilt after the war and today is among the largest in Japan.


Kokura - Japanese city that was chosen as the backup target for the Hiroshima bomb and the main target for the 2nd atomic bomb that was, instead, dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

Los Alamos - secret laboratory in New Mexico where scientists developed the first atomic bomb.
Manchuria - region of northern China invaded by Japanese armies in 1931. The Japanese wanted Manchuria for its rich deposits of coal and other natural resources. Some people refer to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria as the first event of World War II.
Mariana Islands - Island group located in the Pacific Ocean -- around 6,000 miles South of the Japanese islands. The Americans captured the Marianas in 1944 - allowing them to build airfields and begin the bombing of Japanese cities. The island of Tinian was the site of the main airfield.

Nagasaki - Japanese port city chosen as the target for the second atomic bomb. 80,000 were killed when the U.S. dropped the bomb on August 9, 1945. Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki has since been rebuilt and is one of Japan's major cities.

Soviet Union - U.S. ally against Hitler's Germany during WWII. The Soviets were the first to build and test an atomic bomb after the U.S. During the 1950s, The Cold War started as both the U.S. and Soviet Union began to stock-up on nuclear weapons in order to protect themselves against a possible attack by the other.
From 1922 to 1991, the Soviet Union was the world's most important communist country. Communism is a system of government and economics in which the government has tight control over factories, farms, and other businesses in order to 'make people equal.' Communist countries have often limited their people's rights and freedoms and even killed those who refuse to go along with their plans. By 1991, the people of the Soviet Union were pretty sick of the whole communism thing and a new leader, Michail Gorbachev, decided to break-up the Soviet Union and start over.
The Soviet Union was once made-up of 15 different areas - all of which became separate countries after 1991. Russia is the largest of these. Others include Ukraine,

Tokyo - Japan's capital city that was largely destroyed by U.S. B-29 raids during the last couple years of WWII.


EVENTS
The Atomic Age - name given to the period of World History that began with the successful test of the first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945. A few weeks later, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - marking the first and only time they have been used against a civilian population. From this point on, the world lived with the possibility of its' being destroyed by nuclear weapons. On the plus side, nuclear energy is being used all around the world to provide people with power/electricity. It's a clean-burning and limitless power source, but it must be used carefully.

Bataan Death March - the forced march of American and other Allied prisoners of war from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell following the surrender of the Philippines in the Spring of 1942. During the March, around 700 American prisoners and perhaps as many as 10,000 Filipinos died due to mistreatment and cruelty at the hands of Japanese soldiers. The American people did not learn of the death march until January 1944 when reports came in from soldiers who had escaped from the Japanese. These reports of Japanese cruelty and brutality against defenseless prisoners made many Americans hate the Japanese more than ever.
Battle of Okinawa - the final land battle of the Pacific War between the U.S. and Japan - fought for control of the Island of Okinawa. U.S troops landed on Okinawa on April 1, 1945. At first, they met no resistance. But, as they moved inland they were met by Japanese defenders determined to fight to the death to defend Japanese soil. Around 12,000 American soldiers were killed and more than 14,000 wounded in the ferocious fighting that went on for 82 days. More than 70,000 Japanese soldiers and as many as 100,000 civilians died on Okinawa.
The battle showed the Americans how fiercely the Japanese would fight to defend an island that was part of their homeland. It was at Okinawa that the Japanese sent hundreds of Kamikaze pilots to crash their planes into American warships. The Japanese defense of Okinawa showed U.S. leaders that the planned invasion of Japan's home island would be a long and bloody fight.

Cuban Missile Crisis - In October 1962, the Soviet Union tried to place nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba - just 75 miles from the coast of The United States. After an American reconnaissance plane spotted the missiles, President John F. Kennedy ordered the Soviets to remove the weapons immediately or face action by the United States. For almost a week, the whole world waited for the start of a nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union. In the end, the Soviet's backed down and agreed to remove the missiles.
This was the closest that the world has ever come to all-out nuclear war. It was pretty, pretty scary.



Manhattan Project- name given to the combined efforts involved in producing the first atomic bomb. The final assembly and testing of the bomb was done in desert near Alamagordo, New Mexico.



Pearl Harbor - American Pacific Fleet base in Hawaii that the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941 - starting WWII between Japan and The United States. It is located on the island of Oahu near the city of Honolulu.

Potsdam Conference - meeting of Allied leaders held in Germany at the end of World War II to decide how to defeat Japan and control post-war Germany. While at this meeting, U.S. President Harry Truman was notified that the atomic bomb had been successfully tested in the New Mexico desert in July 1945.


Rape of Nanking - name given to Japanese massacre of 300,000 defenseless Chinese civilians in 1937. After the Japanese captured the city, soldiers went on a bloody rampage which was encouraged by their commanding officers. News reports of the massacre of innocent men, women, and children caused a lot of people in the U.S. and around the world to hate the Japanese.

Trinity Test - name given to the first-ever, successful, atomic test conducted on July 16, 1945 in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico.





Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) - special group set-up by President Truman to study the effects of the atomic bombings on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It operated from 1946-1975. The ABCC has been criticized by the Japanese and others because its doctors did not provide any medical care for those injured by the atomic blasts. They only studied the injuries and symptoms displayed by the victims. Others have praised the ABCC for having gathered information that can be used today to help treat people who are exposed to radiation.


The Hibakusha - name given to Japanese people who survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Japanese, the term Hibakusha means 'explosion-affected people.' As of 2016, there were around 170.080 survivors of the atomic attacks still alive - mostly in Japan.

Kamikazes - Japanese pilots who crashed fighter planes loaded with explosives into American ships during the final months of World War II.

Various

Barefoot Gen - series of graphic novels written by Japanese artists, and Hiroshima survivor, Keiji Nakazawa.
Divided into 10 different books, the series tells the story of life in Japan during WWII, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the struggles and horrors faced by the survivors - all through the eyes of 'Barefoot Gen.' Barefoot Gen's character is largely based on Nakazawa himself who lost most of his family in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The graphic novels have been reprinted in many different languages and are one of the most powerful written description of what happened in Hiroshima.


The Enola Gay - the U.S. B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Hiroshima (Book)- book written by American journalist John Hersey in 1945 describing the experiences of six different people who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Hersey's story originally appeared in a special edition of The New Yorker Magazine - taking up the entire August 31, 1946 issue. Many Americans who read it were shocked and horrified by what the bomb had done. The article was published as a book which has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

Hydrogen Bomb - a more powerful type of nuclear weapon first developed and tested by American scientists in 1952. The Hydrogen Bomb uses a different process that makes it thousands of times more powerful than the bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are technically known as Thermonuclear bombs.


US Strategic Bombing Survey - group of military and civilians whose job it was to study the affects of bombing during WWII - both in Europe and the Pacific. A separate division of the group was created to study the affects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This group focused mainly on the ways that bombing had helped to defeat the Germans and Japanese - the extent of the destruction that is caused.


Incendiary Bombs - bombs designed to set buildings and other structures on fire.

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