2019 Atomic Advent Calendar Gift Ideas Day 10

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 counter and possibly strike it rich. With a neon light indicator recessed in the top, the radioactivity was indicated by means of flashes as well as clicks in the earphones.