2019 Atomic Advent Calendar Gift Ideas – Day 2

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 place. The shelter comes equipped with first aid, bedding, water, and food supplies. In addition, there’s a covered patio for watching the flash and blast.

The dollhouses produced after the 1940s were metal lithographed with plastic furniture. This set came with over 35 pieces including chairs, sofas, tables, and beds. For the fallout shelter, the plastic furniture included a cabinet sink and folded cots. You could move the patio chairs and table in for added comfort. The fallout shelter version was only briefly produced during the early 1960s. This version is now a collector’s dream.

2019 Atomic Advent Calendar Gift Ideas Day 1

Porter Chemical Company produced the Chemcraft Master Laboratory with Atomic Energy throughout the 1950s. The kit included radioactive Uranium ore and was the most expensive and elaborate model available in 1951. At $27.50 (about $265 in today’s dollars), this was quite an investment for a family Christmas gift.

The popularity of chemistry sets peaked during the 1940s and 1950s, coinciding with the nuclear arms race. After the Atomic Energy Act was passed in 1947, the Atomic Energy kits were added to the Chemcraft chemistry sets. This model contains not only chemicals, but an educational manual on atomic energy, radiation test strips, and the sample of true uranium ore.

The set in the pictures, above, was found at the Great Basin Museum in Delta, UT. Other museums have tested these sets with Geiger counters and found the radiation from the Uranium core to be negligible and safe for handling.