When Nuclear Tests Were Just Another Sin City Attraction
Photos from 1950s Las Vegas show a city gleefully capitalizing on the touristic appeal of nearby nuclear detonations
Published in
3 min readAug 13, 2016
Atomic warfare isn’t something most people want to experience in their lifetimes. Yet just a decade after the American military rained down nuclear hell over Japan, Las Vegas entrepreneurs turned atomic tourism into a thing when a testing site opened so close to the Strip that you could take in a taste of nuclear warfare in between games of baccarat and showgirl revues. In fact, hot lady performers and nuclear bomb tests were even cynically combined with a host of chosen showgirls crowned “Miss Atomic Bomb” to help promote the tests.
Revisit this bizarre slice of Las Vegas life in the photos below.