Miss Atom Bomb; Nevada Test Site History DOE/NV - - 1024
Las Vegas, NV: National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada Field Office, Office of Public Affairs, 2013. Presumed First Edition, First 2013 printing thus. Single sheet, printed on both sides. Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. Illustrations and text on both sides. The Nevada Test Site was the primary testing location of American nuclear devices from 1951 to 1992; 928 announced nuclear tests occurred there. Of those, 828 were underground. (Sixty-two of the underground tests included multiple, simultaneous nuclear detonations, adding 93 detonations and bringing the total number of NTS nuclear detonations to 1,021, of which 921 were underground.) The site is covered with subsidence craters from the testing. The NTS was the United States' primary location for tests smaller than 1 Mt (4.2 PJ). 126 tests were conducted elsewhere, including most larger tests. Many of these occurred at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands. The last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site was "Little Feller I" of Operation Sunbeam, on July 17, 1962. Miss Atomic pageants are held in the United States, generally, in Nevada, to celebrate the City of Las Vegas's modernity. The pageants were "inspired by the cultural phenomena, Las Vegas decided to combine two of its major attractions—nuclear bombs and showgirls—into a beauty contest". There were only four "showgirl-turned-beauty-queens" and "there was no single Miss Atomic Bomb beauty pageant, and most of the queens were simply showgirls chosen for their radiant ... looks". "The queens came about in an only loosely related manner: atomic-themed, usually of the mushroom cloud variety, costumes." The first atomic pin-up girl, Candyce King, appeared on May 9, 1952 in the Evening Telegraph (Dixon, Illinois) and the Day Record (Statesville, North Carolina) papers as "Miss Atomic Blast". In the spring of 1953, the city of North Las Vegas chose Paula Harris as Miss North Las Vegas of 1953 and gave her the nickname "Miss A-Bomb". In 1955, Operation Cue drew attention when it was delayed multiple times because of high winds and was nicknamed "Operation Mis-Cue." Linda Lawson was crowned "Miss Cue" on May 1, 1955. The title was "to illustrate another mis-firing of the Operation Cue Bomb." Lawson's "crown" was a mushroom cloud. The last and most famous was Lee Merlin, crowned as "Miss Atomic Bomb", coinciding with Operation Plumbbob, while wearing a cotton mushroom cloud on the front of her swimsuit. The popular photograph by Don English was distributed nationally. She is currently "Miss Atomic". Don English of the Las Vegas Sun photographed her. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Nevada Test Site, Atomic Energy, Linda Lawson, Mis-Cue, Candyce King, Paula Harris, Lee Merlin, Donald English, Operation Teapot, Operation Plumbbob, Operation Cue
[Book #90852]
Price: $20.00