When Las Vegas Marketed Atomic Bomb Tests

How would you feel about pulling up a lawn chair to watch a nearby atomic bomb explosion? In the 1950s and early 1960s, this was a regular tourist attraction in Las Vegas. When the U.S. government established a nuclear testing site just 60 miles outside the city, Las Vegas did what it always does—it turned proximity to massive radioactive disasters into a marketing campaign.

The community embraced atomic testing as an economic positive, bringing jobs and well-educated workers to the region. At one point in the 1950s, Clark County's official logo featured a mushroom cloud. The city hosted VIP viewing parties for above-ground tests, complete with dark glasses and radiation badges. Guests included governors, airline executives, and other dignitaries who traveled from across the country to witness these "amazing" displays of power.

Las Vegas capitalized on atomic testing with shameless creativity. Department stores borrowed mannequins, placed them in test houses, then displayed the "atomic mannequins" in storefront windows after decontamination. Casinos created "atomic cocktails" and held "atomic sales." The famous Miss Atomic Bomb photo wasn't from any contest—marketers simply dressed a showgirl in a mushroom cloud bathing suit for publicity. Hotels airbrushed mushroom clouds into promotional photos. The city even broadcast live feeds of tests so casino patrons could watch from the gaming floor.

This episode also explores surprising Las Vegas secrets: why the famous Strip isn't actually part of Las Vegas (it's an unincorporated area called Paradise, Nevada, created specifically to avoid annexation), the truth about Bugsy Siegel's role in founding the Flamingo Hotel (spoiler: he was just a violent thug who stole it), and the incredible story of the world's longest flight—a 65-day endurance record set in 1958-59 by two men in a Cessna 172 who refueled twice daily from a truck while staying airborne.

Nevada historian Mark Hall-Patton, known from History Channel's Pawn Stars, shares these overlooked Vegas stories that reveal how America's attitude toward nuclear power evolved—and how Sin City turned everything, even radioactive disaster, into profit.

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