Atomic Bomb toy set

Some toys in the museum’s collection tell us what was in the minds of parents who bought them and children who played with them. This toy was manufactured in 1955 during the height of the Cold War, when families dug fallout shelters in their backyards and children practiced taking refuge under their desks at school to save them from potential atomic attacks.

 

A 2013 Atlas Obscura article stated that “One of the more curious trends in children’s toys is how they respond to war.” One can imagine kids gleefully throwing these plastic “bombs” at each other on the sidewalk after school and celebrating when the caps on the tips made a loud cracking pop. We can also visualize concerned parents at the toy store who needed to be reassured by packaging explanations that these “giant atomic bombs” were actually “safe and harmless.”