Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab Lets You Play Dr. Manhattan for Radioactive Funsies

They don’t make toys like this anymore: why have an E-Z Bake Oven when I can have a U-238 Atomic Energy Lab and create my own Manhattan project in the backyard? (BAM! Emeril said it.)

The Atomic Energy Lab set was only available from 1951 to 1952 and sold for a whopping $US50 (that’s without inflation).

The set came with four types of uranium ore, a beta-alpha source (Pb-210), a pure beta source (Ru-106), a gamma source (Zn-65?), a spinthariscope, a cloud chamber with its own short-lived alpha source (Po-210), an electroscope, a geiger counter, a manual, a comic book (Dagwood Splits the Atom) and a government manual “Prospecting for Uranium.”

Today, a set of one of these could go for over $US5,000 due to the limited quantities that was produced. Maybe the set was produced in limited quantities because dying from radiation at the age of eight wasn’t so fun either. [Oak Ridge Associated Universities via Boing Boing]