Intl. Notebook

May 5 2018

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

With house prices today, this is looking like a real bargain.

They just don’t build them like they used to. Above you see a U.S. Energy Department photo that’s been well-circulated around the internet showing the shell of a house that endured the Apple II nuclear test, a 29-kiloton shot fired today in 1955. The building was part of Survival Town, a collection of homes, fallout shelters, power systems, and communications hubs erected in the Nevada desert to gauge the effects of nuclear explosions on civilian structures. The effect, predictably, was catastrophic, but this one lived through it. With a little effort it could become a nice Airbnb.

Nevada, Nevada Proving Ground, nukes

Intl. Notebook

March 17 2015

HARD NUKE LIFE

Annie was a big hit in the desert long before the Broadway musical came along.

In the photo above, department store manager Hillman Lee checks out a group of battered mannequins he had helped the U.S. government use in a nuclear test. The mannequins were placed inside House No. 1 at the Nevada Proving Grounds and subjected to the blast effects of the sixteen-kiloton shot codenamed Annie, which was part of Operation Upshot-Knothole. The images below show up on all sorts of websites identified with all sorts of tests, but these come from the Nevada Department of Energy website and are identified there as the actual House No. 1 thatwas blown to smithereens along with Hillman’s mannequins (those may seem in strangely good shape to you, but keep in mind that fiberglass melts at about 37,000°F, whereas human flesh burns at about 120°F and melts shortly thereafter).

For an interesting indication of the bizarro world some people lived in during the nuclear 1950s, consider this quote from Hillman concerning the use of mannequins (which, by the way, he dressed differently as a tribute to American individuality and choice): “The outcome of this test is unpredictable, but the results of the evaluation may be a powerful factor in deciding fashion trends in the years to come.” That’s right—he thought he could learn from the test how to make nuclear blast-resistant clothes, market them, and make money selling them. Kind of makes you wonder whether humans are simply destined to fail on this planet, doesn’t it? Nuclear test Annie occurred at 5:20 a.m. today in 1953.

Note: We got an e-mail, and the question was whether the mannequin photo was really made after the test, or before. If the photo were larger you’d be able to see that the mannequins are, in fact, a bit battered. Of course, that raises the question of whether they’re radioactive. Being the morbid guys we are, we did check historical records on Hillman Lee to see if maybe he developed health problems, but there’s nothing on him. Presumably he made a fortune on his nuke resistant garments and retired to a life of quiet but comfortable obscurity. Or not.

Nevada, Nevada Proving Ground, Nevada Department of Energy, Hillman Lee, nukes

Intl. Notebook

June 1 2013

CURIOUS GEORGE

Exercise with no benefits.

U.S. Marines march beneath a debris cloud generated by the nuclear test George, which was part of the Tumbler-Snapper series staged at the Nevada Proving Ground. This particular troop exercise, which occurred today in 1952, was codenamed Desert Rock IV and was designed to gain knowledge of military operations on a nuclear battlefield, as well as determine troops’ reaction to witnessing a nuclear detonation. Since the government was less than forthcoming about radiation effects, we’re guessing the troops weren’t particularly worried. But they should have been—many later developed cancer, and some of their children were born with deformities.

Nevada Proving Ground, nukes

Intl. Notebook

July 18 2011

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE

Hmm, I never thought of going to Los Alamos before, but I gotta say, it looks inviting.

The unusual image you see above, which probably has you just a rarin’ to book a hotel room in Los Alamos before they’re all gone, appears in authors John O’Brien and Jeremy Borsos’ recently published Atomic Postcards: Radioactive Messages from the Cold War. The book features a wide array of nuclear themed mid-century postcards, some of which were produced for educational purposes, some to influence political debate, and some—like this one—to boost tourism. All the images we’ve seen from Atomic Postcards are fascinating, and we have a feeling this will be the hottest nuclear coffee table book since Michael Light’s stunning collection of atomic images 100 Suns. Historical note: the above photo is actually from an atomic test at the Nevada Proving Ground in 1952, but as far as the Los Alamos chamber of commerce was concerned, any old mushroom cloud would do as long as it was irresistibly enticing. Mission accomplished, chamber guys. Our bags are packed. If you’d like to see more of Atomic Postcards, there’s a slideshow here, and if you’d like to see Pulp Intl.’s collection of nuke images, just click the fallout shelter icon in the sidebar.

Los Alamos, Nevada Proving Ground, Michael Light, John O’Brien, Jeremy Borsos, nukes

Intl. Notebook

April 7 2009

DESERT HEAT

The permanent end of pleasant weather.

Operation Tumbler Snapper nuclear test, Nevada Proving Ground, 1952. The conical projections seen here are guy wires or ropes extending from the elevated bomb platform vaporizing during the first instant of the explosion.

Nevada Proving Ground, nukes

Intl. Notebook

February 15 2009

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE

This is your house. This is your house on nukes.

Above: a photo of the U.S. nuclear test Annie, from today in 1953, shot by a camera encased in lead. The explosion was part of the series of tests known as Upshot Knothole, conducted at the Nevada Proving Ground. This house is located 3,500 feet from ground zero. That’s two-thirds of a mile. In the second frame it begins to burn as the incandscent light from blast in the form of heat energy cooks the wood. If you were to be exposed to a nuclear blast at that range, you’d be painfully broiled before having a chance to move. If you happened to be looking right at the blast, it would melt your eyes. Instants later, as shown in subsequent frames, the entire house is obliterated by the bomb’s shock wave. This is a film everyone should see, just to have a clearer idea what nuclear weapons can do.

Nevada, Nevada Proving Ground, nukes

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

September 7

1978—Giorgi Markov Assassinated

Bulgarian dissident Giorgi Markov is assassinated in a scene right out of a spy novel. As he’s waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge in London, he’s jabbed in the calf with an umbrella. The man holding the umbrella apologizes and walks away, but he is in reality a Bulgarian hired killer who has just injected a ricin pellet into Markov, who develops a high fever and dies three days later.

September 6

1901—McKinley Fatally Shot

Polish-born anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley dies September 12, and Czolgosz is later executed.

September 5

1939—U.S. Declares Neutrality in WW II

The Neutrality Acts, which had been passed in the 1930s when the United States considered foreign conflicts undesirable, prompts the nation to declare neutrality in World War II. The policy ended with the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, which allowed the U.S. to sell, lend or give war materials to allied nations.

September 5

1972—Munich Massacre

During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, a paramilitary group calling itself Black September takes members of the Israeli olympic team hostage. Eventually the group, which represents the first glimpse of terrorists for most people in the Western world, kill eleven of the hostages along with one West German police officer during a rescue attempt by West German police that devolves into a firefight. Five of the eight members of Black September are also killed.

September 4

1957—U.S. National Guard Used Against Students

The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, mobilizes the National Guard to prevent nine African-American students known as the Little Rock Nine from enrolling in high school in Little Rock, Arkansas.