Thursday Throwback To When A Cereal Brand Sold Radioactive “Atomic Bomb Rings” To Children

[Image: GencraftAI]

It might sound like an absolutely bonkers gimmick, but back in the days when we were still in our honeymoon phase with atomic energy, popular cereal brand General Mills’ KiX offered the “Atomic Bomb Ring” as a novelty in exchange for 15 cents plus a cereal box top.

The ring had an adjustable gold-coloured band with an aluminium warhead mounted on top and a removable red plastic tailfin. The tailfin was hollow, making it a hidden compartment for tiny secret messages, but also allowed the little ones to peer inside at the real secret.

Inside the “hidden atomic chamber”, AKA a spinthariscope, kids could see tiny flashes of light created by the interaction of radioisotopes caused by polonium alpha particles striking the ring’s zinc sulfide screen.

Granted, peering through your pinky ring filled with Polonium-210 might sound like a bad idea, but advertisements for the ring assured parents that it was “perfectly safe” and contained “harmless” atomic elements.

One million rings were made, making it the most popular premium ring ever produced. Fortunately the minute traces of Polonium-210 had a half-life of about 140 days, meaning that any Atomic Bomb Rings still in existence today are harmless relics of a time when kids were still allowed to play with radioactive isotopes.

[Source: Globaltoysnews]