Popular Mechanics has assembled a list of five popular toys that were eventually banned in the US. Among the toys on the list is the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab, marketed between 1950-51, which contained actual radioactive materials:
Called �the most elaborate Atomic Energy educational set ever produced� by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, this sophisticated science kit contained four types of uranium ore, its very own Geiger counter and a comic book called Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom. A form on the back of the instruction manual allowed a burgeoning Ernest Rutherford to send a note to New Haven, Conn., bearing the message, �Gentlemen: I need replacements for the following radioactive sources, (check which): ALPHA____, BETA _____, GAMMA ______ or CLOUD CHAMBER SOURCE____.�
Mechanical engineer and inveterate tinkerer Bill Gurstelle fondly recalls the Atomic Energy Lab, saying, �everybody wanted that kit.� Nowadays, he adds, �science kits are just sugar and salt.� This kit appeared 21 years too soon�the as-yet-nonexistent CPSC never got a chance to ban it. via
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