Operation Teapot was a series of fourteen nuclear detonations conducted at the Nevada Test Site in early 1955, aimed at refining military nuclear tactics and weapon technology. Among these tests, the July 17 blast became infamous for the eerie contrast it created with nearby Las Vegas. Residents woke to a sky painted with an immense mushroom cloud.
Vegas embraced the atomic aura with surprising enthusiasm. Casinos and hotels, like the famed Sands, leaned into the spectacle, offering “atomic breakfast” specials and selling postcards featuring the mushroom clouds that dominated the horizon turning nuclear fear into tourist attraction. The city’s neon lights and showgirls masked the harsh reality of radiation fallout silently descending.
While tourists posed with smiles, the radioactive dust spread eastward, settling unseen on homes, vehicles, and people. Fallout exposure was a hidden threat affecting not only test site personnel but also the rural communities and towns downwind, long before the dangers of radiation were fully understood. Some veterans and civilians faced severe health consequences decades later, prompting government compensation programs.
