She’s nearly as synonymous with Las Vegas as Wayne Newton and the shrimp cocktail. We’re talking about the woman known as Miss Atomic Bomb, photographed in the desert, wearing a wide smile and a skimpy outfit that resembled little more than a mushroom cloud.
The image became a symbol of Las Vegas lore, associated with the Atomic Age that permeated pop culture after World War II and throughout the Cold War. As the military tested nuclear weapons in the Nevada desert, watching mushroom clouds erupt over the landscape became a spectator activity in Las Vegas. Our city embraced its role with atomic-themed imagery on display in resorts like the Stardust and bars like Atomic Liquors. Even Las Vegas High School had a mushroom cloud on the cover of a yearbook.
The photograph of Miss Atomic Bomb was taken in 1957, during Operation Plumbbob, a series of 29 nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. For decades, nobody knew her name, but the Atomic Museum and historian Robert Friedrichs recently tracked down Miss Atomic Bomb’s true identity — Anna Lee Mahoney, a New Yorker who worked under the stage name Lee Merlin. She was employed as a Copa showgirl at the Sands when the photo was snapped by Don English, a photographer with the Las Vegas News Bureau.
Mahoney was more than eye candy. She was trained in ballet and modern dance, performing in various shows and musicals. She later became a mental health counselor after marrying and moving to Hawaii in 1962. Later in life, she lived in Santa Cruz and raised funds for student scholarships at the Cabrillo College Foundation. Mahoney passed away in 2001 after a battle with cancer.
The Atomic Museum is honoring Mahoney and her role in Atomic Age culture with a new temporary exhibit that debuts Friday and is expected to run throughout the summer. Tickets are available online.
- City Cast Las Vegas examines the connection between our community and the culture of the Atomic Age, as well as the legacy of nuclear weapons testing in Southern Nevada. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
