photo #9107177

This Lone Ranger Atomic Bomb ring was distributed by Kix cereal in the late 40's, for 15 cents and a mail-in box top. It was actually a spinthariscope containing radioactive Polonium-210 (one of the most toxic substances out there). A child would take the toy into a pitch-black room, remove the tail cap from the 'bomb', and look through a tiny lens to see flashes of light from the Polonium-210 atoms decaying into Lead-206. Although polonium‑210 emits alpha radiation that can’t pierce skin, it becomes hazardous -inside- the body. So, as long as you didn’t swallow it, you’d be fine.  Its short half‑life meant the rings lost their radioactivity within a few years, leaving surviving examples today inert and unable to produce their once‑famous flashes.