23 Nov 11 The Atomic Cake

On November 5, 1946, members of the Joint Army-Navy Task Force Number One held a party. The party marked the dismantling of the task force. During the task force’s lifespan, it oversaw the post-WWII atomic bomb testings in the pacific ocean. Attending party guests included military men, scientists, engineers, politicians, and, of course, all of their wives, girlfriends, and lovers.

Blah, blah, blah – history. Let’s skip to the good stuff: the party’s cake decorating supplies.

In a moment of sheer genius, Lieutenant John T. Holloway contacted a bakery in Louis, Illinois, who created an angel food cake in the shape of an exploding atomic bomb. Nothing says celebration like one of mankind’s most violent creations.

A photographer attending the party snapped the photo seen above. The photo, along with photos of men in suits dancing with women in dresses, reached the pages of the Washington Post‘s society column. The combined photos created imagery of really snobby looking individuals enjoying an evening around a cake carved like death.

Controversy exploded and people were outraged. Various religious groups called the photo “obscene,” for it celebrated the act of killing millions with the push of a button. Countless letters were written to the editors of the Washington Post, nearly all of them damning the photo. Since this event occurred during the post-WWII era, even Russian newspapers took to slinging mud over the “atomic cake controversy.”

What am I trying to get at with this post?

Be careful of your cake designs. If an atomic cake photo during the pre-Internet era could erupt into such a huge scandal, imagine what your family would say about your pregnant Bella Twilight cake. Leave the cake designs to the professionals, and always shoot for something classy, unless you know for a fact that cameras will not be attending your party. Given that every cell phone has one these days, though, I imagine that’s close to an impossibility.