Bombshells, Bombers, and Bumpers

This chapter explores how women’s bodies in the Atomic Age were compared to weaponry, domestic interiors, and automobiles. Beyond such symbolic cultural comparisons, it also examines how cosmetic surgeons experimented with and sourced plastic foams for use in breast augmentation surgery from chemical companies that were supplying the automobile and furniture industries. Using archival materials from surgeons working both within and outside traditional medical structures, the chapter illustrates a complex medical and military-industrial network of postwar US aesthetic body-contouring practices. The chapter ultimately argues that plastics R & D unlocked new technological possibilities and led to shifting attitudes to the body as a site of consumer improvement.