After the Japanese bombed the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States became consumed with paranoia. For a time it seemed as though every bush concealed a Japanese or Nazi spy, saboteur, or subversive, each boring into the nation's vital core like a worm into a rotten apple.
In this atmosphere of spy mania, the FBI and local law enforcement officers received thousands of calls from frantic citizens claiming to have witnessed suspicious individuals and activities. One investigation focused on a peculiar advertisement placed in the New Yorker magazine sixteen days before Pearl Harbor.
The ad was for a new dice game called The Deadly Double. It actually consisted of two ads, a small "teaser" in the front of the magazine and a full-size ad on page 86. The smaller version showed the words "Achtung! Warning! Alerte!" above a pair of dice with the numbers 12, 24, and XX (the double-cross sign), and 0, 5, and 7. The larger ad contained an unusual cartoon depicting a group of partygoers, clad in formal attire, playing dice in an air-raid shelter. A paragraph of text beneath that urged readers to include the dice game along with other essentials, such as coffee, cigarettes, and blankets, in their home air-raid kits. Finally, at the very bottom of the advertisement there was printed a large double-headed eagle, presumably the logo of the game.
After Pearl Harbor, many speculated that the ad had been a code notifying spies in the United States that war was about to commence. For example, the 12 and 7 could have indicated the date of the attack, December 7th; the air raid graphic might mean that it was slated to begin with an aerial bombardment; and the XX could signify either the latitude of the target (20, running through Hawaii) or, more generally, a double-cross. Some interpreted the name "Deadly Double" as an allusion to the Axis partners, Germany and Japan. Indeed, the double-headed eagle was very reminiscent of the German heraldic symbol.
FBI agents discovered that the Monarch Trading Company, credited on the ad as the game's manufacturer, was actually a dummy corporation. A white male, who had not given his name or address, had brought the plates for the ad directly to the New Yorker office and paid in cash to have it published. Curiously, after tracking him down the FBI uncovered that the man had met a sudden, violent death a few weeks later.
Swamped by so many other calls in the wake of Pearl Harbor, FBI agents were never able to determine whether The Deadly Double was really a part of an espionage ring inside the United States.
In this atmosphere of spy mania, the FBI and local law enforcement officers received thousands of calls from frantic citizens claiming to have witnessed suspicious individuals and activities. One investigation focused on a peculiar advertisement placed in the New Yorker magazine sixteen days before Pearl Harbor.
The ad was for a new dice game called The Deadly Double. It actually consisted of two ads, a small "teaser" in the front of the magazine and a full-size ad on page 86. The smaller version showed the words "Achtung! Warning! Alerte!" above a pair of dice with the numbers 12, 24, and XX (the double-cross sign), and 0, 5, and 7. The larger ad contained an unusual cartoon depicting a group of partygoers, clad in formal attire, playing dice in an air-raid shelter. A paragraph of text beneath that urged readers to include the dice game along with other essentials, such as coffee, cigarettes, and blankets, in their home air-raid kits. Finally, at the very bottom of the advertisement there was printed a large double-headed eagle, presumably the logo of the game.
After Pearl Harbor, many speculated that the ad had been a code notifying spies in the United States that war was about to commence. For example, the 12 and 7 could have indicated the date of the attack, December 7th; the air raid graphic might mean that it was slated to begin with an aerial bombardment; and the XX could signify either the latitude of the target (20, running through Hawaii) or, more generally, a double-cross. Some interpreted the name "Deadly Double" as an allusion to the Axis partners, Germany and Japan. Indeed, the double-headed eagle was very reminiscent of the German heraldic symbol.
FBI agents discovered that the Monarch Trading Company, credited on the ad as the game's manufacturer, was actually a dummy corporation. A white male, who had not given his name or address, had brought the plates for the ad directly to the New Yorker office and paid in cash to have it published. Curiously, after tracking him down the FBI uncovered that the man had met a sudden, violent death a few weeks later.
Swamped by so many other calls in the wake of Pearl Harbor, FBI agents were never able to determine whether The Deadly Double was really a part of an espionage ring inside the United States.
The numbers 12 and 7 could have represented the month (December) and the day (the 7th) and the numbers 5 and 0 the time of the planned attack. The XX could have stood for the approximate latitude of the target. The numbers 24 could have been a code to designate which enemy has actually placed the ad.
The layout and drawing of the larger ad on page 86 brought about more theories regarding the intended message. A drawing of what appears to be the noses of three bomber planes flying over the ocean toward their target, which everyone assumed to be Pearl Harbor with what looks like a bomb exploding on the water, antiaircraft shells bursting in the skies, and searchlight beams crisscrossing the sky.
(click to enlarge)
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