In Thunderball, one of the most
memorable spy flicks ever made,
this is how a terse exchange
between James Bond and the film’s
main villain Largo goes:
Bond: That looks like a
women's gun.
Largo: Do you know a lot
about guns, Mr. Bond?
Bond: No, but I know a
little about women.
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The character of James Bond fascinates
us because of his ability with
guns, his incredible gadgets, his
seductive abilities that women find
irresistible, and his remarkable oneliners.
We want to be like him, a spy
who looks so cool and has so much
fun while protecting the world.
Now, you can quench your spy
mania by taking a visit to the
International Spy Museum. Located
in downtown Washington DC, the
International Spy Museum is the
only public museum in the United
States solely dedicated to the tradecraft,
history, and contemporary role
of espionage.
The museum features
the largest collection of international
espionage artifacts ever placed on
public display. You will behold such
fascinating items like a 1777 letter
by George Washington authorizing a
New York spy network to operate.
If you are one of those who think
that a spy is only as good as his
gadgets, then your impressions are
sure to find a new boost out here.
When you think of lipstick, you
think of a beautiful pair of lips.
Surely you don’t think of a gun. At
the Spy Museum you will find a nifty
lipstick gun, which was issued by
the dreaded KGB organization during
the heydays of the Cold War. |
The
gun consisted of a 4.5 mm single
shot weapon disguised as a tube of
lipstick, and was meant to be easily
hidden in a purse.
Fast cars are almost synonymous
with James Bond.
At the Spy
Museum you will find the Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in
the 1964 James Bond thriller
Goldfinger. The ultimate spy car
came fully loaded with machine
guns, tire slashers, bulletproof
shield, oil jets, dashboard radar
screen, rotating license plate, and
ejector seat. The Bond car not only
captured the public's imagination, it
also inspired intelligence agencies to
incorporate similar features into
high security vehicles used in dangerous
areas. |
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| How about a shoe with a heel
transmitter? This is another spying
tool displayed at the museum.
The KGB used this nifty shoe to
monitor secret conversations. A
transmitter, microphone, and batteries
were embedded in the heel of
a target’s shoe. A maid or a valet
was usually used to lay out the
rigged shoes for the target and pull
a white pin from the heel to activate
the transmitter.
Voila! The
target becomes a walking radio
station, transmitting all conversations
to a nearby monitoring post. |
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Then there is a pair of Escape
Boots, which look like ordinary
boots but they hide a spying secret.
These were designed for British
pilots during WWII by MI9, an
organization that provided escape
and evasion equipment to the
Royal Air Force. The idea is quite
simple - the bootstrap conceals a
small penknife that can be used to
cut off the tops of the boots, making
them appear like civilian walking
shoes. A pilot can easily stand
out because of his distinctive flying
boots. The converted shoes were
supposed to help him in blending
with the civilian population. |
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But it is the Tree Stump Listening
Device that bears the true hallmark
of the CIA, one of the most tech
friendly spy organizations. The
device was born from the imagination
of certain CIA operatives who
decided to disguise a listening device
as a tree stump and place it in the
woods near a Soviet military base to
capture secret military radio transmissions.
This device was solar powered
and the exterior resembled tree
bark. A satellite was used to extract
the information contained in the
stump. Quite nifty, isn’t it. |
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The Steineck ABC Watch camera
is a cleverly disguised subminiature camera that allows an operative to
take photographs while pretending
to check his watch for time. It uses a
circular piece of film with six exposures. |
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In fact, the Spy Museum is full of
spying gadgets that will fill you with
wonder and awe. Maybe it is true, a
spy is only as good as his gadgets.
But to be a James Bond kind of spy,
you need to develop his panache, his
ways with women and much else.
Is it possible that you are intending
to take up espionage as a professional
career? The Spy Museum has
the right answer if you yearn to
develop a spy like persona. One of
the exhibits is called School for
Spies. This section provides an
introduction to the world of espionage
and describes many of the
skills and tools essential to the
trade. It explores the different motivations
by which people become a
part of the espionage world, how
spies are recruited and trained, and
how they operate.
For more details
about the International Spy
Museum you can visit their website
at www.spymuseum.org |
