Spy unmasked by throwing out National Geographics?
October 26, 2017 10:28 PM   Subscribe

Was there a spy in the U.S. whose fatal mistake was throwing out issues of National Geographic instead of keeping them in a growing yellow bookshelf row like red-blooded Americans did? Help me figure out whether I'm telling a tall tale.

I was talking with someone about decluttering books & magazines, and I joked that you'd better not let anyone see you ditch your National Geographic collection, or your neighbors might think you're a spy. I'm sure I remember reading that there was a Soviet spy in the U.S. whose very thorough cover included subscribing to middlebrow standbys like National Geographic. However, his neighbors noticed that he was putting old issues out in his garbage, when the custom was that you should keep your old Nat Geos in an ever-expanding archive, conspicuously displayed on your shelf to show you were well-read and well-off. That was enough to make them suspicious, and his cover was blown.

However, I can't find any mention of that via Snopes or Google. If anyone could point me to evidence that this really happened, I'd be grateful. I'd be sheepish & grateful if it turns out this was a fictional story that I misremembered. But if it turns out that this was all in my head, I'll at least feel better about ceasing to spread misinformation.
posted by NumberSix to Law & Government (8 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
While I have no idea as to the veracity of this anecdote- I can confirm that I too have heard this story, a few times. unfortunately I have heard it both ways, once it was told to me as totally true tale, and once as a false Cold War fable.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:03 PM on October 26, 2017


Best answer: Here is an article that claims it was Col. Rudolph Abel.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 3:11 AM on October 27, 2017


I'm pretty sure it was just a clever bit of comedy, a throwaway line.
posted by Chitownfats at 3:24 AM on October 27, 2017


> Here is an article that claims it was Col. Rudolph Abel.

Like many newspaper op-eds, this doesn't seem to be backed up by available first- or second-hand historical accounts.
posted by ardgedee at 5:27 AM on October 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


> I'm pretty sure it was just a clever bit of comedy, a throwaway line.

Yeah, that's one of those things that make a good joke but should not be taken seriously. Come on, lots and lots of people throw out old magazines, including Nat Geo, and always did.
posted by languagehat at 7:55 AM on October 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


Yes, I get that the author of the article is claiming this is so, and nothing else rises to the surface of the internet to corroborate it. However, surely the existence of this piece shows the OP heard this story from an outside source, and was not, as OP said, "all in my head"?
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 12:12 PM on October 27, 2017


I've heard this story before, but never until now has it had a named protagonist. I was going to suggect Snopes for collaboration but I can't find anything there.
posted by Rash at 2:14 PM on October 27, 2017


Response by poster: My best guess was that Abel was the spy involved, but I couldn't find anything like this related to him or to Penkovsky, my next best candidate. Thanks for that link. After further review of my extremely fuzzy memory on this, I have a vague sense that I might have heard the story from a grade school teacher in the 70s

For better or worse, Google searches invoking "National Geographic", "spy", and "trash" yield lots of results for animal observations and environmental issues.
posted by NumberSix at 9:50 PM on October 27, 2017


« Older The slow numb horror of it all   |   Decorating A Public School Classroom for... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.