Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Winter 2008/2009 | Page 31

FEATURE
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH...

Photos: Courtesy of International Spy Museum

Anyone who likes reading spy novels or who laughed uproariously at Steve Carell’s
Maxwell Smart will be intrigued by the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
To bring together the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed
on public display, the International Spy Museum called on the expertise of former CIA and
36-year veteran

International Spy Museum
800 F Street NW, Washington, DC
www.spymuseum.org

CANADIAN

MUSEUMS

There are literally thousands of unique and interesting
museums of all shapes and sizes across Canada. Here is
a list of a few you might like. For an extensive Canadian
museum listing, visit www.museums.ca/en.

01.

THE BATA SHOE MUSEUM

ADDRESS: 327 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON
WEBSITE: www.batashoemuseum.ca
ABOUT: Love shoes? This is definitely the place to set your feet. Where else
Photo: © 2008 Bata Shoe Museum

Visitors to the museum adopt a cover, break codes, identify disguised spies,
and become the subjects of covert surveillance throughout their visit. Through these
interactive experiences and immersive environments, the Museum examines actual
events, reveals true stories, and presents hundreds of authentic tools of the spy trade.
And these tools are fascinating! “The Kiss of Death” was the name given to the
4.5
the mid-’60s. The existence of the weapon was first detected at a border crossing into
West Berlin.
Lipstick was one of many options for concealing weapons during clandestine
operations – lighters, pens, tobacco pipes and cigarette packs were also used, but if we
4.5-mm single shot Rectal
Pistol which was encased in rubber and hidden exactly where the name suggests.
Certainly not something you would want going off prematurely!
The Spy Shoe with Heel Transmitter is 1960
right out of Get Smart. With a radio transmitter concealed in the heel, it was used to
monitor secret conversations of the unknowing wearer! A maid or valet with access to the
individual’s clothing would be given the job of planting the rigged shoes and activating
the transmitter by pulling out a white pin from the heel. The target would then become a
walking radio station, transmitting all conversations to a nearby monitoring post.
There seemed to be no shortage of ways those spy types listened in on conversations
they were not meant to hear! A Tree Stump Listening Device, created by the CIA in the
early 1970s, was placed 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.
Listening was not the only sense used by spies to gain restricted information.
Since the earliest days of espionage, homing pigeons have been a spy’s best friend.
Distinguished by their speed and ability to return home in any weather, pigeons outfitted
with tiny cameras were released over military sites. As the birds flew, the cameras
continuously clicked away, snapping pictures to be developed and interpreted when the
pigeons reached their destination.
Now, if you have always fancied yourself more as a James Bond than whatever it is
you do for a day job, for a few extra bucks you might want to engage in the museum’s
“Operation Spy” feature. There, in an action-packed hour, you will take on the role of a U.S.
intelligence officer on an international mission to locate a missing nuclear device before
it falls into the wrong hands. Challenged to “feel, think, and act” like a real spy, you might
conduct video surveillance of clandestine meetings, decrypt secret audio conversations,
penetrate a high-security compound, crack a safe and search for clues under threat of
discovery, and conduct a polygraph test, all while making split-second decisions.
Now that’s a museum no one could find boring!

02.

Photo: Courtesy of Costume Museum of Canada

COSTUME MUSEUM OF CANADA

ADDRESS: 109 Pacific Avenue, Winnipeg, MB
WEBSITE: www.costumemuseum.com
ABOUT: The Costume Museum of Canada is home

to a collection of 35,000 artifacts spanning 400 years.
The renowned collection represents the identity
of everyday Canadians, urban and rural, public and
private, through the garments that they made,
purchased and wore. While the Costume Museum of
Canada is especially strong in Canadian clothing from
the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, it is also
home to some of the best of world fashion with pieces
from Chanel, Norman Hartnell, Worth, Schiaparelli,
Vionnet, Scassi and Paco Rabanne.

03.

could you find French chestnut crushing boots under the same roof as delicately
embroidered Chinese silk shoes, bear fur shoes for Japanese samurai and footwear
made from human hair? A rare and well-preserved velvet-covered platform mule
from 16th-century Venice, which is so tall that the wearer could not walk unaided,
is another one of the treasures of the comprehensive collection. Among the
collection’s most popular features is an extensive assortment of cele brity footwear.
The collection includes Queen Victoria’s ballroom slippers, Robert Redford’s cowboy
boots, Elton John’s monogrammed silver platform boots, Terry Fox’s running shoe,
Elvis Presley’s blue patent loafers, Karen Kain’s ballet shoes and John Lennon’s
Beatle boot.

Photo: Courtesy of Newfoundland Insectarium

NEWFOUNDLAND INSECTARIUM

ADDRESS: 2 Bonne Bay Road, Reidville, NL
WEBSITE: www.nfinsectarium.com
ABOUT: What’s bugging you? If the answer is nothing,

you need to visit the Newfoundland Insectarium.
This multi-dimensional museum features insects and
arthropods from around the world and is a celebration
of the most beautiful, fascinating, and least understood
group of animals on earth. Live insect exhibits are
interspersed with wall-mounted and floor exhibits,
giving the visitor the chance to view both living
and preserved specimens. In addition to tarantulas,
scorpions, and giant cockroaches, you can also check out
over 10,000 active honeybees in a glass beehive.

04.

Photo: Courtesy of Oil Sands Discovery Centre

OIL SANDS DISCOVERY CENTRE

ADDRESS: 515 MacKenzie Boulevard, Fort McMurray, AB
WEBSITE: www.oilsandsdiscovery.com
ABOUT: The Oil Sands Discovery Centre in Fort
McMurray is in the heart of the world’s biggest single
oil deposit – the Athabasca Oil Sands. At the Centre
you’ll be surrounded by BIG things – a dragline bucket,
a 150-tonne heavy hauler with tires three metres high
and “Cyrus,” an 850-tonne bucketwheel excavator.
You’ll really get the “big picture” when you see the
museum’s big screen movie “Quest for Energy.”

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