Collection Corner

April showers may seem dreary, but they provide the perfect excuse for using your umbrella as a concealment device!

Umbrellas have been used by spies to conceal documents, microfilm, and even weapons under more treacherous circumstances. An umbrella fitted with a compressed air mechanism capable of silently shooting a poison pellet could be deadly at close range. The one pictured above was issued by the KGB in 1978 and is currently displayed in the International Spy Museum’s main exhibit, along with other household items retrofitted for covert purposes.