Air-dropped condoms

[snopes]

Comment: A friend told me a story about condoms being dropped over
opposing troops during WWII. These condoms were very large, but were
labeled "small" in order to intimidate the enemies into thinking their
opponents were larger and more powerful.

[franjava]

Okay, that's just stupid. Ability to shoot a gun or lob a hand grenade is not determined by penis size. So, firstly, why would it matter if those American GIs have bigger wangs; secondly, why would anyone believe this legend? Wait... scratch that last question.

[Meka]

I can't speak to the veracity of this particular myth, but black (i.e. X-rated) propaganda was developed for use against the Nazis.

I recall an interview on some History Channel program with an artist who airbrushed Nazi-designed photos and leaflets to give them a darker, sleazier meaning. One specifically that I remember her talking about was a photo of Hitler with the caption "What we have, we hold," that had been retouched to show him holding his NFBSK.

It's also long been suggested that some of the wilder rumors surrounding Hitler's preferred sexual practices (definitely NFBSK) were known to, or perhaps even created by, Allied intelligence and considered for possible exploitation. For example, Hitler has long been suspected to have had an incestuous relationship with his niece, Geli Raubal, and may have even been involved in her death.

[Malruhn]

Meka, I used to be involved in this (at least on the periphery), so I have a small munchkin here.

"Black" propaganda is when you tell the other side that they are bad.
"White" is when you tell them that we are good and only good things can happen if they change sides.
"Gray" is anything in between or could be rationalized to be either...

I could see this as being pure Black propaganda, playing off of male penis envy - or should I say AMERICAN male penis envy. I don't know how circa-1930 era Germans might think of the battle of the penis. There have been situations like this before, when one side has attempted to emotionally blast the other side with something that just didn't work.

So, here's to the German snopesters: If I tell you that you have a small penis, is that a valid put down?

[Artemis]

My question is did they really air drop condoms in those days?

[Eddylizard]

Wasn't there a rubber and metals shortage during WWII? I'd have thought the rubber would be put to better use - like making a set of tyres for a jeep. Not to mention the aluminium in the wrappers.

[Esprise Me]

Was there a time when labeling condoms with sizes was standard practice? I wish I could go down to the local CVS and find condoms labeled "Small," "Medium," and "Large;" it would make my sex life so much easier. I realize it will never happen, though, for the same reason vanity sizing in women's clothing will never go away. Clothing stores have a difficult time selling women two-digit (American) sizes, but Trojan would never sell a size "Small" condom.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Wasn't there a rubber and metals shortage during WWII? I'd have thought the rubber would be put to better use - like making a set of tyres for a jeep. Not to mention the aluminium in the wrappers.

Rubber was probably too precious to make an old joke into a real propaganda project but I have heard from soldiers and sailors that condoms were distributed, along with instructions to use them. In the days before antibiotics, catching something wasn't joke and a healthy soldier was worth more than a tyre.

ETA -- I should correct that a bit: there were more and more antibiotics during WWII but there were also more and more soldiers who needed them for war wounds so they were also much more valuable than a bit of latex.

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

Rubber was probably too precious to make an old joke into a real propaganda project but I have heard from soldiers and sailors that condoms were distributed, along with instructions to use them. In the days before antibiotics, catching something wasn't joke and a healthy soldier was worth more than a tyre.

ETA -- I should correct that a bit: there were more and more antibiotics during WWII but there were also more and more soldiers who needed them for war wounds so they were also much more valuable than a bit of latex.

I'm aware that condoms were issued to allied troops, for the very valid reasons you have outlined. I was more questioning the wasteful tactic of supposedly dropping them en-masse over enemy lines..

On the other hand, I believe we were also short of paper, but still made propoganda leaflet drops.

I had an Uncle who was in the Merchant Marine in WWII. He was assigned to Merchant Ships that carried Lend Lease supplies from ports on the East Coast of teh US to Murmansk(sp?) in the USSR. He used to tell of the fights that the American Merchant Seamen and the Russian steveadores would get into. He aslo told the story that the American knew that the Russian steveadores were breaking into the crates and taking thier "cut" of the supplies before they left the port for internal soviet distribution. One of things he said was that some American had placed some boxes of really big condoms in the crates and marked the crates as "USA rejects TOO SMALL"

[Gavida]

Originally Posted by Malruhn

So, here's to the German snopesters: If I tell you that you have a small penis, is that a valid put down?

Nah, not really. We Germans have this idea that a big car is used to compensate for other "shortcomings" and american cars are a lot bigger than german ones

A more serious reply: I don't think that any soldier would drop his gun and say "oh no, their schlong is longer we stand (pun partly intended) no chance!"
I would even imagine that penis envy would make them more fierce when it comes to fighting those with long schlongs to prevent them from reaching "their" women.

Gavida

[Cactus Wren]

The version I heard was a Cold War story, with the Soviets trying to make a propaganda point to intimidate the US: they wrote to a US condom manufacturer saying basically, "The Red Army is in need of rubber prophylactic devices to distribute to our soldiers, but our rubber and latex are of poor quality. We would like to order ten thousand condoms, each 25 centimeters long and 7.5 centimeters in diameter." The company promptly sent back exactly that, in a box marked MEDIUM.

[Meka]

Originally Posted by Malruhn

"Black" propaganda is when you tell the other side that they are bad.
"White" is when you tell them that we are good and only good things can happen if they change sides.
"Gray" is anything in between or could be rationalized to be either...

Thanks for the info. For some reason I was under the impression black propaganda had a dark (no pun intended) connotation - i.e., whether sexually oriented or not, it wasn't something that would be made public, where as white propaganda could be.

Originally Posted by Cactus Wren

The version I heard was a Cold War story, with the Soviets trying to make a propaganda point to intimidate the US: they wrote to a US condom manufacturer saying basically, "The Red Army is in need of rubber prophylactic devices to distribute to our soldiers, but our rubber and latex are of poor quality. We would like to order ten thousand condoms, each 25 centimeters long and 7.5 centimeters in diameter." The company promptly sent back exactly that, in a box marked MEDIUM.

This one sounds like the wooden bomb myth. The Nazis build a fake airfield in the hope that the Allies will waste resources trying to attack it. However, Allied intelligence spots the ruse, and instead of a real airstrike, either the RAF or the USAAF send a single aircraft to "bomb" it with an equally fake wooden mockup of a bomb.

Both stories strike me as implausible, if for no other reason than both have one side giving away potentially valuable information to essentially make a joke. In the condom myth, the lack of quality in Soviet rubber production, if true, is potentially significant intelligence. Additionally, that bit of information could itself have been used as propaganda by the West - i.e., "Soviet industries produce goods of such poor quality that they are forced to buy from us." In the wooden bomb myth, why would Allied leaders reveal their intelligence capabilities (not to mention risk a pilot's life) just to send a humorous message?

Alright, initially this strikes me as complete rubbish. The concept that you would attempt to dishearten the enemy by falsely leading them to believe that Allied troops are better endowed is simply preposterous. However the history behind condom distribution in the military could have been amplified to the rather outlandish concept of this rumor. An extreme amount or WWI veterans returned with STD’s. Because of this during WWII the military began mass distribution of rubbers to American troops. Soldiers began finding other uses for the contraceptives. Non-lubricated condoms can be used as sheathes for firearm barrels to prevent deterioration as well as being able to store water, matches, explosives and the like for emergency situations. The only possible reason I could see for “airdropping” condoms would be for the soldiers to put them to alternative use—not rampant encounters across enemy lines. Or for something humorous to wear as a hat...

[Don Enrico]

Having read quite a lot about WWII history, I never came across this - and I doubt it for the reasons given above (mainly: wasting resources - not only rubber, but airtime of planes as well - to make a joke). Additionally, to get the joke, a soldier would have to actually unpack and use the condom - not that likely, considering it comes from the enemy and may be purposefully infected or otherwise tampered with.

Originally Posted by Malruhn

So, here's to the German snopesters: If I tell you that you have a small penis, is that a valid put down?

No, because I know you are wrong.

Seriously, there is about as much penis envy in Germany as everywhere else in the world.

Don Enrico

Didn't they do this in the movie "Air America"?

[Tantalus Prime]

Originally Posted by Duckie Queen

Didn't they do this in the movie "Air America"?

Yes they did.

And (if I'm recalling correctly) the anecdote about US condoms labelled "small" being given to the Red Army was also relayed in Michener's novel "Space". And if you think I'm slogging through 832 pages just to find where that anecdote is ...

[moonfall]

This sounds like a South Park-type gag. Did they ever do this in a South Park episode?

I remember reading a news article when that Matt Damon CIA movie came out that had this legend in it.

Apparently it was during the rise of the CIA, and was one of their ideas for intimidating the USSR. They never actually did it.