Isolationism After WWI

After World War I, many in the United States favored isolationism. Woodrow Wilson's attempt to form a League of Nations was quickly derided by the Republican Party who sought to keep the world at arm's length. Even when Germany began to re-militarize under Hitler, there were many in the United States who wanted to maintain neutrality.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt saw that Hitler would not be satisfied until he had conquered Europe- and by that time, it might be too late to keep him at bay.

 

Unfortunately, the Republicans were still claiming they wanted to stay out of the war, though whether they were doing so out of true conviction or to be contrary was up for debate. After the Nazi ally Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, however, the country could no longer hide its head in the sand.

 

A Pearl Harbor Warning?

As the United States marks the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, one mystery about that day remains unsolved- who placed these bizarre ads in the New Yorker days before the bombing occurred?

 

The first ad depicts people sitting in a bomb shelter and suggests that people put away supplies in preparation for an air raid.

 

Other ads scattered throughout the magazine showed dice with a 12 and 7 on them (numbers that do not appear on dice) that appear to be about a game called The Daily Double from Monarch Publishing. After the bombing, someone noticed the coincidence and the U.S. Army investigated. No such company or game existed and the ads were hand delivered to the magazine and paid for with cash. The investigation ended without resolving anything and the mystery lives on.