Okay, I had to look at this one really hard to even slightly get what they were going at here. Apparently Smoky Bear wasn't getting the point across about preventing forest fires. I'm not sure how a forest fire would aid the Axis other than it would divert resourced needed for the war effort, but any excuse to make the Japanese look evil was always welcome. I still can't quite figure out what a fag bag might have been (and I'm damn sure ain't gonna Google it!) other than it was maybe a way for hikers and campers to dispose of used cigarettes.
Yes, it was a fire-resistant bag to put used matches and cigarette butts in. Fag did not get its derogatory meaning in the US for some years after this, and anyone hearing the word fag in the 1940's would have only thought of cigarettes, or perhaps a burning stick. Fighting forest fires took on a very patriotic tone during the war because it took significant manpower and resources away from the war effort. This is a big part of why Japan started their balloon bomb campaign: any forest fires they started consumed valuable resources, and if they were lucky to burn a home, or cause an injury, it was bonus terror.
Oh, and by the standards of the time, this was not even particularly racist. I've seen much worse.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-04-21 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 09:32 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-04-21 10:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-24 12:20 am (UTC)Oh, and by the standards of the time, this was not even particularly racist. I've seen much worse.