Think Fakes in China are Something New? How About Fake Gas Masks in 1937!

March 1937 and Shanghai residents are terrified that Japan may attack the city. They’re right to be afraid, Japan is menacing China and in August war will break out and bombs fall on the city. Worried citizens look to buy gas masks in the hope that they may be able to protect themselves and their families in the event of a gas bomb attack from Japan. But the Shanghai Air Defense Association reports a problem – fake masks are being sold, masks that will be useless in the event of a gas attack. Unscrupulous war profiteers are selling useless equipment to desperate and frightened people that will offer them no protection. I won’t bore you with the parallels over the years, they’re all too obvious….