But it didn’t take long for the template to be adapted to a less noble pursuit: conning people out of money.Īt the height (or low point) of the Great Depression in 1935, the city of Denver became the epicenter of a massive chain letter campaign known as the Send-a-Dime effort. While potentially annoying to some, many of these letters were altruistic in nature-an attempt to drum up financial support for what was considered to be a worthy cause. So many thousands of letters poured in that they choked her Babylon, New York, post office, prompting her mother to issue an open plea to stop people from sending any more. Newspapers like the New York World printed forms to raise money for a memorial for Spanish-American war soldiers in 1898, a 17-year-old volunteer for the Red Cross devised a chain that solicited money for ice to send to troops stationed in Cuba. The missionaries dubbed the chain letter a “peripatetic contribution box,” a kind of postal hat-passing that immediately began growing in popularity. 'I have figured up, and you must already have an abundance of money for the house. Others took a more direct way of holding on to their cash: I am a very busy woman, and this is the third benevolence I have been asked to help in this way.' 'To tell the plain truth, I am exasperated with this plan. While most recipients were happy to either contribute or disregard the letter, a few took the time to write back and complain about being targeted multiple times.

In spirit and cold cash, the chain letter had been a success. The missionaries eventually raised $6000, with many people sending more than a dime and others even using the letter as the inspiration to join their flock. The head of the congregation, Lucy Rider Meyer, took the suggestions seriously and drafted a letter that contained both a solicitation to send her one dime and to send a copy of the letter to three friends, who would (hopefully) repeat the process. Around the same time, the church received a chain letter requesting funds for another now forgotten object, sent to them by someone who thought it would work for this group as well. Just when all hope seemed lost, a woman who had heard of their troubles said that she had a possible solution: Someone had told her that arranging for a chain letter could be a possible avenue to financial reward. While the group leaders prayed for assistance, they also acknowledged they might need to take the initiative. Additions to their facilities had added up to an astounding $16,000. In 1888, a Methodist women’s missionary group was having serious cash flow problems. The price for not being on board? Usually awful luck. In the decades that followed, hundreds of thousands of people have received and forwarded letters that promise charity, prosperity, or religious enlightenment. Copies of the letter survive from as early as the mid-1700s, proof that people have always had an innate curiosity-and superstition-about chain letters. He that does not shall be cursed.”Īs hoaxes go, it wasn’t a bad way to get someone’s attention. “He that copieth this letter shall be blessed of me. From there, the note was copied and circulated, each facsimile bearing a strange warning: The note was taken to earth and hidden under a rock, which a young and earnest boy was able to lift. Fifty-five years after Jesus had been resurrected and ascended into heaven, he decided to author a letter offering wisdom to his human charges. Hundreds of years ago, a story made the rounds that seemed incredible.

But when it comes to the history of the chain letter, it’s very possible that Jesus was the first to author one. History can be maddeningly unspecific about certain things, particularly chronology.

T letter chain