Original Chain Letter Scam c. 1930 [ Mail Fraud , Great Depression ]
$300
In stock
Description
Original Hectograph Chain Letter “The Unbreakable Chain” from about 1930 and the start of the rise of the Chain Letter scam during the Great Depression.
Anonymous. The Unbreakable Chain. [New York? Pennsylvania? ] c. 1930.
This early example from the start of modern chain letters in the Great Depression is an unusually pricey variation of the infamous “Send A Dime” letter scheme first noted in 1935. Predating that scam by at least four years, this letter urges the recipient to “forge a link” in an “unbreakable chain” by sending a dollar to the first name in a list, adding your own and passing it along to possibly get $1084.
As characterized by the hearty endorsement of John Wyson Davin, then Vice President of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, a quick glance through the names of past recipients shows that most of the letter’s marks were well educated and connected men for their time. Comparing the marriage announcement of Dr. Allison H Miller in 1931 with various census records for Dr. William S. Hutchins suggests that this chain letter dates from about 1930 during the first year of the Great Depression after the 1929 Stock Market Crash.
This would also place this money chain letter scam ahead of the so-called “Hyatt Letter” of 1933 which also utilized the name list method seen here and in Send-A-Dime examples. The unknown author of “The Unbreakable Chain” suggests it has been called “A[n] Advertising Mans’ [sic] Version of a Chain Letter” in this examples’ first sentence.
To quote the note from Dr. Hutchins at the bottom: “Dear Harold, I too think this stuff is fishy, but if ever one should work this is it.”
2 pgs, 8.5″ x 11″ unlined sheets printed on one side each in hectograph with pen annotations. Horizontal mailing creases. Minor wrinkling. Good condition.
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