text:
Daniel W. VanArsdale
©1998, 2002, 2007, 2014, 2016
Abstract: Apocryphal letters claiming divine origin circulated for centuries in Europe. After 1900, shorter more secular letters appeared in the US that promised good luck if copies were distributed and bad luck if not. Billions of these "luck chain letters" circulated in the the next 100 years. As they replicated through the decades, some accumulated copying errors, offhand comments, and calculated innovations that helped them prevail in the competition with other chain letters. For example, complementary testimonials developed, one exploiting perceived good luck, another exploiting perceived bad luck. Twelve successive types of paper luck chain letters are identified which predominated US circulation at some time in the twentieth century. These types, and their major variations, are described and analyzed for their replicative advantage. In the 1970's a luck chain letter from South America that touted a lottery winner invaded the US and was combined on one page with an indigenous chain letter. This combination rapidly dominated circulation. In 1979 a postscript concluding with "It Works" was added to one of these combination letters, and within a few years the progeny of this single letter had replaced all the millions of similar letters in circulation without this postscript. These and other events in paper chain letter history are described, and hypotheses are offered to explain advances and declines in circulation, including the near extinction of luck chain letters in the new millennium.
Perhaps the most dramatic event in chain letter history was the advent of money chain letters. This was spawned by the infamous "Send-a-Dime" chain letter which flooded the world in 1935. The insight and methods of its anonymous author, likely a woman motivated by charity, are examined in detail in a separate article titled "The Origin of Money Chain Letters." This constitutes Section 4.1 below, where its link is repeated. It can be read independently from this treatise.The online Paper Chain Letter Archive contains the text and documentation of over 900 chain letters. Most of these texts have been transcribed from collected physical letters, but many come from published sources including daily newspapers present in online searchable archives. Some unusual items in the archive are: an anonymous 1917 chain letter giving advice on obtaining conscientious objector status; a 1920 Sinn Fein revolutionary communication; rare unpublished scatological parody letters from 1935; a bizarre chain letter invitation to a suicide from 1937; and a libelous Proctor and Gamble boycott alleging satanism from 1986. An annotated index provides easy access to all chain letters in the archive. An Annotated Bibliography on Chain Letters and Pyramid Schemes contains over 425 entries. A Glossary gives precise definitions for terms used here, facilitating the independent reading of sections.
2. Luck Chain Letters
2-1 Predecessors
2-2 The Predominant Series
2-3 Outliers
3. How Chain Letters
3-1 Population Dynamics
3-2 Distribution Networks
3-3 Evolution
3-4 Retention
3-5 Compliance
3-6 Mainline Testimonials
3-7 Effective Copying
3-8 Effective Distribution
4. Events in
Chain Letter History
4-1 The Origin of Money Chain Letters (1933 - 1935) (Independent Article)
4-2 Divergence of Luck and Money Chains (1935 - 1939)
4-3 Luck Follows Money (1949)
4-4 The Media Chain Letter (1948 - 1995)
4-5 The "It Works" Conquest (1979 - 1982)
4-6 The Death-Lottery Chain Letter Since 1980
I could not have conducted this study without the assistance and friendship of Dr. Michael J. Preston, University of Colorado English Professor and folklorist. He obtained scores of letters, gave me copies of his files and put me up in his home while I worked in the CU Boulder library. The help of Dr. William F. Hansen, folklorist and Head of the Department of Classical Studies at Indiana University was also indispensable. He provided many useful chain letters and translations, and his interest and encouragement have been sustaining.
Special thanks also go to Alan E. Mays, who sent many chain letters, his bibliography on chain letters and the Himmelsbrief, and archived chain email. Paul Smith also provided scores of letters and an extensive bibliography. Anna Guigne sent a stack of chain letters and answered questions. Steve Glickman helped with microfilmed Denver Post articles at UC Boulder. Carol Petty copied local newspaper articles in Springfield, Missouri, where chain letters rampaged for a few days in 1935. John Burkhardt shared his thoughts early in the project and emailed digitized letters. James H. Patterson has provided photocopies of many rare chain letters from his collection of "unmailable" items. Sandy Hobbs sent photocopies of every chain letter that has appeared in the publications Dear Mr. Thoms and Letters to Ambrose Merton.
I have received much needed help with foreign language chain letters. Prof. Sarah E. Winter translated several chain letters and an entire article from French into English. Dr. Yana VanArsdale found several Russian chain letters and articles, and translated published letters in Polish and Russian to English. Dr. Jean-Bruno Renard has sent chain letters from France and Brazil, and a bibliography of French publications. Natalia Kasprzak sent two Polish articles on chain letters and translated a Polish letter into English. Bill Clark translated some chain letter Tagalog. Martinovich Vladimir Aleksandrovich provided Russian chain letters he collected, and has translated a Russian version of the Romance Game chain into English.
Though I am solely responsible for the approach and presentation here, this effort was sustained because a few people expressed interest. I am especially thankful for the encouragement of Richard Dawkins, who suggested I write "a book on chain letters, with all your detailed examples and analyses." This is not a book, but likely it is enough detail for most readers.
A list of those who provided one or more paper chain letters
appears on
the information
page for the archive.
1-1 Introduction.
Seeking paper chain letters Overview Auxiliary Files and Conventions
paper chain letters.
If you have any information on where I may obtain more paper chain letters please email. Any chain letters received should include the postmarked envelope if the letter came in the mail. Even a single letter nearly identical to one already collected could be very useful. Foreign examples, clippings, obscure or foreign references, beliefs and rumors about chain letters, stories of receiving unexpected money in the mail or other personal experiences with chain letters are also welcome.
Texts that appeal to superstition to encourage their copying or publication have circulated for over a thousand years. For English language letters, beginning around 1905, copy quotas and deadlines appeared and claims of divine authorship and magical protection were removed. These innovations probably began in other languages and were translated into English. The resulting "luck chain letters" eventually spread worldwide, and in over four thousand generations of copying (with variation) they accumulated ways to sustain and increase circulation that challenge our understanding.
Using a collection of over 900 dated paper chain letter texts, I have identified types and variations that appear and disappear over the years. Unexpectedly, it was discovered that, repeatedly, a single letter bearing some new innovation had propagated so abundantly and rapidly that within just a few years its descendants replaced all similarly motivated letters in circulation.
Subtle methods that increase replication include the following.
Auxiliary Files and
Listed here are files in the directory /chain-letter/ and sub-directories /archive/, /e-archive/ and /photo-archive/ which support this essay and are publicly available.
The following conventions may help the reader decide whether
to pursue
a link.
1-2 Motivational Categories
Protection Charity Religion Luck Advocacy Money Parody Exchange World Record Chain Email
A chain letter explicitly asks a recipient to make
or purchase copies
of itself and distribute
them. It may also instruct
the reader to make
some modification of the letter,
such as updating a list of senders.
In this treatise I will use the term "chain
letter" exclusively to refer to paper chain
Examples reveal
that the form and content
of chain
letters are highly
correlated with the principal
motive to distribute
copies. I have classified each paper
chain letter in the archive
into one of nine motivational
categories which I define here. Three
of these categories (Protection, Luck, and Money)
are described in detail in following sections and hence only
briefly here. The order of the categories
here is the chronological order that English language
examples first appeared.
The Letters from Heaven (German: Himmelsbrief) claim to have been written by God or some divine agent. They often command Sabbath observance and promise the bearer magical protections.
Himmelsbrief have circulated
in Europe and elsewhere for
many centuries. They do not exactly fit the above
definition of a chain letter
since most do not ask that copies
be made, but instead ask the reader to "publish"
the text. I discuss them later
(> Heaven).
The filenames for
the Letters from Heaven
begin with the letter
"h" in the Paper Chain Letter
A charity chain letter requests money or some item be sent to a fixed address, ostensibly for charitable, political or memorial purposes.
Charity letters were common
from 1888 up into the 1920's, and influenced
early luck chain and money chain letters.
Apparently 1888
was a boom year for them, judging
from newspaper reports. There
was even a parody that circulated
A June 1887
newspaper article
found by Patrick Davison describes a "remarkable scheme" for collecting
donations by personal contact which uses a pyramid
of 6,144 persons to collect $17,412. Participants
were assigned one of the six letters A through F depending
on their role in the scheme. Early charity letters may
have been influenced by such schemes.
A December, 1888 letter in the
archive solicits dimes
for the education of "the
poor whites in the region of the
This letter
states it is an adaption
of a previous
solicitation, and
asks that four copies
be sent to friends.
For compliance ". . .
you will receive the
blessing of Him who was ready
to die for us". Excluding
the Himmelsbrief,
this may be the oldest chain
letter physically collected.
An older charity chain
letter from the summer of 1888
is described by Paul Collins,
and likely some
others circulated previously. A report
of an 1881
charity chain
letter in the Washington Post
is apparently false. In
an 1892
example, an American
college student
solicited dimes and ten copies.
This letter,
like most early charity chains, claimed
to be self-terminating:
recipients were asked
to increment a generation
count at the top of the
letter until it reached some
preset maximum at which time
the donation was to be made, but not more
copies. This practice
continued at least
through 1916 [Billy].
Usually, a few years
after a letter was launched,
only those circulated which had
inflated this maximum (NYT 1917).
For example, there
are two examples of a solicitation
for used postage stamps to build
a children's ward in Australia
The first is
from 1900
and is numbered
173 of 180 maximum. The second, highly modified,
still in circulation ten
years later [1910]
and is numbered 375 of 480 maximum.
Many chain
letters exaggerate the
loss if there
is a single break in transmission
Apart from intimidating
recipients to
comply, this may have been
influenced by certain mail
frauds of the time (Thomas 1900).
letters that did not state a
termination number were called
"endless" for a few decades,
and this language still appears
in some laws.
In 1989 the Craig Shergold appeal
get well cards for a dying
child (since recovered),
intending to break a Guinness world
record that existed at the
time. It was launched by FAX, email
and chain letters. By December
1990 a record 33,000,000 cards had been
received (Guigne).
Despite efforts
to stop the appeal,
of millions have now
been sent. Charity chain letters
were an influence
on early luck chain letters,
and in 1935 enabled the advent
of money chain letters. They are
common on the Internet
but most of these are hoaxes
A revealing
item in the archive
is a nine page chain solicitation
for one dollar contributions
to the 1950
of anti-union
Ohio Senator
Howard Taft. These were rescued
from the discarded files
of the Atlantic
Coast Line railroad
Archive filenames for
charity letters begin with
Religious chain letters promote religious beliefs, causes or practices, but do not ask for money. If they do they are classified as Charity chain letters.
In English speaking countries, religious chain letters circulated in small numbers throughout the twentieth century. Most of these have Roman Catholic themes. There is a single example in the archive of a chain letter which is titled "A Prayer to St. Joseph" which dates back to 1898. The text follows (format shortened, slightly edited):
Nellie Sullivan
A Prayer to St. Joseph.
Oh, St. Joseph
Whose protection is so great success so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my hopes, and confide to you all my interests. Deign Oh, St. Joseph to assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your divine foster son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
So that after having enjoyed here below your heavenly favors, I may offer you my thanksgiving and homage to the most tender and loving of all fathers.
Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you with Jesus asleep on your arms; but I dare not approach while he reposes on your heart.
Press him in my name, kiss softly his forehead for me, and ask him to return that kiss when I draw my last breath.
St. Joseph, patron of despairing souls pray for me.
- - - - -
To obtain the request granted to this prayer it must be written and given to five different persons who will give it to five others. Repeat the prayer for nine days after distributing it. It has never been known to fail in any request.
Nellie Sullivan.
Mary Hennessey. [1898]
Note that
only five copies are requested,
the prayer is to be
repeated on nine successive
days as in a
devotion. In the
last paragraph it is revealed
that the sender may
have made a personal "request"
of Joseph, who
is described as the "patron of
despairing souls." This
and other features, including
the claim that "it
has never been known to
fail," suggest this
letter may be a distant source
for personal appeals to St.
Jude that appear in the classified
ads of present day newspapers
in the U. S. (>jude)
St. Jude also appears
on subsequent
English language luck
chain letters beginning around
1987 (much later
than some have supposed).
One appositive for
St. Jude is "Saint
of things almost despaired
Other religious chain letters that have been collected include a solicitation for prayers [1905], and Catholic devotional themes, one of which is called "A Little Flower of Jesus" and claims to be approved by "the sisters of St. Francis" [1937, see also 1951].
for religious chain letters begin with
an "r" in the Paper Chain Letter Archive.
Advocacy chain letters promote some cause other than religion, and do not ask that money be sent. Often they involve a petition. Also included in this category are announcements and invitations.
A 1903 postcard, as well as asking that copies of itself be distributed, asks that recipients send their name and address to the "U.S. Moral Society" to be added to a petition to Congress to prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors. In subsequent examples the initial communication itself could be a petition, as in an attempt to draft Calvin Coolidge as the Republican nominee for President [1927]. An example not involving a petition is an August, 1940 letter advocating Republican Wendell Willkie for President and asking that ten copies be sent. A 1917 chain letter with detailed instructions for establishing conscientious objector status is a rare example of anonymous advocacy. Other chain letter causes include Czech independence [1949], nuclear disarmament [1985], protests of apartheid [1988], and a libelous call for a boycott of Proctor & Gamble [1986] alleging satanism. Recipients are invited to a party, and possibly a suicide, in a 1937 chain letter. Advocacy chain emails are also common, such as a perennial appeal to support National Public Radio [e1996].
chain letters
have filenames beginning
"a" in the archive.
Luck chain letters appeal primarily to superstition, promising good luck if the letter is copied and distributed and bad luck if it is not. They are often called "prayer" chains because many prior types started with a prayer or Bible verse.
Luck chain letters may have developed
either from a requirement to distribute
a prayer
in a Roman Catholic Novena
devotion [1898], or as a secularization of
promises and threats in the Letters from Heaven [1906], possibly in a
preamble. The
English language paper
luck chain letters
of the twentieth
century will be my principal
topic. Most examples
in the last few decades
are highly traditional,
having gradually
accumulated varied
devices to promote circulation.
The lists of prior senders
that often accompanied luck chain
letters have at times motivated replication
in order for one to display to others
that a high status person sent them
the letter. Since this motive is not catered
to by any language in the host chain
letter, I have not listed it as a separate
motivational category. Luck chains
have also been common on the Internet.
Though originally these
were simply digitizations
of paper letters, they subsequently
specialized to the email
medium [e1995].
Filenames for paper luck chain letters begin with the letter "l" in the archive.
Money chain letters urge the recipient to send money to one or more prior senders, claiming that one can likewise benefit if sufficient copies are distributed.
The key innovation of money chain letters was a list
of names and addresses with the instructions to
remove the top entry, move the others up one slot,
and add one's own name and address at the bottom. I
call any list with these instructions a controlled list. Money
letters originated
in the United States in
the spring of 1935 with
the "Send-a-Dime"
letter, also
called "Prosperity
Club" [Denver].
A prior luck chain letter
was used
as a model for
Send-a-Dime. These and other details of the advent
of money chain letters are presented in the article
The Origin of Money Chain Letters which
can be read independently of this treatise,
or read in sequence (section 4-1). Money
chain letters
have influenced
the content and distribution
of luck chain
letters up into the
1950's and possibly
beyond (sections
and 4-3).
Also included in this category are pyramid schemes,
which we
define as not using the
mails to recruit (but they may,
or may not, use the mails to make
payments). Money chain letters continue
an omnipresent nuisance
to this day, both in
paper [2002]
and as E-mail [2001].
Money chain letters and pyramid
schemes violate Federal
and State (West's
Filenames of items in this category begin with "m".
Parody letters mock the style and methods of circulating chain letters. The request for copies may not be serious, but parody letters have often circulated in the mails.
There is a single example of an 1888 letter mocking
charity chain letters which had just appeared in large numbers at that time.
This letter purports to seek "brutes in pantaloons"
to wed "old maids" in Massachusetts. It was not
until the money chain letter craze of 1935
that parodies appeared in large numbers and many varieties.
These mocked
both the language and geometrical
progression of the Send-a-Dime
letter, as well as the exchange letters
it had inspired. Examples mentioned
in the
press include the "Liquid
Assets Club" [1935]
may have actually been used to exchange liquor,
as was possibly the "Send-a-Pint"
letter) and the
"Drop Dead Club" (shoot
the first
person on the list). I have
collected several
complete texts of early
parodies, including
some scatological examples
The familiar "wife
was very common in the 1950's,
and I recently
found a bare bones example
from [1935]
These wife exchange letters illustrate
how punch lines can be topped
successively. The early 1935
example simply states that one may receive
15,125 women for its humorous
effect. Then a 1939 example
introduces the quip
that one man broke the chain and
got his own wife back. Though illogical,
this disappointing result
was the final punch line up into
the early 1950's. A mimeographed
letter notes in a postscript that
at the funeral of a friend who
received 183 women, everyone remarked
that "he had a smile on his face for the
first time in years." This in turn was
topped in 1954 by
an account of the difficulties
that three undertakers
had in removing that smile.
The "Fertilizer
Club ("go to
the top address on the
list and crap on the front
lawn") [1971]
very likely goes back
to 1935, but it is unlikely
it would have been published
in a newspaper.
The wife exchange
parody was commercially
produced as a postcard [1954],
and an undated
matchbook advertisement
even earlier
commercial production
of chain letter parodies
The wife exchange parody itself fell victim
to parody in
an imitative
letter [1949].
Despite commercial
chain letter
parodies circulated
in different
versions like photocopied
office humor. There
is no serious request for
copies, thus technically
they are not chain
letters. Parodies have probably
served to educate the
public on the fallacies of
money chain letters, and have
influenced the content
of luck chain letters. They
are very common on the Internet
[St. Paul].
Paper parodies of chain letters
appear in the archive
with filenames
with "j" (for joke).
The exchange chain letters ask that an item of small value be sent to one or more prior senders, promising that if a specified number of copies are distributed the sender will in turn receive many such items.
Within weeks after the proliferation of the first money
chain letter, Send-a-Dime,
letters appeared which utilized
its controlled list
method to exchange items other than
money. [1935]
By 1937
the text in these chain letters, as well
as the number of names on the
list, had been reduced. Unlike
luck chain letter types, the copy
quota on exchange chain
letters varies considerably,
as does the number
of names present in the controlled
list. In chronological
order, items exchanged
on archived chain
letters are: recipes, quilt
patches, handkerchiefs,
stamps, tea towels, postcards,
dish towels, aprons,
wash rags, Turkish towels,
earrings, QSL cards,
Tshirts, new panties, paperback books,
dog toys, collectibles, grocery
coupons, lottery scratchers
and children's books.
Exchange chains were still circulating
in paper in 1996. Only
one example in email
form has been collected
(a used paperback book
Filenames for exchange
letters begin with an "x"
in the archive
World Record.
The world record chain letters motivate replication exclusively by claiming distribution of copies will likely set a world record and that participants will be acknowledged. They circulated primarily among children after the new millennium, having developed from a lineage of postcard exchange letters.
In 1976 a
postcard exchange letter claimed
that it was approved by the US
Postal Service as an "educational
game for children". It also claimed
that it had never been broken in over
three years, and that just to delay sending
copies beyond
three days constituted
breaking the chain
A 1985 cognate,
said to have been started
by "kids in Germany",
asserted that if the
letter continued
unbroken for a little longer
it would be in the Guinness Book
of World Records. Later other
such letters
promised that each person who
participated in the
chain would get their name in
the Guinness record book. But
should the recipient not send
copies, or even delay doing
so for more than three days, the record
would be spoiled and all the children
"would have to wait another
nine years to be in the record
book" [1996-08].
This descent into
absurdity had became inevitable
when an innovation that
promoted the total exclusion
of adults replicated. On
a 1999 letter
the recipient is instructed
to "... send it to six kids."
this restriction to kids
was strengthened
("KIDS ONLY"), and was justified
by saying it meant "kids
will do the longest chain
letter" [2001-04]. Distributions to adults may not have changed the text of the
most irrational versions,
but increased
discard may have curtailed
their circulation.
A letter mailed in the new millennium [2000-11] drops all mention
postcards and declares
that "it is an attempt
to get into the world
records." So a new motivational
category is necessary
to cover this chain
since postcards are no longer
exchanged. I call this motivational
category "world
record". Our earliest example
also claims that "the
post office is keeping track".
Further, perhaps to
make this seem more plausible,
the list of names and addresses,
which previously directed
the flow of postcards, had now
migrated to the outside of the
envelope. This in turn nurtured
a grave fear: the post office could
determine "who broke the chain"
This is no small matter:
"it has never been broken
so please don't spoil
it for every one." An additional
feature of this letter was
the claim that it would be delivered
without a stamp. Cognates
collected in the next
few years, most of them claiming
to have started in Australia,
dropped this feature
but added the instruction that
one should write on the
envelope: "This is the official
Guinness Book of World
Records chain letter" [2001-04],
or something
similar. Presumably this would
allow the Post Office to "track"
the chain.
This requirement of an
external declaration continued
on most letters of the lineage,
and on these we see again
the claim that a stamp was not required
for delivery. One only
had to write the declaration
where the stamp would normally
be affixed [2005-09].
This curious feature also
on "Lottery-Death"
type luck chain letters in 1974
( > no stamp ),
as well as in certain
chain letters. The list
of names was soon dropped in
the lineage [2001-07],
but the claim
of Post Office tracking continued
The exchange of postcards is the most logical use one can
imagine for a paper chain letter. This is because the invitation to participate
can itself be a collectible
postcard. Thus it
is ironic that a variety
of postcard exchange
letter gave rise to this
most absurd of all chain
letters. Most of the propagative
innovations on
the "kids" type letters
are likely accidental or
naively motivated, but many
recipients must have believed
them. A letter from a mother
describes her daughter's fear
of being identified as one
who broke the chain [2007-01].
These "world record"
paper chain letters
may have been one of the
most abundant English
language paper chain letters
in the first decade of the new
millennium. But recently
(2012) their numbers may have
been greatly reduced by computer
searching on text. As
for all chain letters here,
children's names and addresses
have been obscured in online
Filenames for the "world record" chain letters begin with a "w" in the archive.
The primary focus of this treatise is on paper chain letters. But it is sometimes useful to examine copying behavior on the internet, particularly frequently forwarded email ("chain email"). This has a large and growing number of motives for replication. Hoaxes, humor and expressions of friendship are prominent. The following is an alphabetic list of some of the many topics observed since 1993: admonitions (duty to friends, sobriety, safe sex), anti chain letters, aphorisms, ASCII art and scrollers, communication experiments and demonstrations, consumer warnings, friendship, hoaxes (virus warnings, charity, giveaways, false quotations), human rights alerts, humor (single jokes and lists, office humor items, stories), inspiration, Internet protection (modem tax, phone charges, anti-censorship), good luck (often in sex or romance), missing children, money chains, number guessing tricks, parodies, patriotism, personality tests, petitions, photographs and videos, poems, political commentary, practical jokes (especially April Fools Day), prayer requests, protests, rumors, school & exams, seasonal (Christmas, St. Valentine's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day), speeches, surveys, tag (snowball fight, mooning), urban legends (warnings, humor), voting recommendations, and Web page suggestions. Many of these topics appear in combination, such as a humor item with a short luck chain attached.
Many e-mail chains began as digitizations of paper chain
A very early example
is an exact transcription
of a circulating
paper luck chain
letter [e1982
- note archaic
formats]. Paper office humor
items were also put online
Once established,
chain emails rarely surge in replication due to an
offhand change or copying
error, as we will see occurs within
the paper medium. This is because
an email is usually
reproduced exactly, and thus there
are few if any variations. However
both luck chain emails and
money schemes quickly developed
adaptions to the new medium through a series
of deliberate hoaxes or
calculated modifications. A new
restraining factor manifested
when email chains were posted on
various lists and group venues, provoking
critical analysis and ridicule.
Recipients of a chain email (and chain
letters) are now likely to search the web
on key text, particularly if money
is solicited. Such a search will discover
naive postings and attempts to recruit
participants in money schemes. However,
high in the list of matches, one will
also encounter critical comments and
disarming analysis, such as on some of
the money chain emails in the archive associated
with this essay [me2009].
Email screening criteria by Internet
Service Providers have, in recent
years, also become a significant factor
in the survival of email replicators.
< Start
of above
< Start
of Chain Letter Evolution
- Contents
The collection of letters Table 1 - Contents of the Paper Chain Letter Archive Foreign language letters Publications Web Sites Interviews
The Collection
of letters.
I began collecting chain letters in 1973 with the hope they would reveal an evolutionary sequence. This effort was renewed several years later after discovering the folklore literature, particularly Michael Preston's 1976 article "Chain Letters" (Preston). This documented chain letters in a state of flux and presented variations of the same letter. Subsequently I placed ads for chain letters in collectibles magazines. Collecting large numbers of more recent letters began in June 1995 when Dr. Preston solicited chain letters for me from folklorists. In recent years I have also purchased old chain letters on eBay, the immense on-line auction. Sometimes copies were provided free by the seller or buyer, or a transcript could be made from auction photographs. I renewed collecting efforts in Dec. 2013 by subscribing to the commercial online newspaper databases newspapers.com and newspaperarchive.com. These have provided over a hundred chain letters for the archive and many entries for the bibliography.
All of the datable letters (except for some foreign examples and recent money chain letters) have now been digitized in HTML format and each is accessible on-line as a separate file in the Paper Chain Letter Archive. An index for the archive lists clickable file names of all items in the archive with annotations for most. The archive directory also contains an information page listing abbreviations used in file names and other conventions. The text of all the letters in the archive can be searched using using a site search engine provided by FreeFind. Transcriptions in the archive preserve the errors in the original letter unless otherwise noted. The medium of the letter, its date of circulation, how it was delivered, the provider, and other information is documented after the text.
Table 1 - Contents of the Paper
Letter Archive.
English language chain letters presently (April, 2015) in the Paper Chain Letter Archive are tabulated below by year of circulation and motivational category. Himmelsbrief and religious chain letters are excluded. Scores of additional published letters, especially early luck and charity chains, can be easily obtained from existing online newspaper archives.
|1885 - 89
|1890 - 94
|1895 - 99
|1900 - 04
|1905 - 09
|1910 - 14
|1915 - 19
|1920 - 24
|1925 - 29
|1930 - 34
|1935 - 39
|1940 - 44
|1945 - 49
|1950 - 54
|1955 - 59
|1960 - 64
|1965 - 69
|1970 - 74
|1975 - 79
|1980 - 84
|1985 - 89
|1 (b)
|1990 - 94
|1995 - 99
|2000 - 04
- 09
|95 (a)
(a) Over 100 money chain letters have been collected since
1975 but most
have not been digitized.
(b) The Craig Shergold appeal circulated widely beginning in 1989. Many are published (Guigne); only two are archived here.
The numbers in the table may not be reliable measures of
relative circulation. Newspapers were much more likely to print the
text of a chain letter prior to 1960. The large number of Ancient Prayer examples
collected is because it circulated largely on postcards, many of which were
saved and eventually offered for sale by dealers on eBay. Recent correspondence
is rarely offered for sale. Time gaps in the number of money
chain letters in the archive reflects a lack collecting
effort rather than circulation.
Language Letters.
Presently there are over thirty English translations of foreign language chain letters in the archive. Most of these are also presented in their original language as well. There are several foreign language letters that have yet to be translated.
Because of the ease
with which letters are transmitted
internationally, chain letters are,
and have always
been, an international
Only by the extensive
collection of foreign
language examples can
an accurate genealogy
of chain letters be constructed.
It is also
revealing to see how chain
letters vary from one culture
to another. Sub-directories
have been established
in the archive for chain
letters in French,
German and Russian.
In 2006 I was contacted by Martinovich Vladimir Aleksandrovich, head of the Center of New Religious Movements Studies in Belarus. He has collected many chain letters in the Russian and Ukrainian languages. Transcriptions of some have been entered in the sub-directory /archive/russian [content-ru].
Of the 900+ letters in the Paper Chain Letter Archive, 230 were found in publications. Early in the project the New York Times Index located many texts of chain letters, and a mention of a McKinley Memorial chain before it was collected (NYT 1906). As mentioned above, I have found over a hundred texts of chain letters using newspapers.com and newspaperarchive.com, online archives of digitized microfilm images. This has filled in many blanks in chain letter history, particularly with the luck chain letters of the 1920's and 30's. Newspaper transcriptions destroy formats and rarely report lists of names adequately. Some French (Le Quellec) and Polish (Robotycki) publications contain many chain letters that have yet to be entered into the archive or translated. Newspaper articles are also frequent in the Annotated Bibliography, which currently contains over 375 entries, most of them from newspapers.
Web Sites.
There are many thousands of WWW sites that match a search on "chain letter." The vast majority of these are about "email" chains, which are not my topic here. A useful list of annotated links appears in Watrous, and I will not duplicate this. To find the texts of luck chain letters one can search for traditional text, such as "Dolan Fairchild" or "Dalan Fairchild." A few transcriptions of paper luck chain letters found this way have been entered into the Paper Chain Letter Archive [1998]. Others are present on the WWW, but it is difficult to judge if they are complete and unedited. An article by Charles Bennett, Ming Li and Bin Ma, titled "Chain Letters & Evolutionary Histories" appears in the June 2003 issue of Scientific American (Bennett). This uses phylogenetic inference algorithms to construct a cladogram for 33 DL type chain chain letters. These are available on the web, and if dated I have copied them to the archive here.
I have obtained some information about chain letters and people's attitudes toward them by informal questioning of acquaintances. Several inquiries about foreign circulation have been made on USENET newsgroups. Much more could have been learned by systematic interviewing. However, people who send out chain letters, for luck or money, are often reluctant to reveal their activities and motives. Nevertheless, some interview material in newspapers and popular magazines has been very useful for understanding replication (Marilyn Bender, New York Times, 1968).
< Start of above section
< Start of Chain
Letter Evolution
- Contents
Ancient documents that advocate their own perpetuation The Letters from Heaven Transitions to chain letters
documents that advocate
their own perpetuation.
Many ancient texts survive which provide diagrams, incantations or prayers that claim to benefit those who learn them. Some come close to our definition of a chain letter by urging that a personal copy be made. The Ancient Egyptian "Book of that which is in the Underworld" states (of a picture it provides):
Another Buddhist text, the Diamond Sutra, is the oldest (868 AD) extant book printed by wood block reliefs. It promised great merit to those who "observe and study this Scripture, explain it to others and circulate it widely . . ." (Goddard, p. 96)
The Surangama Sutra states:
The Letters
from Heaven.
The "Letters from Heaven" (often called by the German "Himmelsbrief") claim to have been written by God or some divine agent. Many authors restrict the term to apocryphal Christian letters. These often claim miraculous delivery to Earth, magical protection for the possessor, blessings to those who "publish" them, and divine punishment for disbelief of their claims. The original copies are often claimed to have been written in gold letters, or with the blood of Jesus. Many published versions were illuminated. An early and frequent feature is the command for extreme Sabbath observance, as in the Madgeburg Himmelsbrief [text].
A German authority on the Himmelsbrief, H. Stube, said the letters long predated Christianity (Oda). Examples in Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Syrian, and Ethiopic have been published with German translations. Jewish and Islamic Himmelsbrief are also reported (Hand). These may all derive from an early Greek source (Bittner). A letter which was said to have fallen from heaven existed in the third century AD (Hippolytos, Refutation of All Heresies). The oldest Letter from Heaven for which we have a full text is the Latin "Letter from Heaven on the observance of the Lord's Day," the original of which dates from the close of the sixth century (Priebsch). St. Boniface denounced this as a "bungling work of a madman or the devil himself." Eckehard (1115 AD) wrote that it had spread over the whole globe then known to man. It has circulated in English in many versions [1795 text, image].
Jacob, organizer of the Crusades of the Shepherds, claimed (ca. 1251) the Virgin Mary appeared to him and gave him a letter. While in public he always carried it in his hand. A cult of uniformed flagellants appeared in Germany in 1261 claiming to possess a heavenly letter that had descended upon the altar of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem before a multitude. The text has survived: God, angry at human sin, has decided to destroy all life, but the Virgin intercedes and God grants humanity one last chance to reform. Any priest who refused to pass on the divine message to his congregation would be eternally damned. During the Black Death (1348-9) the same letter, with a paragraph on the plague added, was used as a manifesto by a revived flagellant movement. At gatherings the manifesto was read publicly, the audience being "swept by sobbing and groaning." (Cohn)
Some Letters from Heaven specialized in protection, and accumulated long lists of weapons by which the possessor could not be harmed. The Count Philip Himmelsbrief [1895] granted protection against "spear, sword, sabre, cutlass, knife, tomahawk, rapier, helmet, burdon, . . . , and everything prohibited by holy writ, that is from all kinds of weapons, artillery, cannon, musket, rifle, gun or pistol." A preamble mentions its use in the American Revolution and claims that Count Philip of Flanders sponsored it after he was unable to execute a condemned prisoner who had secreted a copy on his person. Various Letters from Heaven in German were printed in Pennsylvania during the 19th and early 20th century (Oda), [1887 image1 & image2].
Letters claiming divine authority are also reported from India. Chain letters circulated in Shahabad in 1864 that condemned the breeding of pigs and consumption of alcohol. They were said to be from Heaven. In North Tirhut, 1872, cow protection was advocated by "strange papers" which "warned that Jaganath (Lord of the World) would curse any one who did not pay heed to this message and would burn down the house of any one who failed to pass it along to other people." Letters advocating cow protection in 1893 mandated recipients "make and then issue copies to at least five villages" - an early example of a copy quota. (Yang)
An email chain posted to an Islamic coins mailing list
consists of: (1) an
"Letter from Heaven," which
likely first circulated
in paper, and (2)
a reduced version (testimonials
of a paper luck chain letter
I call the Lottery24
type. In II Chronicles 21:12
it is said that Elijah sent a letter
to King Jehoram. It has been determined
by scholars that Jehoram did not reign until
14 years after Elijan's death and the text
has been interpreted by some clergy to mean that
the letter came from Heaven. (1947)
It may be thought that the Letters from Heaven were a phenomenon of centuries past. But searching online newspaper databases reveals that probably hundreds of Jesus' Sabbath Letter have been published in local newspapers in the United States in the last two centuries, continuing up to the 1960's. Searching on the text "fast five fridays" produced 25 matches using newspapers.com and 72 using newspaperarchive.com. Most of these printings were responding to requests by faithful possessors of the letter, heeding its command to "publish" it. One columnist revealed: "It used to be sent to newspaper editors, demanding that the passage be published in the paper and setting out all sorts of dire consequences if the editors failed to acquiesce." (1939) Usually a brief succession of possessors is given, some of whom had bad luck after they did not publish a letter in their possession. Such claimed lineages may go back to the original legendary possessor of the letter [1910]. The Holstein Himmelsbrief, which features protection from weapons, has gained favorable newspaper testimonials for its use in both World War II and the Vietnam war: "He kept track of those to whom he sent a copy of the letter and every one of them returned unharmed from the war." [1968]
to chain letters.
Edwin Fogel, writing in 1908, assumed that a luck chain letter [1908] was a new version of a Letter from Heaven (Fogel). There is little similarity in the texts, but perhaps Fogel was familiar with transitional forms now lost. Speaking of the apocryphal Letter from Jesus Christ [1915], Edgar Goodspeed wrote "it is sometimes sent through the mail with a request that the recipient send copies of it to three others, as some great misfortune is likely to befall him if he does not" (1931). Such a practice must have long predated 1931. Thus luck chain letters may have evolved from the preambles and postscripts to Letters from Heaven. At some stage the divine communication may have been replaced by a less pretentious "prayer," followed by entreaties to copy it. This is the form of the "Ancient Prayer" type [1905 - 1925] discussed in the next section. Some versions of Ancient Prayer promise deliverance "from all calamities" and threaten "eternal punishment" [1906] - as do some Letters from Heaven [Madgeburg]. Folklorists have generally followed Fogel in presuming that luck chain letters derive from the Himmelsbrief tradition (Ellis), though transitional examples have yet to be found.
More collecting should clarify the transition
to chain letters.
The first luck chain
letters may also have
been influenced by early
charity chain letters
which likely
introduced the idea
of a copy quota.
< Start of above section < Start of Chain Letter Evolution - Contents
Features of 20th century luck chain letters The Series of Predominant Types Statement Types
Ancient Prayer Good Luck Flanders Prosperity Flanders-Prosperity Blind13 The Luck of London
Chain of Good Luck Luck by Mail Death20 Lottery-Death Death-Lottery
In this section I list characteristic features of English language luck chain letters, identify certain kinds of statements that are frequently seen on them, classify most of them into 12 sequential "types", and give a complete text and further information for each of the 12 types.
Features of 20th century luck chain letters.
After 1900 chain letters were influenced by increasing literacy, international mail and postcards, and changing attitudes about religion and miracles. Also chain letters themselves accumulated new technologies for increasing replication. Whereas the prior Letters from Heaven usually urged the reader to "publish" the letter, chain letters gained more circulation by relying on individual copying with specific copy quotas and deadlines. The following features characterize luck chain letters of the 20th century.
(1) Brevity. The Letters from Heaven typically had over 500 words and were often elaborately printed. By contrast, the widespread luck chain letter from 1905-25, called "Ancient Prayer", had about 120 words and was usually distributed by handwritten postcards.
(2) Secularity. Luck chains originating in the 1900's dropped claims of divine authorship, delivery from heaven to earth, granting protection from fire or weapons, divine punishment for disbelief, and miracles generally. A Saint, missionary or military officer may be attributed as the author of the letter, but never Jesus. Promises of good luck and threats of bad luck exploited vague popular superstitions rather than naive piety.
(3) Copy quota. Chain letters state a minimum number of copies that the recipient is encouraged to distribute.
(4) Deadline. This task is to be completed within a stated period.
(5) Waiting period. But according to most letters, one must wait a certain number of days before receiving good luck.
(6) Testimonials. All English language luck chain letters since the 1930's contain accounts of fortune and misfortune allegedly experienced by prior recipients of the letter. These testimonials are told in the third person, usually of a named individual.
(7) Circumnavigation. Almost all luck chains since 1910 have either (1) declared they are to go "all over" or around the world, or (2) claimed a certain number of completed circumnavigations.
(8) Lists. When someone signs their name on a chain letter, a recipient may faithfully copy this name, perhaps thinking this was the author of the original letter. Eventually another person may sign below the first name, suggesting to downline recipients that they should do the same. In this way chain letters often accumulated long lists of senders [1922], even though this behavior may not be solicited in the text of the letter. Initials, names of couples [1975], dates received [1982], and company letterheads [1990] have similarly accumulated. Lists often reached fifty or more names and became a burden to copy [1925] (Lardner). Some chain letters avoided this by instructing, for example, "Copy the above names, omitting the first, add your name last" [1933]. If this processing is always undertaken a controlled list of fixed length results. Other chain letters forbade "signing on" - notably postcard chains [1911] and Internet luck chains [e1994]. The presence of a senders list on a chain letter may change the motives for sending it and the choice of recipients.
|Ancient Prayer
|1906-21, 1924
|1906-25, 1938
| None
|Good Luck
| 34
|1922-23, 1925-26
|9, 4/5
| Most: X to Y
| 28
| None
|9/5 (c)
| Most: controlled
| 9
|5 (d)
| All: controlled
| 17
| None
|Luck of London
| 9
| None
|Chain of Good Luck
| 8
| All: controlled
by Mail
| 31
| Most: controlled
| 18
| Most: controlled
|Lottery-Death (LD)
|24 & 20 (e)
|9 & 4
| All: controlled
|Death-Lottery (DL)
| Early: Some (f)
(a) Circulation in the US in 1924 was dominated by quota
ten versions of Ancient
Prayer. Two items from England,
and one each from Australia and
the US, had quota, deadline, and wait
all seven [1916,
1925, 1923,
(b) Augmented versions of Good Luck predominated from 1925-26.
(c) A 1937 reduced Prosperity chain on a postcard asks for ten copies [1937].
(d) "Send this copy and four others" is on Flanders-Prosperity, Luck of London and Luck by Mail types.
(e) On early examples 24 is the quota in the Lottery block and 20 in the Death block.
(f) Some early examples of DL had a senders' list between the D and L blocks.
To recognize copying
when there is high variability,
and to simplify
descriptions of chain
letter text, it is useful to
identify and name certain
non-essential yet common
types of statements that appear
on various luck chain letters.
I will capitalize these names to distinguish
them from conventional
uses of the same word, and
allow them to be both nouns and adjectives.
Linkage. A statement on a chain letter which describes one or two of the latest transmissions of the letter in hand. If present, Linkage statements usually appear at the start of a chain letter, and can function as a declaration that the letter is a chain letter (Dundes). They may also be inserted when a list is removed. Linkage statements appear on some Ancient Prayer examples and are near universal on the Flanders type. Examples:
Dear Friend - I am sending you a prayer that I received with the request that it be sent to nine persons. [Ancient Prayer, 1906]
This was sent to me by a friend. [Ancient Prayer, 1909]
The above letter was received be me and I am sending it on to you. [Good Luck, 1922]
The Flanders Chain of good luck has been sent to me and I am sending it on to you. [Flanders, 1929]
Circumnavigation. A request
that the letter is
to go all over the world,
or that it is to go around
the world, perhaps more than
once. Or a claim that the letter
has already gone around the world
some number of times. Examples:
This prayer ... is being sent all over the world. [1910]
It ... must go around the world three times. [1927]
It has been around the world nine times. [Death20 block, 1974]
Expectation. A suggestion
that the reader
should "see what happens"
after a certain
number of days, implying
that some joyous event or
good fortune will happen.
... copy it and see what will happen. [1909]
See what will happen on the fourth day. [1927]
A statement which,
speaking as
an observer, affirms
the validity of the claims
in the letter. It may attempt
to explain how the letter
works, or restate a claim with
different words. Affirmations are highly variable
and are often corrupted,
rewritten, doubled or deleted.
They are universal
on the Flanders and Prosperity type
letters. Examples:
"It is positively remarkable
how many times
this prediction has been
fulfilled since this
chain was started."
"The theory is to set up a definite and positive thought. [1933]
"Here is infinite proof of this progress" [1940]
"That's proof for you." [1942]
"It works!" [1979]
Recycle. A statement which warns the reader to get rid of the letter (often within a certain amount of time), or to distribute it along with the copies that are to be sent. Recycle statements first appeared on the Flanders letters. If there is a list requiring updating, the received copy is no longer a candidate for being sent out again and a Recycle statement will usually not be present. A Recycle warning has become universal on the mainline since 1940. Examples:
"Do not keep this letter in the house more than 24 hours." [1927]
"Send this and four others within 24 hours." [1930]
"Do not keep this letter. It must leave within 96 hours after you receive it." [1959]
1. Ancient
Based on what has been collected so far, the "Ancient Prayer" letter was the first "luck" chain letter to circulate in the US, and this started abruptly in 1906. It likely circulated in other countries many years prior. There is a mention from France that it was denounced by the Bayonne Diocese in 1905. The earliest US example is a letter postmarked in Leeds, Maine on January 6, 1906.
Note that the first sentence, a "Linkage," is probably a personal communication that has been incorporated into the text and copied. Here "He who will not say it will be afflicted . . ." implies that recitation of the prayer is sufficient to avoid punishment for noncompliance. "Bishop Lawrence" was the Episcopalian Bishop of Massachusetts and a well known author, at least among Protestants. Adaptive ambiguity was likely at work in the predominance of this attribution. Many Catholics would have presumed by his title that Lawrence shared their faith. He actively denied he had anything to do with the chain letter, but received complaints from all over the world for his alleged endorsement. (1926) Beginning around 1910 a persistent new version of Ancient Prayer developed.
I received the other day a chain prayer.
Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, we implore Thee, O Eternal God, to have mercy upon mankind. Keep us from all sin and take us to be with Thee eternally. Amen
This prayer was sent by Bishop Lawrence, recommending it to be rewritten and sent to nine other persons. He who will not say it will be afflicted with some great misfortune. One person who failed to pay attention to it met with a dreadful accident. He who will rewrite it to nine other persons commencing on the day it is received - and sending only one each day will on or after the ninth day experience great joy.
Please do not break the chain. [1906]
This prayer was sent to me.
It is being sent
all over the world.
It was said
in Jesus time that all
who would write it and
pass it on would be delivered
from all calamities.
Those who
would not write it on would
meet with some misfortune.
Those who write it before
nine days, stating
the day received,
to nine of their friends
will on the ninth day receive
some great joy.
So do not break
the chain.
Received Oct. 6. Name unsigned. [1910]
The "dreadful accident" and the false attribution to Bishop Lawrence have been dropped and will never return. The advantages to replication of "all over the world" is discussed later (> circumnavigation). The reward of "great joy" for compliance is present on nearly all examples of Ancient Prayer I have discovered (for Russia, see Viola, note 59). Around 1909 the playful suggestion to copy the letter and "see what will happen" was introduced. This "Expectation" became common (but not universal) on Ancient Prayer and persists in the mainline to the present day [2005]. Early versions of Ancient prayer reveal an influence from the Letters from Heaven. For example, a 1909 letter claims that its rewards and punishments were spoken of in "Jerusalem." This was subsequently replaced by in "Jesus' time", perhaps originating as a copying error.
An interesting feature in the
above 1910
text is the word "stating",
seen to be a copying
error for "starting"
by comparison
to other examples
recipient has
responded to this error
by writing the date (Oct. 6). An abundant
was soon
established which contained
"stating", and the date of
the prior receipt [1912,
1914, 1915]. The advantage to
of this variation was
probably that it reminded
the recipient of the
impending deadline,
whereas postcards lacking
the date of receipt
notation could be more easily
ignored until the recipient
realized the deadline
had passed with no ill effect.
The role of copying
errors in chain letter
evolution can be overestimated,
as compared
to deliberate innovations.
But for any copying
error to produce a successful
variation is remarkable,
and I will investigate other
possibilities of this
below (> LD).
Some Ancient Prayer examples are self titled "The Endless Chain" [1911], or "The Endless Chain of Prayer" (Fogel, 1908) [1923, 1925]. Chain letters as we know them were originally called "Endless chain letters" (NYT, 1906) to distinguish them from the then familiar self-terminating charity chains. The title "Ancient Prayer" did not appear on American chain letters until around 1909.
With U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, Ancient Prayer
and differentiated.
Some were exclusive
within various
some prayed for "peace"
and others for "victory."
An unmarried
woman in Ohio received
at least three of the Victory
postcards just in October
of 1917. [1917A , 1917B] The chain
so numerous
that the editors of
the New York Times proposed
that it originated
as a German plot
to clog the mails
(NYT, 1917d).
A wartime postage rate
increase, from one
to two cents for postcards,
may have cooled the chain
off and foiled
the Huns. The same chain postcard
with substituted
titles had also served
the martial spirit of the Central
Powers. A German language
version, postmarked in Austria
a year before the start of
World War I, begins "We
Germans fear God, and Nothing
else on Earth!" [1913].
Immediately after the war Ancient Prayer
declined in the U.S. and England.
Some resented
that "during the First
World War they and many people
they knew had received letters threatening
death or horrors to their loved
ones in the trenches of France
if the chain was broken." (Simpson 2000). In
1924 Ancient Prayer revived in the US with a copy quota
of ten and a new prayer. One such letter has been collected
which was written in a fancy script [1924, image].
Though Ancient Prayer continued to circulate for many years
after the end of World War I, and even had a boomlet in 1924, the postwar
worldliness was not a good fit for its piety. The last Ancient Prayer chain
letter to appear in the archive was a much reduced version on a postcard
mailed in 1938.
By 1995 the Ancient Prayer chain letter was nameless and all but forgotten. But the chain was preserved on postcards and letters, and these were old enough that they were offered for sale. Of the 165 examples of Ancient Prayer in the archive, about 50 are physical postcards or letters purchased on eBay.
According to some reports (1948, 1968) the Good Luck letter was started by an American soldier during World War I. However our earliest examples come from 1922, a boom year for the chain both in England and the U.S. Thorough searches and inquiries have failed to date the letter prior to 1921. The text was short and secular, and retained the request for nine copies as on Ancient Prayer. Many examples had long lists of paired names ("X to Y") at the top, sender to receiver [1922]. There is a physical example in the archive with 113 names [1926], and a newspaper report of 214 [1925]. Below is a prototypic example, a typed letter mailed from Birmingham, Alabama on June 8, 1922. The X to Y list had 30 entries (I have deleted 27 of them here). Though "Claude Sanders" leads the list, he was not the author of the letter, though recipients who had not seen this chain before may have presumed so.
.................................................................................................................No claim is made in the letter that it was started during World War I. "Smilin' Through" was a hit silent movie starring Norma Talmadge. It was released on Feb. 13, 1922. Many later Good Luck letters retained versions of this postscript, often simply updating the year.
Birmingham,Ala. June 8, 1922
Claude Sanders to Phil Gleischman
Phil Gleischman to M. H. Starr
A. A. Gambill to J. F. Suttle
Copy this out and xxxxxx send to nine (9) people whom you wish good
luck. The chain was started by an American Officer and should go
three times around the world.
DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN, for whoever does will have BAD
LUCK. Do it within twenty-four hours and count nine days and you will
have some great good fortune.
"Let all go smiling through 1922." [1922]
Good Luck Augmented.
The 1922 Good Luck chain letter was by far the shortest of all our predominant types (< Table 2). This seems to have invited the placement of additional text both at its start [1924] [1926] and end [1926]. The following example was published by syndicated columnist Helen Worth in 1925.
This good luck chain letter has been sent to me and I am asking you, as I have been asked, not to break the chain. Copy this and send it to nine persons whom you wish good luck. The chain was started by an American officer and should go around the world three times. Do not break the chain, for whoever does this will have bad luck. Write nine letters and send them within 24 hours. Count nine days and have some good luck.Here a standard Good Luck letter (in bold above) has a Linkage statement added at the start, an Affirmation at the end, and perhaps what was an incorporated personal closing after that. This letter is reported to have had a list of 115 names, probably in the X to Y format. With that many names it is safe to assume that the letter had circulated well over a year. Changes can take place in the body of a chain letter while it is accumulating names on a list. [1925]
It is positively remarkable how many times this prediction has been fulfilled since this chain was started.
Much success to you and yours. Let us go smiling and happy through 1925. [1925]
Flanders Chain of Luck.The "American officer" of the Good Luck letters has now been placed in Flanders, famous for World War I battles. Either the title on the prototype, or "Flanders Chain of Good Luck", were almost always present. Other key innovations were: (1) the reduction of the copy quota from nine to four (or five) copies, (2) a leading Linkage statement, (3) a Circumnavigation declaration, usually to "go around the world three times", (4) an Affirmation (highly variable), (5) an Expectation, usually "see what happens on the fourth day", and (6) a Recycle statement at or near the end. Lists of any type are universally absent from the Flanders type, as are testimonials.
This letter was sent to me by a friend and I am sending it to you, so as not to break the chain. Copy this off and send it to four persons, within 24 hours, in whom you wish good luck. This chain was started by an American officer in Flanders and should go round the world three times. Do not lose it as you will have BAD LUCK. It is positively remarkable how this prediction has been fulfilled since the chain started. Send this copy away as soon as possible and see what happens on the fourth day.
Pass this on and DO NOT KEEP IT IN THE HOUSE. [1927]
Folklorist Harry M. Hyatt reported in 1935 that "during the latter part of 1933 a 'chain letter' fad appeared" and he gave a complete text except for two towns and two names in the list that he withheld to protect privacy.
We trust in God. He supplies our needs.
Mrs. F. Streuzel,*****........Mich.Copy the above names, omitting the first. Add your name last. Mail it to five persons who you wish prosperity to.
Mrs. A.Ford, Chicago .........Ill.
Mrs. K.Adkins, Chicago . .....Ill.
Mrs. R.Arlington,*****........Ill.
Mrs. ********...,Quincy.......Ill.
Mrs. ********...,Quincy.......Ill.
The chain was started by an American Colonel and must be mailed 24 hours after receiving it. This will bring prosperity within 9 days after mailing it.
Mrs. Sanford won $3,000.
Mrs. Andres won $1,000.
Mrs. Howe who broke the chain lost everything she possessed. The chain grows a definite power over the expected word,
See what happens on the 9th day.
Hoping it brings you luck.
There are fourteen Prosperity type chain letters in the archive, all but three from publications. Most of the standard versions have: (1) the presence of a controlled list, (2) copy quota 5, deadline 24 hours, wait 9 days, (2) a title that mentions God, (3) attribution to an American colonel, (4) win-win-lose pecuniary testimonials, and (5) an Affirmation after the testimonials. Notably absent are Circumnavigation, Expectation and Recycle statements. Nor are there any Linkage statements, as we should expect since a list of recent senders is usually present. Linkage, Circumnavigation and Recycle statements were near universal on the predecessor Flanders type.
This is a concatenation of a quota five Flanders letter on top and a Prosperity letter below it. Let me argue the case for this.
The good luck of Flanders was sent to me and I am
sending it within twenty four hours. This chain was
started by an American Officer in Flanders and is
going around the world four times- and one who breaks
it will have bad luck. Copy this letter and see what
happens to you four days after mailing. It will bring
you good luck. Send this copy and four others to
people you wish good luck. Do not keep this letter.
It must be in the mail twenty four hours after receiving it.
Mrs. Gay Field received $5000, five hours after mailing.
Mrs. Ambrose received $4000, four hours after mailing.
Mr. Nevin broke the chain and lost everything he had.
Here is definite proof for the good luck sent prayers.
Good luck to you and trust in God. He who suffers our
This brings prosperity to you in four days after mailing.
Do not send money. Cross the top name off and put yours
at the bottom.
J.H. Mason, Petersburg, Va.
B.B. Hoag, Louisville, Ky.
C. J. Lingenfelder, Chicago, Ill.
C. A. Woerner, Indianapolis, Ind.
E. M. Cunningham, Columbus, Ohio
J. D. Moore, Osborn, Ohio
Richard M. Hubbell, Indianapolis, Ind.
M E Berkley, Shelby, Ohio [1939]
Chain of St. AnthonySeveral other examples of this "Chain of St. Anthony" have been found in newspapers dating from 1936-37. But the chain did not dominate circulation until 1940-41 and by this time the item seems to have appeared on postcards exclusively, and had dropped any mention of "St. Anthony". Apparently identifiable Catholicism limits the circulation of a chain letter in the United States. This may be caused as much by denunciation by priests as it is by Protestant rejection. Here is a standard example of the abundant postcard version from Kingsport, Tennessee:
This chain must go around the world. It has been started by a sentimental person. You send it to 13 persons and wish them joy, prosperity and good fortune.
As soon as you receive this copy make one like it and send it to a friend, even out of the city. Make one every day for 13 days and you will receive unexpected grace. Be sure you mail this, and say the Apostles' Creed for 13 days.
A woman did this and on the thirteenth day received a letter containing $26. Another woman made fun of this and her daughter went blind. Another woman did not do this and her home and family were destroyed. Pay good attention to this and you will enjoy health and prosperity. [1936]
Since the threat of blindness in the family is near universal on these, and to note the odd and unvarying copy quota, I call the type "Blind13". It may be cognate to a published quota 13 Polish chain [1984] titled "Letter to St. Anthony", in which the major threat reads: "A Pole from America tore this letter and his son vanished after 13 days". Perhaps an ancestor of this Polish letter circulated among Eastern European immigrants in the 1930's, its English translation giving rise to the "Chain of St. Anthony", and that mutating to the non-Catholic postcards. Or the influence could be from "America" to Poland instead. Judging from the archive, the peak year for Blind13 was 1941. There is a French language letter from 1955 appealing to Saint Anthony of Padua that also may be cognate to Blind13. A Spanish language source is also possible; thirteen may have been a traditional quota for Mexican letters [1936]. St. Anthony chain letters may have appeared in many countries, always demanding 13 copies and always brandishing a harsh threat to a family member.
Oh Lord, be merciful upon us and all nations. This is the prayer of safety. This must go around the world. If you fail to send it a misfortune will enter your home. As soon as you get this card, copy and send it to 13 persons and on the 13th day great happiness will fall upon you and you will receive $16.
One woman made fun of this and her daughter went blind. Pay attention and the Lord will bless you. Please don't let this die in your home. Read the 18th Psalm. [1940]
"The Luck of London" chain letter was said to have originated during the blitz (1940) and continued to circulate in Europe and America even after the war. (DeLys, 1948). A letter published in the Neosho Daily News on March 16, 1942 is our earliest example. Columnist Robert McNight described it as a "new type of chain letter".
This good luck of London was sent to me and I'm sending it to you within 24 hours. This chain was started by an American Officer. It has been around the world five times. The one who breaks it will have bad luck. Copy this and see what happens 4 days later, after posting it. It will bring good luck. So don't keep it. Send this and 4 others to people whom you wish good luck. Grace Fields received $40.00 after posting it. Dr. Arcrose won $1,000 but lost it because he broke the chain. This is proof for you to post it. It will bring good luck 4 days after posting it.
Do not s


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About Melissa
A working mom and a grandmother, Melissa Gilbert is running for Congress to fight for the children and families of Michigan. At a time when career politicians in Congress have stacked the deck against working families, Melissa, a community advocate, will be a voice for the people of Michigan.
Melissa is deeply involved in Michigan's 8th congressional district. A small business owner, she lives in Livingston County with her husband Tim. Together, they run a small production company, Grand River Productions.
Melissa landed her first big acting job at age nine playing Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie. She later went on to become president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) for four years, representing over 100,000 workers across the country. While there, she strengthened laws protecting child actors, and protected and expanded retirement and health care benefits for retirees. While President of SAG, she also served on the AFL-CIO Executive Council and fought for millions of working families in the United States.
Hardworking and committed, Melissa hopes to use her voice to help make a difference for everyday Michiganders. She'll fight to increase incomes for working families, ensure that companies provide paid sick and family leave to their workers, make sure every child has access to state-of-the art education, and ensure women receive equal pay for equal work and can continue to make decisions about their own health care. Melissa will be an advocate for all working families in Michigan, not just a select few.
Melissa in the News
WHMI: UAW Endorses Gilbert In 8th District Race
Livingston Daily: Gilbert gets AFL-CIO endorsement
Politico: House Democrats pick top Republican targets
Press Releases

subset: commoncrawl


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Rocking her one of a kind look, Kelly Osbourne showed up at the 2014 Primetime Emmy Awards earlier tonight (August 25).
The "Fashion Police" star strutted down the red carpet in designer duds as she strolled inside Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre to catch all the action.
Stepping out for an enchanted evening, Tinseltown's biggest names showed up at the 2014 Young Hollywood Awards last night (July 27).
Ashley Tisdale looked sexy and sophisticated in a shimmering white dress with silver feather accents as she strolled inside the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.
She's basking in the glory of her new relationship and Kelly Osbourne wants to let everyone know about her new beau.
On Monday (July 7), the "Fashion Police" babe shared a steamy picture of her touching tongues with model Ricki Hall adding the hashtag "#TasteGood."
She's always had a bit of a wild streak, and Kelly Osbourne got a new tattoo on the side of her head over the weekend.
The "Fashion Police" star posted a photo via Instagram on Saturday night (June 28) of her new ink- the word "Stories…" in purple.
She was heartbroken for months following the demise of her relationship with Matthew Mosshart but now Kelly Osbourne is back on the market with a vengeance!
According to Us Weekly, the "Fashion Police" star has been on dates with two gentleman callers and is "having lots of fun" as a single gal.
She has lived a lot of life in her 29 years on the earth, and Kelly Osbourne looks amazing as she opens up in the new issue of BWatt magazine.
Not since Sisqo's "The Thong Song" has thong underwear been so popular, and Kelly Osbourne seems intent on bringing it back in a big way.
Over the weekend, the "Fashion Police" hottie shared a photograph of herself leaning up against a wall with her trousers pulled down and her red thong-clad booty on full display.
Enjoying an evening out for a good cause, stars of all kinds headed to the 10th Annual MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert on Monday evening (May 12) in Los Angeles.
Walking the red carpet outside Club Nokia was the man of the hour, Ozzy Osbourne and his daughter Kelly Osbourne, who delighted in a grey and black patterned frock.


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When you are in Wags, check out the deodorant section. Axe Sharp Focus is on clearance for $1.39. Mix that with the B1G1 50% sale and coupons to score them almost FREE. so many free deodorants if you don't know what to do with them all 🙂 Take it over to your local shelter/Church and donate… Axe Sharp Focus Deodorant […]
Posts Tagged 'Axe Sharp Focus'
$.04 Axe Deodorant @ Walgreens!!
February 13th, 2012 vetta


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MILWAUKEE -- -The San Diego Padres are still waiting to clinch a playoff spot -- and they can blame a familiar name.
Tony Gwynn Jr., son of the Hall of Famer whose statue stands outside the Padres' ballpark, hit a tying, two-out triple off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat San Diego 4-3 in the 11th on Saturday.
"It is quite ironic that it was Junior," Padres manager Bud Black said.
The Padres were a strike away from their third straight playoff trip when Gwynn struck. It was another odd twist in what has been a strange final week of the season for San Diego, which is assured of at least a tie for the NL wild-card spot.
The Padres can wrap it up with a win Sunday.
Hoffman has called Gwynn Jr. "Anthony" ever since he was a little kid running around the Padres' locker room. The first time Hoffman faced Gwynn Jr. -- also giving up a single -- he said it felt weird.
But Hoffman said it wasn't personal on Saturday.
"Based on the situation and what's at stake, all that stuff goes out the window," Hoffman said.
Gwynn's hit, coupled with Vinny Rottino's RBI single in the 11th, prevented the Padres from moving on. The Padres' loss clinched the NL West for Arizona and gave the Diamondbacks home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
So what will the senior Gwynn -- who now works as a broadcaster for the Padres but apparently wasn't around for the end of Saturday's game -- think about the whole situation?
"I'm interested to see what he has to say about it," Gwynn said.
Black said he'll stick with his plan of starting Brett Tomko on Sunday, preferring to save ace Jake Peavy for a potential one-game playoff on Monday.
"We don't want to waste Jake if we don't have to," Black said. "And if we need him for a playoff game, we have him right there -- full rested, not on three days' rest."
Peavy said he agreed with the decision, and hopes it won't matter anyway.
"I think the boys will bounce back, and we'll come in and play tomorrow and hopefully not have to go to Monday," Peavy said.
A week ago, the Padres were in the middle of a four-game losing streak, facing tough competition from several teams for the wild card and having to deal with injuries to two key players, Milton Bradley and Mike Cameron.
Bradley's injury came under the strangest of circumstances, as he tore a knee ligament when Black tackled him to prevent him from going after umpire Mike Winters during a confrontation last Sunday.
The Padres had rebounded to win four straight coming into Saturday's game, and appeared to be cruising to a win before Gwynn delivered.
Hoffman said the team has been dealing with tough situations all season, and expects them to pull through once again.
"That's going to be put to the test again," Hoffman said. "It's going to go down to the last game of the season. The positive is that it's still in our corner. We still control of our own destiny. Go out and win tomorrow, and take care of business there."
While the Brewers were disappointed about not making the playoffs, Brewers manager Ned Yost said finishing above .500 was an important goal.
"Even when you get to 81-81 it's still, 'Well, you haven't had a winning season,"' Yost said.
Gwynn figured it was only fitting that the Brewers came back on Saturday after the Padres eliminated them from the playoffs on Friday.
"They ended our chase," Gwynn said. "I guess this is our way to get them back."
Now Gwynn wants to see what his dad has to say.
"I'm assuming he was rooting for me," Gwynn said.
- Prince Fielder's leg buckled when Jason Lane slid into first base in the top of the 11th. After spending a brief moment face-down on the ground, Fielder got up gingerly and walked back to the dugout. He took his turn at bat in the bottom half of the inning.
- Tomko is 7-2 all-time against the Brewers with a 3.70 ERA.
- The Brewers set the franchise record for attendance in a season on Saturday with a crowd of 40,946, pushing the season total to 2,826,729. The old record was 2,811,041. It was also the 30th sellout, another franchise record.


text: On Sat, 2007-08-11 at 23:21 +0530, Rahul Sundaram wrote: > Benjamin Lewis wrote: > > > > Les Mikesell wrote: > >> I'd expect the RedHat-style approach to this to be: add some file > >> under /etc/sysconfig like mount-options that contains options that can > >> be merged with the ones in /etc/fstab and all of the magic > >> automounting bits (this is probably as important on usb flash drives > >> as anywhere). > >> > >> [snip] > >> > > There is something which leap out at me as soon a I saw this: the kind > > of person who _needs_ atime, knows how to set it. The majority of people > > - especially the home use - has little or no use for it whatsoever. The crux is _nobody_ really know if he really uses or might have a future use-case for it. Also it's very hard to find out if notime breaks a use-case, because it in most won't cause applications to barf, but to silently "mis-behave". In best case, after some amount of time, he will notice that something won't work "as advertised". > The majority of people will see a performance boost they will appreciate > regardless of whether they know about atime or not. Please provide figures of the boost you have experienced personally for the test cases you have experienced. Ralf


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Here's a photo from the excursion around Quaint Coastal City Punkin' and I took with Gerry and Honey. It's not exactly a flower, but I love the fact that this little guy is growing in a most unlikely place. There's a lesson here.
I have many fond memories stored up from that morning's adventures.
Today's going to be a fairly easy one. My morning students and I will be working on drafts of our papers (I'm giving them this piece, that I wrote back in May, as an example of a pretty good start; I'm still not completely happy with it and I'm hoping to get some feedback to make it stronger).
After that, I'll head to the health club to teach my Friday morning yoga class. I'm still not sure how much longer I'll even have that class; the number of people who've been in attendance for the last few months has been well under the limit required to keep a class on the schedule. It's on for today, anyway, so off I'll go.
Once I clock out there, I'll head to Quaint Coastal City for a salad and some shopping with O'Mama. A couple of new stores opened up in our area not too long ago, and we're going to check them out before the insanity of post-Thanksgiving shopping hits. I think that most of my gift-giving this year will be of the homemade variety – breads and cookies and candies and such – and one of the stores is typically a great place to buy inexpensive jars and containers and such, so that's what I'll be looking for.
Mr. Chili is going to work a half day today (he's still a little jet-lagged) and will be home after two, and so will I. Once the girls arrive home from school, we'll likely make a trek to visit grandparents, then we'll come home to watch Wall-E on DVD, then we'll head for an early bedtime.
Exciting, non?
Happy Friday, Everyone!


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Miranda Kerr, Orlando Bloom & Flynn's Aussie Arrival
Fresh off of a long, world-spanning flight, Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom were spotted arriving in Sydney, Australia with baby Flynn on Saturday morning (January 28).
The happy family showed off big smiles trekked through the Land Down Under terminal with the Victoria's Secret beauty toting her little man in her arms while her "Three Musketeers" hubby led the way.
The overseas travels come after Miss Kerr made her much-awaited appearance on Thursday night's episode of "Project Runway: All Stars" - as the competitors were tasked with designing a frock for the supermodel.
Asked to pick out the dress she'd most like to wear, Miranda had the highest praise for Michael Mondo's concoction, saying that she felt she could wear the design to many different places and events.
Meanwhile, it was April who ended up being eliminated during the fourth week episode - with the competition set to continue Thursday at 9 p.m. EST on Lifetime.
Enjoy the pictures of Miranda Kerr, Orlando Bloom and baby Flynn arriving in Sydney with big smiles (January 28).
Photo Credit: SplashNewsOnline.com


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Brigadier Amir Ali Hajji Zadeh, Commander of the Revolutionary Guard's aerial forces has said that the downing of American drones was the "serious demand" of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hajji Zadeh added that Ayatollah Khamenei, "emphasised that the drones are not seen, but they collect information and thus striking and downing them was part of the serious demands of the Supreme Leader from the commanders".
The Reformist daily, Etemaad, reports that former Foreign Minister, Manuchehr Mottaki, has announced his candidacy for this year's presidential race. Mottaki has been an inveterate critic of President Ahmadinejad since his unexpected and embarrassing sacking in the midst of an official visit to Senegal in December 2010.
Majles Speaker Ali Larijani, has claimed that Western powers are "searching for excuses" vis-à-vis the Fordow nuclear enrichment site.
Larijani emphasized, "we undertook 20% enrichment and made the fuel rods for the Tehran nuclear reactor. If the Agency [i.e. International Atomic Energy Agency] had given us fuel rods, we would not have had any need for 20% enrichment". Larijani made the comments in the course of a speech at an Indian think tank, as part of his trip to India to discuss numerous bilateral issues.
Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, and a possible presidential candidate, has criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a number of MPs over the events which have come to be known as Black Sunday, in which Majles Speaker Ali Larijani and President Ahmadinejad, openly rowed and traded threats and Labour Minister, Abdolreza Sheikholeslami, impeached. In a meeting with students in Ardebil, Rezaei stated "it was truly denigrating and damaged the dignity of the regime".
He added, "a time when the enemy has come at us with sanctions it is self-abuse, if we wish to create tension and disorder inside the country".
The Majles has passed a general plan in order to limit the activities of the media and journalists on the Majles floor. Limitations have been placed on photographers, camera persons and journalists according to Fars News. In the event of the plan's final approval photographers and camera persons will be limited to filming the first hour of the public sessions and afterwards, depending on the necessary permissions of the MP heading the session, photographers will be allowed to take photos.
A number of Iranian MPs have complained of inopportune photos of parliamentarians either sleeping or yawning in parliamentary session. Qassem Jafari, the MP for Shazand who supports the plan, has criticized the publication of photographs of Iranian MPs either asleep or yawning, calling it "incompatible with media ethics".
The head of Iran's Central Bank, Mahmoud Bahmani, has announced a plan banning the purchase and sale of currency through non-official channels.
Bahmani told Khane-ye mellat, the Majles' news agency, "cutting the hands of the currency middlemen will be followed by the improvement of prices and also will better the conditions of people's lives and reduce the current pressure, the more quickly the plan for prohibiting the buying and selling of currency by means of networks is passed".
Raja News and Nassim Online post a video of the late Ayatollah Azizollah Khoshvaght who recently passed away and who was related to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei by marriage, in which he offers his recommendation to the Iranian nuclear negotiators. Khoshvaght advises the negotiators not to strive for a "win-win" scenario, but rather a scenario in which Iran wins, and the West loses.
Dr. Ehsan Shariati, the son of the famed Ali Shariati, and who is generally recognized as one of the most important thinkers and ideologues of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, has been prohibited from teaching at Iran's universities.


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MINI Fans Attempt to Squeeze into the Guinness Book of World Records
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MINI Fans Attempt to Squeeze into the Guinness Book of World Records
MINIs are well known for making clever use of their cabin space, a team of flexible gym members from Sussex are putting this to the ultimate test by attempting to break the world record for the number of people inside a MINI Hatch. 28 daring female volunteers will scramble their way into the MINI at Potters Fields Park, London on 15th November as part of the eighth annual Guinness World Record day. The team have set their sights on breaking their own previous record of 27 people, which was set in Eastbourne last year.
Not content with breaking just one record, the team also intend to smash the Guinness World Record for the number of people in a classic Mini. The 22 ladies will try and fit inside the smaller car just moments after the first record attempt.
The idea for the world record attempt was born last November as a fundraising initiative for BBC Children In Need, when the contortionist team successfully smashed the previous UK record of 24 people inside a MINI.
Speaking of the forthcoming record attempt, organizer and swimming teacher Dani Maynard said: whilst we have not quite been able to fit any of the girls into the MINIs glove box, there is a surprising amount of space to utilize and we are really confident that we will break the record again this year.
Dani added: After our achievement last year, we know exactly what it takes to squeeze 28 people into a MINI and we stepped up our training regime to include extra stretching and fun activities like hula-hoop relay racing. With the help of our local MINI dealer, Chandlers MINI, we have also had the opportunity to practice positioning everyone in the car ahead of the big day.
Training for the record attempt has been meticulous as official rules dictate that all windows and doors must remain closed for at least five seconds after everyone is in. Each team member has a specific position to form once inside the car to ensure that all 28 manage to squeeze their way into the MINI and into the record books.
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text:
Appeared in 85 matches and made 84 starts in his career at North Carolina • Scored 10 goals and had seven assists for 27 total points • Scored four game-winning goals • Had 84 shots • Played over 1,800 minutes in each of his four seasons.
2015 – Senior Season
NSCAA First Team All-Region • Second Team All-ACC • Named to Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for 9/22 • Started all 20 matches in the midfield for Carolina • Ranked fourth on the team with 10 points on four goals and two assists • Three goals came by way of penalty kick, converting 3-of-4 on the season • Scored two game-winning goals • Had 35 shots.
2014 – Junior Season
Third Team All-ACC selection in the midfield • Named to the Stihl Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team, hosted by Old Dominion • Started all 22 matches at midfield in third season at North Carolina • Scored two goals and handed out three assists for seven total points • Scored the game-winning goal in the 3-2 win over Clemson (Oct. 3) • Played 1,803 minutes, third most on the team and tops among Tar Heel midfielders.
2013 - Sophomore Season
Ranked third on the team with seven points on three goals and one assist • Scored the game winner in the 1-0 overtime victory at Cambell • Also scored in the 2-2 draw with No. 18 Maryland and in the 4-0 win over No. 13 Coastal Carolina • Assisted on Josh Rice's game winner at Boston College • Playing in the midfield, he was one of only four players to start all 20 matches for Carolina in 2013 • Had 18 shots on goal.
2012 - Freshman Season
Appeared in all 23 matches and started 22 in midfield as a true freshman • Scored his first career goal against Boston College on Nov. 1 • Assisted on Danny Garcia's game winner against Duke in the ACC quarterfinals on Nov. 6 • Tallied 11 shots on the year.
Prep - Igelstavikens Gymnasium
Attended Igelstavikens Gymnasium in Södertälje, Sweden • Played in the midfield for Igelstavikens and was team captain • Played club soccer with Hammarby IF and Syrianska FC • Helped lead the Hammarby IF team to a second place finish at the U18 level and a pair of league titles • Was also a member of Syrianska FC in its league title season • Claimed the Gothia Cup with Hammarby IF in 2008 • Named to Igelstavikens Hall of Fame.
Raby George is the son of Jack and Kima George • Has two sisters that play soccer and a brother as well • Majoring in economics at Carolina.
|Södertälje, Sweden
|High School:
|Igelstavikens Gymnasium
|Economics/Management & Society


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I could really need some help on this flyer. What do you think, and what can be improved? I feel like all the elements are there, but it's still simple..
I kind of like what you've got going here. The font you are using is a condensed font; it looks like you are using it with a certain point of kerning. I wonder what the font looks with its default kerning (if this isn't its default).
I would say adding two things could improve the look of it.
1. A black to transparent gradient from the bottom up, ending at the bottom of the lower text area (or right underneath "First Drink Free."
2. The inclusion of all white social media icons just above the website address? Perhaps distanced closely together to keep the feel of the condensed font you are using?
The black gradient will help make the website address and social media icons clearly visible. You may even want to play with bordering the entire image with some kind of black gradient border? Or a dark sepia gradient?
I'm also thinking those lens flares you've got going on are nice. Perhaps highlighting 2-4 more areas of text with them could work well?
And a question for you… Everything is centered except for the "My Events Presents." Any particular reason this isn't centered as well?
- Nun Kwon Dethsp
Thank you very much for replying I'll try your suggestions, and see if it gets better.
I've played with the tracking for the characters, so the spaces between is bigger on some of the text, and smaller on some of it.
Thanks again!


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The theme of the 39th Twins Days will be "Twinstock – Groovy in Twinsburg," celebrating the late 1960's and early 1970's with costumes, props and any other Double Take Parade float that represents peace, love and likeness.
The festival will be Aug. 2-3 at Glen Chamberlin Park, with the parade stepping off Aug. 2 at 9 a.m. at Twinsburg Township Square.
Past years have featured twins from as far away as Japan and Australia. The festival is open to all multiples — identical, fraternal, young and old, twins, triplets, quads — and their families. Non-twins are also welcome.
Aug. 2 kicks off with the Double Take Parade, a route of themed, decorated floats carrying the twin stars of the festival.
Activities during the day include twins contests, a talent show, twins research are, twins group photo, entertainment; arts and crafts, twins related/sponsored booths, amusement rides and games and a fireworks show.
Also available are food and souvenirs.
Sunday activities include the Twins Days 5K benefitting the Melanoma Education Initiative, and a pancake breakfast.
Twins are encouraged to register at the festival to participate in the twins-related activities. count. Last year 2,000 sets of twins attended the festival.
Registration forms can be downloaded from www.twinsdays.org. Registration fees are $15/set in advance and $20/set on site.
Admission to the grounds for the public, is $4 per person per day (children 5 and younger enter for free).


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Transmission fails after seafoam 325xi 2004.
I had just finished seafoaming thru the vacuum line my 325xi 04 133k while i was revving the car my fan just shot a causing a dent in the hood. My car wouldnt move when i put it in d. I had my radiator leaking. The fan broke some of the hoses but i was recently told that my transmission is also shot.i feared that. I just dont understand how the seafoam caused that anybody has any ideas?
Also i found a 328 1999 for sale i was wondering if i could do a transmission swap? And maybe use some of the other parts.
I have a video by the way ill post up the link once i upload it.
strictly coincidental, the fact your fan grenaded had nothing to do with the seafoam treatment. The reason why your car isnt going anywhere is because the ATF leaked out, if an auto trans doesnt have enough fluid the torque converter cannot generate the power to move your car. Fix the fan, or convert to a electric fan(see KPENGs thread) and all the hoses that were damaged, top off all fluids, and your back in business.
that makes whole lot of sense i didn't check it myself because the lack of tool plus i had to get it towed. appreciate it. forgot to mention the atf reservoir broke also but i thought that was for the steering.
:tsk::tsk: Another Seafoam related death. Waiting on video link. Seafoam is infamously well-known for causing fans to explode. :eeps:
^So dumb lol
The fan mounts deteriorate. Flooring the car while running Seafoam puts stress on the fan mount and they whole fan shifts and grenades.
Take a look at this post: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...911&highlight=
The fan probably only punctured ATF hoses.
View My Video decided to let my girl revv itt. try not to laugh.
thanks for the thread link Im deff upgrading to an electrical fan after this.
Sea Ffoam is mostly placebo. I wouldnt run it in my induction.
once i get my car back from the shop is in ill take it to my friends shop ill see the damage caused and fix it. im almost sure is not the transmission now. my air intake broke also btw. ill take pics and put them up.
I failed.
Simple: You're not supposed to rev the engine while stationary. This helped your already-deteriorating fan blades explode causing pieces of the blade to puncture your transmission cooling lines. Your trans fluid leaked out thus rendering the transmission useless. If you're lucky, you may be able to repair the lines, refill the trans and go on your way. If not, then you tried driving your car without fluid and fried the transmission. Do not blame this on Seafoam.
how can i tell if i fried my transmission or not i did try to move it after the leakage. would the pcm show any codes if this was the case?
Excluding forced industion, I have used Seafoam on several cars-never had a problem.
yeah, the trans is most likely fine, if there's no atf, there wouldn't be any motion transfer via the torque converter, so the car just stops. fix the lines, fill it up with atf and go.
getting my car back today. have a pretty basic idea in how to change the cooler lines. a little too basic. plus i see the hoses come with special ''quick-connect coupling". recommendations in how to make my job easier i will be making my first diy atf cooler lines and probably anything else i have to repair due to my fan-explosion. if its not already posted. help is appreciated.
there should be a grey plastic tab between the couplers, you need to push that in to release the spring. they are kind of tricky at times you kind of have to push the tab and pull the other end at the same time
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Kinsley: NRA & Boston Marathon
Michael Kinsley, in addition to being one of the nicest people on the planet, demonstrates in this essay at The New Republic [1], why he remains also one of the sharpest essayists on the planet. He examines the issue of crockpots for crackpots. Hilarious, scary, incisive, all at the same time.