1930s Prosperity Club Chain Letter Ephemera...

Updated September 26, 2026

This auction ended on September 29, 2026. See upcoming auctions from Period Americana.
Lot number109
Estimate25.00 - 50.00 USD
AuctionSale 260929
DateSeptember 29, 2026 at 10:00 PM EDT
Auction housePeriod Americana
LocationBoston, Massachusetts

Denver Colorado Money Scheme. Originating during the mid-1930s Great Depression, this original printed 8.5-by-11-inch "Prosperity Club (In God We Trust)" dime chain letter (c. 1935) captures the famous 1935 Denver-based chain letter craze that promised a $1,562.50 return on a ten-cent investment. Produced with printed typography on newsprint paper and featuring handwritten ink additions of participant names and addresses from Denver and Edgewater, Colorado—including E.P. Rickel, Arlene M. Schultz, Elizabeth Ash, Mollie Kinner, E.E. Hill, and Helen Miller—this unattributed document serves as a rare primary-source artifact of American social, postal, and Depression-era popular history. The piece presents in good overall vintage condition with dark, fully legible handwriting, exhibiting age-appropriate wear such as general paper toning, light edge wear, small margin tears, and heavy creasing and wrinkling throughout from folding and period mailing handling.

1930s Prosperity Club Chain Letter Ephemera...

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