Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 6

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Detective Sergeant Clifton R. Wooldridge made a difference on the streets of wicked Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Some of the 100 fraudulent matrimonial agencies he shut down are captured in newspaper articles from the era. This article covers a few of Wooldridge’s exploits.

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Several articles ago (see section header: Pen Pals) I mentioned an alternative (apparently), advertised in newspapers around the United States, for Standard Corresponding Club? Yep. A Scam. Detective Wooldridge handled that blight on the fair city of Chicago.

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Kristin Holt | Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 6. Chicago Standard Correspondence Club, from the Pittsburgh Daily Post on November 9, 1902. "Matches Not Heaven-Made. The chicago Police Unearth Methods of Fake Matrimonial Bureau. Had Alluring Advertising. Would-Be Brides and Grooms Give Up Their Cash Easily. Bales of Letters Are Found."

1 of 6). Chicago Standard Correspondence Club from the Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1902.

2 of 6). Chicago Standard Correspondence Club from the Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1902. Isn’t it curious that “word was telephoned that he (the perpetrator) would give himself up later”?

3 of 6). Chicago Standard Correspondence Club from the Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1902.

4 of 6). Chicago Standard Correspondence Club from the Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1902.

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What cost $1 in 1902 would cost $32.38 in 2021.

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~ Inflation Calculator

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5 of 6). Chicago Standard Correspondence Club from the Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1902.

6 of 6). Chicago Standard Correspondence Club from the Pittsburgh Daily Post of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1902.

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This newspaper article, syndicated to New York, reveals the contents of one of Schlosser’s fraudulent “stock letters.” A “wealthy widow” sure to captivate a poor man. If her money didn’t tempt him, her romanticism would do the trick.

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This article states $4 came in with each reply, a 2021 equivalent of $129.52.

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What cost $4 in 1902 would cost $129.52 in 2021.

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~ Inflation Calculator

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Kristin Holt | Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 6. "Rich Widow's Cry: Fake Love Letter Sent Out by a Fraudulent Matrimonial Bureau." New York Sun Special Service, in the Minneapolis Journal of Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 8, 1902. Part 1 of 2.

(1 of 2). Minneapolis Journal of Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 8, 1902.

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Invitation

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With abundant scams in the Victorian-era United States, is it any surprise many doubted finding love?

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What are your thoughts? Do you see parallels to today’s crime methods? –or today’s lonely hearts?

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Up Next: Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, part 7
featuring a few short newspaper-recorded circumstances where the ardent were caught wholly unaware by scammers.