Who remembers the 'chain letters'

SaraC

There is a postcard sharing group which operates worldwide (it’s mentioned on Wikipedia) that is called Postconnect. It’s absolutely delightful. It was started in 2004 by chap in Portugal. A lovely way of making kind and positive worldwide connections at such a difficult time globally just now. All participants have a small biography online so it’s transparent. It’s great to read about different and ordinary peoples lives.

Really sorry - got the name wrong! (Oops!) It’s called Postcrossing

There was something similar called a 'round robin'. It was a letter, everyone wrote a short piece about themselves and added it to the bottom and sent it to the next person on a list. I joined in but never received anything more. There were no threats involved, it was just a bit of fun.

There is a postcard sharing group which operates worldwide (it’s mentioned on Wikipedia) that is called Postconnect. It’s absolutely delightful. It was started in 2004 by chap in Portugal. A lovely way of making kind and positive worldwide connections at such a difficult time globally just now. All participants have a small biography online so it’s transparent. It’s great to read about different and ordinary peoples lives.

These days it's a prayer on Facebook, which is ridiculous, because a prayer is not something you 'have' to do ,or to be told to do. At the time of chain letters, I had a lot of people to write to, and I didn't want to waste stationery and postage on them.

One of my very close friends used to do this stuff in the 70s. She was always frustrated with me until she finally got the message and stopped including me in the ‘pass it on….’ sequence. I did agree to the Friendship Cake thing, but we shared the same group of friends (army wives, living on camp) so refused to do it more than once.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about them.
So far back but I'm sure I got them and probably sent some on.

I think I remembered reading on Kathy and Claire (agony aunts for teens) people who were afraid not to pass on letters.

They used to instruct them them to forward it, and they then destroyed it.

I remember having been sent a chain letter as a teenager I just sent it on to six ppl

I DO recall (vaguely) the postcard chain thing. But you had to write out several such letters, and back then no home printers, unless you had access to a photocopier? Far too much faffing about, in the bin!

I remember my Dad receiving one. I was about 9, so 1966, and I recall him being very angry. Obviously I didn't know what the letter was but his reaction was unforgettable. He stomped around the kitchen saying "who he hell would send me this". I timidly asked what it was and he said it was a chain letter.

It was then dispatched to the roaring sitting room fire.

Just thought I would pop back........It is refreshing to know that some Mums were just like mine.

I had also never heard of the friendship cake either but I do recall something concerning small amounts of money........that letter was despatched to the fire back too.

I remember the chain letters but never received one. Very unpleasant and sinister things.

Never heard of the friendship cake.

Stephaniehill

A friendship cake! Got given some batter that you had to “feed”. It fermented… you gave some of the batter to someone else, and baked the rest. Remember it fermenting all over the top of our boiler… yay!

I received a friendship cake. It was absolutely delicious and I also kept it going for ages until we got tired of the cake baking every few days (if I remember correctly)

I remember them and never responded to them. However, I had a boss (a very dignified older businessman) who one day gave me a pile of letters, all handwritten, for me to post. He told me he had received a chain letter and didn't want to tempt the bad luck by not passing them on. I was amazed at how naive he was! Nowadays I feel that there are similar things on Face Book. People post things and then say "only my true friends will share this". I never respond to them either.

My mother, too, put her foot down firmly on chain letters and convinced me that bad luck would not be a consequence of breaking the chain. She told me that only silly supersitious people believe in such nonsense.

I think I was 11 or 12 at the time.

Her attitude stood me in good stead as after computers and e-mail became part of every day life the chain letter turned up as e-mails, which I ignored.

In between whiles we had the friendship cake, and the knit squares of such and such dimensions and send to the four people on the list and after three months you will receive a knitted blanket. Ha! Ha!

The cake also cropped up.

Finally, the email from impoverished school teachers in some third world country asking for donations to their schools, widows from Latin America needing help to support their children, plus the hairy old chestnut the unknown grand-uncle in Australia who had died leaving one a fortune and all you had to do was to send your bank details turned up in cyber space.

I never believed any of them, and attibute this to my mother's attitude to chain letters.

These developed into the e-mail version which seems to have disappeared now. I always deleted them.

the ones among my friends at school were ok but I know that adult ones there were nasty ones sadly

I remember them, but my Mum said I’d be in more trouble from sending them than I was for binning them.

I was never impressed by the veiled threats of bad luck or pleas not to break the chain, but I did take part in a postcard chain (I got a few back - I can’t remember now why I wanted them!) and the book one (not a thing ).

Yes someone used to post them to me at work. I never responded.

I hadn't heard of the cake one? I did get a knickers one.

I hate the Facebook ones nowadays. I just hide people who post them.

You get them on Facebook now, instead.

I remember them & also the knicker one Blackcat 3, off I went to Ethel Austin’s and bought the cheapest pair I could find….i eventually got 2 pairs back which were also cheap & nasty, they went in the bin!
Definitely would be strange now, but I was very naive back in the day, as most of us were.
Thanks for reminding me as I’d forgotten about that!

Yes I remember those chain letters. These days there does seem to be a similar thing online asking people to ' share' and re-post in a way that if you don't you will feel bad about not doing so.

There also was a fad for fund raising coffee mornings where you invited a group and each person had to host one in turn. Funds from event were to be sent to a charity.

I used to get the postcards and letters and friendship books things sent to me. I hated them and as soon as they arrived I binned them and never replied to any of them.

All the ''do it or get bad luck'' was a load of rubbish.