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THE READER'S DIGEST "TWO PENNIES" LETTER
The idea for this classic direct mail package came from the imaginative Walter Weintz, and the
unique mailing produced a lot of interesting stories, and was one of the most successful mailings
ever used by The Reader's Digest. Its unique feature — two bright, shiny pennies showing through
a front-of-the-envelope window — is an idea that has been used frequently over the years by the
Digest and widely copied by hundreds of others.
The envelope, which carried part of a quotation from an ancient Persian poet, led into the letter
(written by Frank Herbert). It began:
Then came the clincher:
An ancient Persian poet said: "If thou hast two pennies, spend one
for bread. With the other, buy hyacinths for thy soul."
To buy "hyacinths" for the soul — to nourish your mind and heart
with good reading; to become informed, alert, interesting in what
you say to others — is just as important as progress in your business
or social life.
And it needn't be a task! One compact little magazine — 12 times
a year — will stave off mental stagnation, give you something worthwhile
to think about and talk about, keep you from being bored —
and boring! That magazine is The Reader's Digest.
So here (with our compliments) are two pennies for you. We invite
you to keep one as your change — and with the other penny, seal
the bargain for the finest "hyacinths" you can find anywhere — the
next 12 issues of The Reader's Digest!
Just slip one penny into the pocket in the enclosed card, and mail
today.
This was one of the early uses of "tokens" to stimulate response — and it worked like a charm.
Most of the stories about the letter concern the pennies. To get the millions they needed, the Digest
used special freight shipments from the Denver Mint. Walter Weintz was shocked to learn the
pennies were going to be shipped to Pleasantville, New York, on open flatbed railroad cars. He
envisioned his hoard of pennies quickly disappearing enroute. "But/' a Mint official responded,
"can you imagine the difficulty someone would have trying to make off with a significant quantity
of pennies from a moving railroad train?"
Another frequently repeated story concerns the pennies that were returned to the Digest. Because
it would cost considerably more than two cents to have undeliverable pieces returned, the Digest
asked the Post Office to simply destroy the "nixies." But the Post Office said they couldn't legally
destroy or dispose of the pennies — and many recipients were sending their pennies back. As a
result, the Digest found themselves with a warehouse of penny mailings. The Digest knew it
would cost at least four cents to open each returned envelope to salvage the two pennies inside.
The solution to this problem came in the form of the Mt. Kisco Boys Club, which needed money
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