Most of us think of New Orleans as the birthplace of jazz. But it was also the birthplace of direct marketing. The first mass mailer in the United States was the Louisiana Lottery Co., located at Charles and Union Streets.
The Lottery mailed tens of thousands of envelopes a month, some no more than simple prize lists, others filled with circulars and certificates. At its peak, the firm pulled in $11 million a year via registered letters alone, and generated 45% of the New Orleans post office’s volume.
Backed by a New York gambling syndicate, the Lottery was started in 1868
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