Social Security Cards Issued by Department Store

These days, most security conscious adults cringe at the idea of having to surrender their social security number to a stranger. With the threat of identity theft so prevalent in our modern world, the idea of actually allowing one's social security number to be used in a large scale marketing campaign seems absolutely loony, but that's exactly what happened in 1938 to Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher, a secretary for New York wallet manufacturer E. H. Ferree.

Originally intended to show how well the government's new social security card could fit in E. H. Ferree wallets, the company approved production of faux social security cards for inclusion in each wallet as a display piece. Thinking it would be clever to include the actual social security number of one of his employees, then company Vice President Douglas Patterson approached his secretary, Mrs. Whitcher, about using her number as part of the campaign. She approved and wallets containing her social security number shipped to stores all over the country, including Woolworth, one of the largest department stores of the time. Despite the fact that the cards were red, smaller than normal social security cards, and printed with the word "specimen" on them, many wallet purchasers confused the number printed on the faux cards as their own.

By 1943, it was estimated that almost 6,000 people were actively using Mrs. Whitcher's social security number as their own, and a total of 40,000 people would use the number over time following its mass distribution. The misuse of Mrs. Whitcher's social security number became such a nuisance for the poor secretary, as well as the Social Security Administration, that the government was forced to void the secretary's number and publicly declare the number incorrect to use. Despite the Social Security Administration's efforts to remove the number from use, it was discovered in 1977 that 12 individuals were still using Mrs. Whitcher's social security number as their own.

In later years, Mrs. Whitcher is reported to have questioned the intelligence of those who assumed a social security card would be issued by a department store by saying "I can't understand how people can be so stupid."

The social security number that started the whole mess, which has jokingly come to be known as the social security number issued by Woolworth, was 078-05-1120. Over the years, facsimiles of social security cards bearing random sets of numbers used in pamphlets and marketing materials have caused similar incidences of confusion, but Mrs. Whitcher continues to maintain the honor of being the original holder of the most misused social security number of all time.

Sources:

Social Security Cards Issued by Woolworth. History. Social Security Administration.