The Message Under the Stamp
photo taken from wikimedia.org
“The Message Under the Stamp” is a European legend that describes the hard conditions during World War I and evolved into an international legend during World War II. In both periods, there was a secret message written underneath a stamp. In the earlier stories, a letter comes to the United States from a relative in Germany that says everything is fine and that the American cousins should steam the stamp off the envelope for “little Alf”. There is no one named Alf in the family. They follow the clue and steam off the stamp and find written underneath the letters “We are starving.” A World War I version would be when a soldier in a German or Japanese concentration camp sends a letter home with a request like “save the stamp for little Johnny.” Under the stamp is written something like “They have cut off my hands!” or “They have cut off my tongue!”
The truth is that prisoner mail during the wars were forwarded by the International Red Cross and did not require any postage stamps. However, there is evidence that some families did send hidden messages under postage stamps during wartime.
(Source: Brunvand, Jan H. Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. 2001.)
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