Puzzle Lovers Club facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Defunct | ca. 1980 |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, U.S. |
| Parent | René Gnam & Associates |
The Puzzle Lovers Club was an American company. It held fun word game contests through the mail. This club was active from 1963 until around 1980. It was known for its unique way of reaching out to people.
Contents
What Was the Puzzle Lovers Club?
The Puzzle Lovers Club was started in 1963 by direct marketer René Gnam. Instead of being a regular publishing company, it felt like a special "club." Members received a special newspaper called the Puzzle Lovers Newspaper. This newspaper had many puzzles for members to solve.
Big Cash Prizes
The Club often placed large advertisements in magazines. These ads appeared in popular magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. They promised big cash prizes, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. These prizes went to members who could solve the puzzles in their newspaper. The ads often featured stories from happy members.
How the Club Reached People
René Gnam used the Puzzle Lovers Club to try out many new ways to reach customers. This is called direct marketing. He learned a lot about how to get people interested.
Clever Marketing Tricks
Gnam found smart ways to get people to join. He would offer extra books for sale to members. He also used special lists of addresses to send mail. He even sent mail to people who had said they didn't want more offers. Surprisingly, this worked very well! Many people on these "No lists" still responded. Gnam also learned that people interested in astrology were very likely to join.
Famous Puzzle Makers
Even though the Club used many marketing tricks, it attracted some well-known puzzle creators.
Talented Contributors
From 1968 to 1971, word expert Dmitri Borgmann wrote puzzles for the Puzzle Lovers Newspaper. The Club also published a reference book in 1964 called Puzzle Lovers Dictionary. This book was a favorite of Will Weng, who edited the famous New York Times crossword puzzle. Both Borgmann and Weng later started their own puzzle businesses that sent puzzles by mail.
