This History Mail Subscription Send You Real Ciphers From History to Decode
Getting the mail can be a drag these days. My mail is mostly bills, insurance ads, and credit card offers. This month, though, I got something a little more fun in the mailbox: A secret code from World War II, and instructions to decipher it.
That curious secret message was mailed to me by the Codebreaking Club, a unique history mail subscription that made its debut last year.
Every month, they send members one secret code from history, along with instructions and a little bit of the history behind their coded message.
Their secret codes come from a variety of eras, from the Revolutionary War’s Culper spy ring to the secret agents of the Cold War. As someone who always thought I’d be a great spy, deciphering them has been a blast.
What shows up in your mailbox
Every Codebreaking Club envelope is built to stand on its own, with no app or screen time required. Inside you will find:
- A secret code. A replica of an authentic coded letter or telegram for you to try deciphering.
- Decoding instructions. A short, step-by-step guide written so that first-timers can follow along. Sometimes they also include instructions for encoding a message of your own in the monthly code.
- The story behind the message. A brief article on the cipher itself and the people who wrote it and broke it.
- A decoded transcript. Printed upside down on the instruction sheet, so you can check your work after you have given the puzzle a real attempt.
No background in cryptography is required. The club is designed to teach you everything you need to know.
A window into the history of spycraft
Letterjoy sums up the experience as “Sudoku for spies,” and the comparison fits. What sets the Codebreaking Club apart for history buffs is the material underneath each puzzle. The messages are pulled from the real record of espionage and signals intelligence, the same world that produced the Zimmermann Telegram, Benjamin Franklin’s cipher, the Culper Spy Ring, Britain’s storied “Room 40,” and the codebreakers of Bletchley Park.
These are some of the most consequential stories in modern history, and also some of the hardest to follow, precisely because the people involved worked so hard to keep them hidden. The Codebreaking Club brings them into the open. If your bookshelf already leans toward the OSS, the CIA, or the NSA, this is a series that rewards the interest one envelope at a time.
An intelligence gift for your intelligent friends
Historic letters make an unusually thoughtful gift, partly because the surprise renews itself every month. The Codebreaking Club suits the puzzle solver, the math-minded tinkerer, and the history buff in equal measure, and the flexible membership length lets you match it to the occasion.
A couple of months of coded messages work nicely as a small thank-you or a get-well surprise. A longer membership becomes the birthday or holiday gift that keeps showing up long after the wrapping paper is gone. Memberships can be paused or canceled at any time, and Letterjoy’s customer reviews keep circling the same point: it tends to become the favorite gift of the year, especially for dads and history-obsessed kids.
An educational activity that leaves the screen behind
For homeschool parents and teachers, the Codebreaking Club doubles as a hands-on supplement to a STEM or history curriculum. Each edition is a self-contained, screen-free activity that students can work through on their own or in groups, connecting the figures and events from their textbooks to a working introduction to ciphers, cryptanalysis, and signals intelligence.
Memberships are available in bulk for classrooms, clubs, and learning pods, and the codes are showing up in a growing list of state ESA marketplaces that serve homeschool families. It is the rare assignment students ask to keep doing.
How it works & how to join
Membership runs $8.99 per month, or $49.99 for a six-month package that includes six coded messages. All packages include free first-class postage. New members receive their first coded letter the following month, with new codes mailed at the start of each calendar month.
For history buffs who would rather decode the past than only read about it, this history mail subscription turns an ordinary trip to the mailbox into the best part of the month.
