August 19 in A.A. History

In 1936, after attending the Olympic Games in Berlin, where he met Heinrich Himmler but failed to meet Adolf Hitler, Frank Buchman [right: in Miama, Florida (1936)] sailed for New York City.

In 1941, the first A.A. meeting in Denver, Colorado [left: aerial view of business district, 1920s], was held at the home of Sarah McP. and was attended by 11 people.

    This gathering followed the March 1941 publication of Jack Alexander’s article, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others,” in The Saturday Evening Post. Inspired by the article, a Denver alcoholic named Venard F. traveled to Houston, Texas, to observe the local A.A. group's practices. He brought back a Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, along with some pamphlets. He then published an article in a local newspaper, including his P.O. Box number. It is likely that the attendees at the first meeting were from among those who had responded to Venard’s article.

In 1941, the Finance Committee of the Central Group Committee held a meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. The minutes suggested that

    … the representatives of the groups that they in turn propose to their respective group that they deposit with the Finance Committee the Sum of one dollar each week beginning January 1st 1942.

The minutes continued by stating that…

    Such funds are to be used for the purpose of defraying normal expenses of the Central Committee Group such as P.O. box rental, postage and such other incidental expenses as may be required… [And to] make contributions to the [Alcoholic] Foundation in New York and such other charities as may be recommended to the finance committee by the various groups and approved by the finance committee.

In 1981, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a special 18¢ [~64¢ in 2025] stamp [right], featuring the message, “Alcoholism/You Can Beat It!” Nearly 100 million (97,535,000) of these stamps were printed. Some mistakenly claimed that this was a slogan used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The stamp generated controversy, as many worried that recipients might

    that recipients might interpret the message as a suggestion that the sender was questioning their drinking habits. This public reluctance to use the stamp highlighted the deep-seated stigma surrounding addiction.

    At that time, the cost of sending a first-class letter weighing no more than 1 oz [~28⅓ g] was 18¢, although this price would increase to 20¢ just 74 days later. Today, a mint condition version of this stamp sells for about 85¢.