Experts discovered cryptic notes found sewn into the seams of a brown silk bustle dress from the 1880s.
After being hidden for over 100 years, these notes were finally decoded after a decade of puzzling over their meaning.
The Discovery of the Silk Dress Cryptogram
The story of the silk dress cryptogram begins in 2013 when Sara Rivers Cofield stumbled upon the antique dress in an antique mall in Maine.
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the dress was a silk bustle dress from the 1880s.
Rivers Cofield, a lover of vintage fashion, was immediately drawn to the dress and purchased it without hesitation.
When checked it many times, she discovered a secret pocket sewn into the seams of the skirt bustle. Inside this pocket were several paper notes containing messages written in code.
The notes were mysterious, with seemingly random words written in lines of text. Among the lines were, for instance, "Bismark, omit, leafage, buck, bank."
Rivers Cofield posted about it online, hoping to find some help deciphering the messages.
Rivers Cofield's online community was fascinated by the cryptic notes
Many theories were proposed, including the possibility that the messages were written in a foreign language or were part of a secret code used by spies.
However, the most popular theory was that the messages were written for a telegram.
During the 19th century, sending telegrams became a common form of communication, especially among the upper class.
These messages had to be brief and to the point, often using shorthand or code words to convey the intended meaning.
This notion appeared logical, considering the notes found in the silk robe were short and staccato.
No one can answer the mysterious codes
No one can answer the mysterious codes hidden in the 19th-century skill dress
Despite the various theories and attempts to decode the messages, the meaning behind them remained a mystery for 10 more years.
The silk dress cryptogram gained worldwide attention and was considered by expert and amateur cryptogram lovers to be one of the top 50 unsolvable codes in the world, according to NOAA.
The cryptogram even caught the attention of professional code-breakers, including members of the American Cryptogram Association.
Decoding the cryptic notes
In 2023, after ten years of deciphering the mysterious notes, the breakthrough was at last made.
The code phrases in the notes matched those used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps to discuss the weather, according to University of Manitoba scholar Wayne Chan, who cracks codes for fun.
To verify that the messages were coming from Signal Service weather stations in the US and Canada, or from stations that sent and translated coded telegrams regarding the weather, Chan also combed through other NOAA resources.
He discovered that every communication line carried codes about weather observations in certain areas.
The codes are explained below:
BISMARK Station name: Bismarck, Dakota Territory (in present-day North Dakota)
OMIT Air temperature: 56 F Barometric pressure: 0.08 in Hg (According to NOAA, only the fractional part of the pressure value was telegraphed, unless the station was west of the 97th meridian or the pressure was below 29.4 in Hg or above 30.38 in Hg). In this case, the actual reading was 30.08 in Hg)
LEAFAGE Dew point: 32°F Observation time: 10:00 p.m.BUCK State of weather: Clear Precipitation: None Wind direction: NorthBANK Current wind velocity: 12 mph Sunset: Clear
