An antique dress with a secret: a coded message from 1888

Mr Chan, the analyst, said in an interview that he first worked on the code in the summer of 2018, but gave up after a few months without achieving anything. In late 2022, he revisited it and searched some 170 telegraphic codebooks in an attempt to find the answer, but to no avail. . Another book, with a section describing the signals used by the US Army Signal Corps, appeared to contain examples similar to the note in the dress. After further investigation, he was finally able to decode it.

And lo and behold, it was a weather report.

“When I first thought I had cracked it, I felt really excited,” Mr Chan said, noting that it took a while to gather enough evidence to confirm his theory was correct. “It’s probably one of the most complex telegraphic codes I’ve ever seen,” he said.

For example, “Bismark Omit leafage buck bank” indicates that the measurement was taken at Bismarck Station, Dakota Territory. ‘Omit’ was for an air temperature of 56 degrees and a pressure of 0.08 inches of mercury, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the actual value could have been higher. “Leafage” for a dew point of 32 degrees, observed at 10 p.m. “Buck”, clear weather, without precipitation and a northerly wind. ‘Bank’, a wind speed of 19 kilometers per hour and a bright sunset.

Old maps helped Mr. Chan to determine the exact date of the sightings: May 27, 1888.

However, some mysteries surrounding the dress remain, including who owned it and why she had put weather codes in a secret pocket.

“It’s tempting,” said Ms. Rivers Cofield, who found the dress, noting that the name “Bennet” was on a paper tag stitched into the garment.