The following is from Dick Eastman's genealogy newsletter, and pretty much says everything there is to say about Halbert's of Bath, OH. I hope Dick doesn't mind the posting. I, too, bought one in my early days of genealogy. Hal Amick ================================================================ (The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 1997 by Richard W. Eastman and Ancestry, Inc. It is re-published here with the permission of the author.) - Halbert's - Up To Old Tricks I have been writing about Halbert's for years. I first wrote an article about them in 1989, long before this newsletter came into existence. Since 1989 I have purchased two of their "books," seen several other Halbert's "books" and have followed their numerous legal problems in several countries. If you have been involved in genealogy for a while, you probably know about Halbert's. If so, you can skip the next 5 paragraphs. For anyone who is new to genealogy, however, I will offer a bit of background information. Halbert's of Bath, Ohio, is the most notorious of the mail order companies that send out ads offering to sell you "an astounding new book" with insinuations that the book tells all about your family name. These letters, as well as the "books," are all mass produced by computers with family surnames and your name inserted in appropriate places. For instance, a letter sent to me will say: I have exciting news for you and all Eastmans! Though we are probably not related, I want to tell you about extensive work done throughout the world on a project relating to the distinguished Eastman name. What might be the oldest facts about Eastmans in North America have been discovered. Now, an astounding new book, 'THE NEW WORLD BOOK OF EASTMANS,' is about to be published for you and it features Eastmans back to 1620." The advertisement then goes on in breathless prose with lots of exclamation marks scattered about. It claims to present facts about early Eastmans and also asserts that it includes an up-to- date international directory of Eastmans. If your name is Smith, then the letter sent to you will have the name Smith inserted in every place where my letter says Eastman. If you live in England or Germany or some other country, then the geographic references will be changed to match. (Halbert's is an international operation.) All of the advertisements will claim to be "a one-of a kind book." If you are gullible enough to order the book for $34.50 plus another $4.88 postage and handling, you eventually receive a booklet of general information about how to get started researching genealogy plus many pages of extracts from old telephone directories listing people with the same last name as yours. The Eastman "book" that I looked at last year had names and addresses listed for some of my relatives who had been deceased for years. The "one-of-a-kind book" lives up to the description; it actually has a cardboard cover and looks like it was glued together on someone's kitchen table. The pages in the 1996 Eastman "book" weren't even aligned properly. I don't know when Halbert's started this business, but I know they were already notorious in genealogy circles in the mid-1980s. They have frequently received legal injunctions from postal authorities, but that doesn't seem to slow Halbert's down very much; apparently they continue to send out thousands of these advertisements every week despite legal efforts to shut them down. The Halbert's ad I received in 1989 was signed by "Doris Eastman, i.a." Now, Doris never claimed to be a relative of mine in that advertisement, but the fact that the letter was signed by someone named Eastman lent credence to the "book" title of The New World Book of Eastman. I was intrigued by the letters "i.a." that appeared after Doris Eastman's name. After a fair amount of research, I discovered a Legal Dictionary that listed it as an abbreviation for the Latin words "in absentia" or, translated into English, "in absence." In other words, Doris Eastman wasn't present when the letter was written, and someone else signed her name to it in Doris' absence. In 1989 I called Halbert's and asked to speak to Doris Eastman. I was told that "Doris isn't here right now, can someone else help you?" I was suspicious that Doris was a fictitious name and later court documents proved that my assumption was accurate. I'll point out that calling Halbert's is difficult. Their telephone number isn't in the ad, and it isn't listed by the telephone company. I believe that is rather unusual for a company in the mailorder business, one would think that they would want to receive orders by telephone as well as my mail orders. I was later told that Halbert's mailing address in Bath, Ohio is simply a mail drop; there are no offices at that address for a company called Halbert's. In fact, Halbert's is one of the trade names owned by Numa Corporation in nearby Akron, Ohio. Apparently, mail delivered to the Bath, Ohio, address is simply forwarded to Numa in Akron. I eventually found a number for Numa and called their offices looking for Doris Eastman. Not surprisingly, she wasn't there, either. Halbert's and Numa were in court in 1988 as defendants in an action claiming false advertising. I don't have the details of the 1988 action, but the 1995 complaint referenced an order in 1988 requiring Numa/Halbert's to stop claiming that the advertising letters were signed by relatives of the addressee. The 1995 court session apparently took a dim view of Halbert's fake signatures. Quoting from an announcement released later by the National Genealogical Society: At that time Halbert's was ordered to cease and desist from falsely representing ". . . that (1) a solicitation for a surname-related product was sent by a relative of the solicitee; (2) a relative of a solicitee was involved in preparing a surname-related publication; or that (3) a relative of a solicitee endorses a surname-related product." The Postal Service contended that the company's solicitations, which advertised books such as The World Book of [surname] and The [surname] Since the Civil War, violated the 1988 consent agreement, because they appeared to be letters from relatives of the addressees urging them to purchase a recently completed book on their family. The Halbert's ad that I received in 1996 was not signed by anyone claiming to have the name Eastman, and the letters "i.a." did not appear after the signature. It seemed that Numa and Halbert's had accepted the court ruling. Letters sent to Canada and to England (sometimes under another Numa subsidiary name of Burkes) were still signed by someone claiming to have the same surname with the letters "i.a." I assume that is because the U.S. court decision only covers the United States, and Numa is free to do as they wish in other countries. However... I have in my hands at this moment a Halbert's ad received in California a couple of weeks ago. A member of CompuServe's Genealogy Forums forwarded this advertisement to me as he knew I'd be interested. It is a brand-new ad for the "New World Book of Becks." It has all the same wording as I mentioned above except that the word BECK has been substituted for EASTMAN. What caught my eye is the signature: Nancy J. Beck, i.a. Numa and Halbert's apparently have gone back to their old tricks in violation of the 1995 court order. Fictitious signatures followed by "i.a." are back in use. ================================================================ - And still more on Halbert's... You know, Halbert's business practices have really been good for me. If the postal authorities ever succeed in shutting Halbert's down, I won't have anything left to write about! Halbert's apparently has a new business partner: Texaco. Another CompuServe member in New Hampshire forwarded an ad he received this week from Texaco. It says: A remarkable new book is about to be published and you, ___(insert addressee's name here)___, are in it! Do those words sound familiar? They should. I am skipping a few paragraphs here. But the advertisement continues... The Texaco name represents the best products and service on the road today. And now, for select Texaco Credit Card customers, we offer an amazing new source of information about another important name - the (insert surname here) name! I question the "amazing new source..." Texaco continues.... The New World Book of __(surname)__ is an heirloom-quality edition you can pass on to your children, and share with the entire __(surname)__ family! Published by Halbert's for Texaco customers, and based on a search of over 170 million records worldwide, this amazing book provides information that can help you discover more about the __(surname)__ name than you've ever known before, including: - How family names originated and what the distinguished __(surname)__ means... - The development of family crests..... - The __(surname)__ International Directory, the most extensive registry of households bearing the __(surname)__ today - with listings throughout the world. The Texaco ad goes on and on with the same words that Halbert's has used over the years. In fact, the ad is signed by "Sharon Taylor, Publisher, Halbert's." At least she didn't claim to have the same surname as the addressee of the advertisement and she didn't use "i.a." after her name. The price from Texaco is exactly the same price that Halbert's advertises directly: $34.50 plus $4.88 shipping and handling. I am curious what Halbert's liability is in this advertisement. Since it is on Texaco stationary and mailed to Texaco customers, who is responsible for compliance with the various court orders? Texaco? Texaco was never mentioned in the previous court orders, so probably they can do as they please. At least, for a while. But the ad is signed by a person claiming to be an employee of Halbert's. Does that mean that Halbert's is responsible for the ad and its claims? I will leave that to the lawyers to argue. In the meantime, I have one bit of advice: Skip it. That's a lot of money for a list extracted from telephone directories. ================================================================