In its March 21, 2025, issue of CalTaxletter, the California Taxpayers Association shared this Tax Trivia factoid explaining how 40,000 people came to have the same Social Security number. Reprinted with permission.
Q: According to the IRS, “The most misused Social Security number of all time was 078-05-1120,” which has been used by approximately 40,000 people since 1938, when it was shown in a promotion by the manufacturer of what type of product?
A: Wallets. The IRS explains: “In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York, decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher. The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word ‘specimen’ written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda’s number. The Social Security Administration acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the number.”
(CalTax: We’re not convinced that using a half-sized replica demonstrates that a full-sized card would fit in the wallet, but that’s another story.)
