Throughout the nineteen sixties, seventies and eighties, most issues of Archie Comics featured a two-page spread titled Archie Club News. The banner at the top of the page announced, "ARCHIE CLUB MEMBERS send in your reports and be eligible to win cash prizes in the Archie Series Magazines." The results of this venture were generally irrelevant notes sent in like, "Dear Archie, I want to tell you about Citizen Band Radios..." Often what was sent in appeared to be part of a class project. Elementary school children were in the process of learning how to write letters and encouraged by a teacher to send something Riverdale way. Sometimes the letters were weird or even profound and other times prophetic or just silly. The following letter originally appeared in Laugh #236, November 1970:

Dear Archie,

How would you like to start out on a peaceful trip to Europe, and end up in a Russian invasion?

That's what happened to me two years ago. I went to a few countries like France, Italy etc. When I went to Czechoslovakia to visit relatives I found myself in a Russian invasion a few days after I had been there. It was terribly scary to see soldiers marching around with their guns pointing at you. At night you could not have a light on in the house or the Russians would shoot it out.
Around 5 days after the Russian invasion I left Czechoslovakia safe and sound. It was quite an experience and I shall always remember it.

Lada Williams
3934 Oak Park Avenue
Stickney, Ill 60402

Lada (ironically sharing the name of the Soviet Union's most famous brand of automobile) won the dismal fifth prize of one dollar for this issue. Ms. Williams near-death experience lost to letters about camping and an explanation of what a collage is, among others.