Frank B. Robinson (1886-1948) The "Mail-Order" Prophet

"Here on borrowed money, began the world's first twentieth century assembly line, producing a usable religious technique, which swept the country, antagonized ministers and changed the lives of thousands." Marcus Bach

In 1929 Frank B. Robinson founded a New Thought religious movement which he called "Psychiana," that emphasized spiritual healing, prosperity, and physical and material happiness.

A pharmacist of Moscow, Idaho. The son of an English Baptist minister, Robinson studied in a Canadian theological school and was for a time a member of the Salvation Army, but later rejected organized religion and became almost violently antichurch in his attitudes. He was subsequently influenced by the New Thought movement and experienced religious conversion. This convinced him that he must share his new religious insights with others.

On a rented typewriter he pounded out a series of lessons, trying to bring to others what had come to him in his conversion experience. But how to get people to read it? He decided to advertise it, so in 1928 he borrowed $2,500 from people he barely knew, spent most of it on printing his lessons, and invested $400 to place his ad in Psychology Magazine, an ad which an advertising agency in Spokane, Wahington, had refused to try to place, because they said it was so badly written that no one would read it. But Frank believed in his message and trusted his hunches.

The ad boldly proclaimed "I talked with God", insisting that others might have the same experience, and telling what the results had been in his own case. That ad pulled 5,300 responses. Robinson ran it in numerous magazines and it always pulled a 3% to 21% response. Within a year he had a full-time job fulfilling requests for his books and lessons, soon shipping a million pieces of mail a year out of his office in Moscow, Idaho. The post office in that little town had to move into a bigger building to handle all the mail.

It became probably the most widely read advertisement of any period, appearing in 140 newspapers, 180 magazines, and on 60 radio stations, all at the same time. His postal bill in 1938 amounted to $16,000 and his printing bill hit $40,000. He received 60,000 pieces of mail a day, reached more than two million people, and sent his message to 67 countries---all within one year of running his first ad. He was called the "mail-order prophet" and more than a million copies of his publications were purchased as a result of his persuasive advertising campaign. "Advertising is educating the public to who you are, where you are, and what service you have to offer," Robinson wrote. "The only man or organization who should not advertise is the one who has nothing to offer."

In his series of Psychiana Lessons and books, including Your God-Power (1943), Robinson emphasized the availability of the power of God to all. His teachings were New Thought all the way---New Thought ideas proclaimed in highly dramatic fashion, designed to catch and hold the attention, and New Thought techniques through the employment of which health, well-being, prosperity, peace, happiness---all the proper heritage of man---might be achieved.

Robinson incorporated the Psychiana movement and called himself the archbishop of Psychiana. Eventually he had a staff of about 100 people in Moscow, Idaho, that helped him run his organization. He rejected, however, the formation of local groups. After Robinson's death in 1948, his son headed the organization for a time, but without "Doc" Robinson there just wasn't really any Psychiana movement, and so it was liquidated..

It may well be that more were attracted to Psychiana because of the promise that those who "talk with God" may be expected to prosper, or to gain health, than for any spiritual benefits they may hope to derive from it; but that multitudes, as attested by letters which came to him by the thousands, received spiritual benefits there can be no doubt.

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