The "Dear Boss" Letter
Exposing Jack the Ripper's Mocking Message
Known as the "Dear Boss" letter, it is probably the most infamous artifact in crime history, and its association with the name of Jack the Ripper—the unknown serial killer terrorizing the streets of London in autumn 1888—is the one that will forever endure. Full of taunts and chilling promises, this letter did a lot to set, in the public's mind, the image of the Ripper and was to influence the course of both the investigation and the mythology built around the case.
The Autumn of Terror
1888—a year full of fear—hosted a streak of gruesome murders against women, mostly prostitutes, in the Whitechapel area of London. The killer viciously attacked and mutilated the bodies of his victims, showing an awfully intimate familiarity with the human anatomy. A police force harassed by the heinousness of the crimes and the dearth of solid leads ironically found itself under pressure to catch the killer.
This was amidst an atmosphere of dread and uncertainty when, on September 27, 1888, a letter arrived at the Central News Agency. That letter, which would later go down in history as the "Dear Boss" letter, was addressed to the police and signed with the chilling pseudonym "Jack the Ripper."
The "Dear Boss" Letter
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Dear Boss,
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shan't quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the lady's ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck. Yours truly
Jack the Ripper.
Don't mind me giving the trade name
PS Wasn't good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it. No luck yet. They say I'm a doctor now. ha ha
➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
 |
| The envelope addressed of the Central News Agency containing the "Dear Boss" letter |
 |
| The first page of the "Dear Boss" letter, dated 25 September 1888 |
 |
| The second page of the "Dear Boss" letter |
Content of the "Dear Boss" Letter
The "Dear Boss" letter was penned in red ink, which seemed to lend it an air of sinister mystery. The letter starts off informal with "Dear Boss," and forgoes formalities before it embarks on mocking narrative. He arrogantly claims responsibility for the murders, referring to the police as "coppers" and ridicules them for their failure to catch him. It also contains a macabre promise to "clip the lady's ears off" and send them to the police, a threat which would later eerily coincide with the mutilation of one of the Ripper's victims, Catherine Eddowes.
The signature at the end, "Yours truly, Jack the Ripper," marked the first time that name had been used in relation to the murders, and was henceforth irrevocably attached to the unknown murderer. In fact, the adoption of this name, and the tone and content of the letter, really did turn the Ripper from a faceless murderer into a figure almost of mythic dimensions: a cunning, brutal predator who reveled in his crimes.
The Impact of the Letter
The "Dear Boss" letter was at first dismissed by the police as a hoax, for they were getting thousands of letters from those claiming to be the killer. However, on September 30, when Catherine Eddowes was found murdered with her earlobe partially cut off, a new meaning was attached to the letter. Because this seemed to fulfill the Ripper's promise, many believed it was actually from him, although this has never been proved conclusively.
The letter was widely publicized, appearing in newspapers with the contents that caused even more public hysteria. It was the name "Jack the Ripper" that finally wove its spell of fascination into the press and the public mind, elevating the case to media event status. Off the letter, dark humor and calculated cruelty reeked, thereby appropriately filling out the image of the Ripper as monstrous but not unintelligent, an amalgamation of the macabre and the intelligent.
Authenticity and Legacy
For a long time, historians and criminologists have disputed the authenticity of the "Dear Boss" letter. Some believe it was written as journalism or by an attention-seeker working to exploit interest in the case. Others say the details contained within the letter explicitly mentioning the cutting of ears point to its origin being from the killer himself.
Regardless of its origin, the "Dear Boss" letter was a cardinal factor in the legend of Jack the Ripper. It lies at the junction of crime and the media, in which one letter could shift the direction of a criminal investigation and frame a cultural mythology of a killer. The name "Jack the Ripper" has survived in popular imagination, largely due to the effect of this letter, which transformed an anonymous killer into one of the most famous villains who ever lived.
Within the annals of crime history, the "Dear Boss" letter reigns supreme as a chilling reminder that the written word has a place in manipulating and fueling the flames of fear within the minds of the public eye. Whether this was penned by the Ripper himself or another person trying to cash in on the mayhem, the legacy is this: etched within history, indelibly part of the dark mystery that was Jack the Ripper.